In the Northern Mariana Islands close to Guam, a volcano was first observed to be erupting back in 2004 and has continued to spew up lava ever since. An underwater microphone which was installed last year has been picking up sounds of volcanic activity and surprised scientists by its rare continuous activity.

The underwater volcano has grown almost forty metres in height in the last three years, as well as an astounding three hundred metres in width. An expedition to the area last month witnessed several explosions of the volcano, and researchers are impressed with the fantastic opportunity presented to them to study the growth of a volcano directly.