Fig. 2: Comparison of 2019 pre-eruption conditions and 2022 post-eruption conditions at specific seafloor locations.
From: Deep seafloor hydrothermal vent communities buried by volcanic ash from the 2022 Hunga eruption
Left panels show pre-eruption conditions and the right panels show post-eruption conditions at active hydrothermal vent fields with maximal ash deposition, Tow Cam (A–D), and negligible ash deposition, Tu’i Malila (E, F). Comparative photographs of a larval collection device that was deployed in 2019 and then located again in 2022 (A, B) and a navigational marker (yellow arrows) (C, D) demonstrate the thick ash deposition at Tow Cam. Panels E and F show navigational markers at Tu’i Malila (orange arrows), a southern site with little detectable ash, among qualitatively similar communities of chemosymbiotic animals in both years, indicating little change in the communities since the eruption.
