Visit to Biggest Underwater Volcano in Last 100 Years Reveals Deep Sea Mystery

Scientists knew something strange happened when they heard reports of a raft of floating rock near New Zealand back in 2012. That raft eventually grew to around 150 square miles—remains of the largest underwater volcanic eruption in the 20th or 21st century to date, bigger even than Mount St. Helens. But when researchers actually visited the Havre volcano, it was nothing like they expected. Instead of the explosive, underwater Krakatoa-type eruption expected, they found signs of slower-moving lava flows... and realized that a whole lot of data they could have been using literally floated away.