Why would an underground volcano cause a plume of water vapor like this? Hmm. Would seem to have to be very near the surface?? http://tinyurl.com/bemch

And why the red color??

Underwater. Hot lava, meet sea water.

Or... maybe it's Godzilla! Oh no!

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CBS news just reported on this on the radio. Facetiously mentioned Godzilla, too! Woo woo.

This update says they can also see gray mud. Must be near the surface.

http://tinyurl.com/9pgus

Says to stay away.

One Googled ("Fukutokuoka") paper says it is (or was) only 23 meters deep, 2001 -- but gave various depths for another similar shallow underwater volcano, as its own dome rose and fell.

I'm sure there would be a good deal of convective stirring of the water that could bring up mud from the sea floor.

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This update has a closer picture.
http://tinyurl.com/bqyzk

Looks like it is on the surface or just below.

[nitpick]Water vapor is a transparent gas.[/nitpick] The picture shows liquid water in droplet form, commonly called "steam."

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[double nitpick] Steam is also invisible, what you commonly see is condensed droplets of water, not steam
Superheated steam is incredibly nasty, If you are ever sent into a boiler room to look for a steam leak (even a tiny one) make sure you wave a large spanner in front of yourself 'cos it's invisible it's going to chop your fingers off [/double nitpick]

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I think this is backwards...

Steam is water in the gaseous state, and invisible.

Water vapor is clouds, fog and the main ingredient of chemtrails.

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No.

Water vapor is the gaseous state of water and is not visible. Clouds, fog, and "chemtrails" :wink: are all composed of liquid water droplets.

Oops. I think I was misled by a misinterpreted dictionary.com entry. #-o

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If the lavadome on an underwater volcanoe were to collapse would this not generate a tsunami. JC

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Regarding the definition of "steam", I believe you are both right. Certainly from a technical standpoint, "steam" is a vapor and therefore invisible. But my version of Websters (2nd college edition, 1984) has the following as definition 3:

condensed water vapor, seen as the mist condensed on windows or in the air above boiling water.

I'd say "yes", if it were under the surface by a significant amount. This one, being only 23 meters down, doesn't have a lot of water on top of it to displace if it were to collapse. Not saying there wouldn't be some major chop going on. I'm just guessing there wouldn't be a huge, widespread tsunami is all.

Of course, I reserve the right to be completely wrong on this. . .

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Technically steam IS invisible. However, a dictionary's job is to report also the common usage and meaning of a word. Thanks to so many people not realizing that true steam is invisible, the common name for the cloud of condensed water droplets you see is, indeed, steam. Therefore the dictionary will (or should) also give that definition. Like it or not, it's part of the evolution of language.

Now that I actually think about what I said in the first place, I did mention that the water droplets are "commonly called" steam. In meteorology, water vapor has a very specific definition. Gas. Period. As for "steam," it's on its own.

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One nice thing about being a meteorologist who also likes astronomy is that the sky is always interesting!

Ah, another fine post from the esteamed Goddess of Weather. Now you see her, now you don't! :wink:

Speaking of water vapor, et al, looks like New Orleans dodged another bullet.

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Eruptions caused by water intrusion can be a bit on the explosive side.

I think this was how the Diamondhead crater was formed IIRC.