East Mata
East Mata is an hydrothermally active submarine volcano located in the northeastern Lau Basin, right beside the far known West Mata volcano, which effusively erupted in 2009. It is located roughly north of Hihifo, Tonga. It can be found on the northern portion of the Tonga-Kermadec volcanic arc which extends from North Island of New Zealand all the way to Samoa. The volcano was discovered along with West Mata and other volcanoes in 2008 by a team of NOAA scientists when they visited the region in a research vessel. Geography The volcano can be found about southwest of Samoa and north of a more active volcano, Curacoa which had a significant eruption in 1973. In the surroundings of the volcano can be found the Mata volcanic group which consists of multiple volcanic structures which vary in activity including West Mata, Northern Matas, Tafu-Maka and Niuatahi. Structure In terms of morphology, East Mata is very similar to West Mata, both in terms of shape and size, considering they both are rift zones that have taken a similar process to form. Rift zones form by the spreading of the lithosphere as the magma upwells towards the surface. Geologic setting East Mata including