New volcano discovered in Norwegian waters

In collaboration with REV Ocean, researchers from Norway’s Arctic University have discovered the second mud volcano ever found in Norwegian waters.

It has been named the Borealis Mud Volcano.

This unusual geological phenomenon was discovered by the research vessel Kronprins Haakon with the help of a remote-controlled underwater vessel called the ROV Aurora.

The discovery was made in the southwestern Barents Sea. The volcano is located approximately 70 nautical miles south of Bjørnøya, the southernmost island of Norway’s Svalbard archipelago, at a depth of 400 metres.

The newly discovered volcano lies inside a crater approximately 300 meters wide and 25 meters deep. It is most likely the result of a catastrophic, natural blowout that suddenly released massive methane shortly after the last ice age 18,000 years ago.

The volcano, with a roughly seven-meter diameter and a height of 2.5 meters, continuously emits liquids rich in methane.

“We do not rule out the possibility of discovering other mud volcanoes in the Barents Sea. It is only thanks to good cooperation and advanced technology that we can make such discoveries. Seeing an underwater mud eruption in real time reminds me how ‘alive’ our planet is,” Professor Giuliana Panieri, the expedition leader, said in a press release.

The only previously known mud volcano in Norwegian waters was the Håkon Mosby volcano, discovered in 1995.

The Håkon Mosby volcano is located at a depth of 1,250 m on the seabed south of Svalbard at 72°N.