Biggest volcanic eruption in 100 years went unnoticed

The biggest underwater eruption of the last century took place 600 miles (1,000km) off the coast of New Zealand, scientists have found. The discovery was made after an airline passenger saw a strange substance spreading across the Pacific Ocean in 2012. At the time, scientists identified the material as pumice, a volcanic substance which floats. However, it has taken six years for researchers to understand the scale of the eruption with the help of remotely-operated deep search robots. The findings have been described as a'scientific goldmine' and could increase our understanding of how magma rises from the earth's crust to the surface More than 80 per cent of the volcanoes on Earth are located on the sea-floor.