SAN FRANCISCO — Molten lava has been observed creating new seafloor for the first time by a robotic rover exploring the deepest erupting volcano yet discovered.

In high-definition video released Thursday here at the American Geophysical Union meeting, lava bubbles explode as the eruption’s deep rumble fills the bass end of the spectrum.

“We thought we could just show the video over and over and not say anything,” joked oceanographer John Resing of the University of Washington, who led the expedition.

But the new video is more than just spectacular to look at, it also provides scientists with their first look at the geological process that creates the seafloor.

“On our very own home planet, we haven’t seen lava flowing on the seafloor,” said Resing. “We haven’t seen new ocean crust being made.”

And now they have. The National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Agency had been sponsoring submarine volcano research for more than two decades without ever observing lava on the seafloor. “This is historic,” Resing said.

The new footage was captured in May about 4,000 feet below the surface of the Pacific Ocean near Samoa, at an underwater volcano called West Mata. Scientists on a University of Washington research vessel gathered around monitors to watch the Jason remotely operated submarine as it approached the volcano. As the sub neared the summit, warm water, which shimmers like a highway on a hot day, began to stream out of the rocks.

“We turned and saw this willowy, wispy white smoke-like fluid coming up off the side of the steep volcano. We knew we were at the right site,” said Bob Embley, a marine geologist with NOAA who co-led the expedition. “Then it was up to the pilot to very skillfully maneuver down to the site then turn to look at it. When we turned around, we started to see the red flashes of light, and we knew we were seeing the primordial eruption on the sea floor that we’d never seen before.”

They named the spot Hades. And now, you can see what they saw in the videos posted here. (Editor’s tip: put on your headphones and turn up the bass.)

The discovery came in part because of NOAA’s effort to do more ocean exploration to simply find out more about the vast, largely mysterious oceans that cover 70 percent of the Earth.

“When we go exploring, we make discoveries,” said Steve Hammond, chief scientist at NOAA’s Office of Ocean Exploration and Research.

In fact, West Mata is the second underwater volcano discovered by NOAA, in conjunction with the National Science Foundation. The previous one was discovered in much shallower water in the Mariana Arc.

See Also:

WiSci 2.0: Alexis Madrigal’s Twitter, Google Reader feed, and green tech history research site; Wired Science on Twitter and Facebook.