Spanish scientists map underwater volcano

TENERIFE, Spain, Oct. 28 (UPI) -- Spanish scientists say they've mapped the formation of an underwater volcano that emerged in the waters off the Canary Islands earlier this month.

The volcanic cone off El Hierro Island has reached a height of 300 feet with a lava tongue still flowing down its side, even though its activity has slowed in the past few days, a release from the Spanish Foundation for Science and Technology said Friday.

"This is probably the first time that such a young underwater volcano has been mapped in such high resolution," Juan Acosta of the Spanish Institute of Oceanography said.

Within 15 days of the first signs of eruption on Oct. 9, scientists on the institute's research ship Ramon Margalef completed mapping the seabed and the growing volcano with unprecedented precision, he said.

"It is spectacular to see how what was once an underwater valley is now a volcanic cone with its descending lava tongue," Acosta said.

The base of the volcano lies at a depth of almost 1,000 feet. It is conical, 300 feet high with a base diameter of 2,200 feet and a crater width of 400 feet, the researchers said.