Surtseyan eruption

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Surtseyan eruption A high-energy volcanic eruption which occurs when sea or lake water floods into the top of an active open vent, producing an eruption column up to 20 km high and pyroclastic clasts with extreme fragmentation and moderate dispersal. The term was first used to describe the activity at the new volcano, Surtsey, which built up on the ocean floor south of Iceland in 1963.