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Supervolcanoes / Supervolcanos

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[This thread is for the discussion of supervolcanoes (usually associatied with hot spot activity) - for your common and garden volcanoes see:

https://forums.forteana.org/index.php?threads/volcanos-volcanos.6276/ ]


Yellowstone

Yellowstone National Park, one of the largest tourist attractions in the World and home to geyser "Old Faithful," seems to be sitting atop a supervolcano that is +/- 50,000 years overdue to erupt. The size of this eruption is one of those what-killed-the-dinosaurs? numbers, with ash strata from the last one being inches deep states away, with evidence present as remote as the Gulf of Mexico.

You can read about it here.
 
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I remember the Horizon programme about this - really interesting , Yellowstone Park is high up in my must-visit wish list . I wouldn't worry about it blowing up - scientists like to scare people ! ( I think they must have dull lives LOL ) .
 
I think your right about the scientists liking to scare people, how many cataclismic events according to the worlds top scientific minds,are overdue right now?

Off the top of my head I can think of:

San Francisco earthquake - California being tipped into the sea.
Tokyo earthquake - Tokyo being tipped into the sea.
The mountain thats due to fall into the sea in the Canaries - Washing away the entire US eastern seaboard.
A comet or meteorite strike - Destroying a city or life as we know it depending on it's size.
 
Personally I find the idea of the Yellowstone National Park Super Volcano a bit worrying.

I remember stories a few years ago about a Park Surveyor taking ordnance levels of a lake a few years apart.
He was perplexed as to why some trees that were at the lake's edge were now standing in water - he thought that the lake was probably fuller than it had been, until he compared levels.
He found that the ground around the lake had bulged and the water had literaly slid downhill a bit.

Further reasearch showed that around a quarter of the Park was atop a huge magma bubble (I think it's called a batholith?) which is set to explode and wreak havoc upon the Earth.

Another extinction factor. Great. :hah:

Here's a link
 
Quicksilver said:
Personally I find the idea of the Yellowstone National Park Super Volcano a bit worrying.

I remember stories a few years ago about a Park Surveyor taking ordnance levels of a lake a few years apart.
He was perplexed as to why some trees that were at the lake's edge were now standing in water - he thought that the lake was probably fuller than it had been, until he compared levels.
He found that the ground around the lake had bulged and the water had literaly slid downhill a bit.

Further reasearch showed that around a quarter of the Park was atop a huge magma bubble (I think it's called a batholith?) which is set to explode and wreak havoc upon the Earth.

Another extinction factor. Great. :hah:

Here's a link
Click to expand...

Basically you got it all there in a nut shell, batholith....not entirely correct but by no means incorrect, tis called a Caldera or 'Super Volcano'....basically America is sitting on a bomb which has in geological terms already had its last tick, we just waiting for the boom now. Its unlikely to cause extinction of us....however 90% of america will be destroyed. If we get hit by a commet straight afterwards then yea basically we all done for.

Strangely as a geologist id like to see this happen in my life time, but as a human, im dreading it. Its a strange mix of emmotions.
 
A Supervolcano almost wiped out the human race???

Hey, did you guys catch that Horizon show yesterday about how Yellowstone National Park is actually a 'Supervolcano' that is overdue for an eruption which will lead to a 'volcanic winter' that will pretty much wipe us all out? :eek: (8:20pm, BBC2, Sat. 25/1.)

They said that about 70-80,000 years ago something similar happened:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/science/horizon/1999/supervolcanoes.shtml
...Climatologists now know that Toba blasted so much ash and sulphur dioxide into the stratosphere that it blocked out the sun, causing the Earth's temperature to plummet. Some geneticists now believe that this had a catastrophic effect on human life, possibly reducing the population on Earth to just a few thousand people. Mankind was pushed to the edge of extinction... and it could happen again.
Click to expand...

But they didn't say any more on that. Was that a single isolated group of people or what? The stuff about the 'population bottleneck' with the world population today not being as genetically diverse as expected suggests that.

So where were human beings before this, modern humans are supposed to have ventured out of Africa 100,000 years ago, right? Any possible ancient civilizations?
 
World Wide Catastrophe and Apocalypse, Due To Natural Causes

I'm sorry Mr Anstey, could you take your Super Volcano cause of world wide disaster and take it over there to the Natural Causes queue, with Meteors, Comets, Super Tidal Waves, Super Earthquakes, Solar Flares, Forest Fires, the stopping of the North Atlantic Conveyor, a New Ice Age, the Melting of the Ice Caps and the extinction of Krill and Earthworms, please.

Oh and get a ticket with a number on it and wait for your number to come up on the indicator. :)
 
Has anyone else noticed how we're overdue on receiving one of these apocalae?


(did I just invent a new word? what is the plural of apocalypse?)


But no, we're overdue a mega-tsunami, we're overdue a super-eruption, we're overdue an asteroid impact, we're overdue "The Big One" and we're even overdue the hyped up but not as scary as it first sounded pole reversal.
Can't the end at least arrive on time?
This is going to be one of those waiting for one then three come along all at once situations isn't it?
 
Re: A Supervolcano almost wiped out the human race???

Justin Anstey said:
Hey, did you guys catch that Horizon show yesterday about how Yellowstone National Park is actually a 'Supervolcano' that is overdue for an eruption...
Click to expand...

Old news. And the Horizon is a pretty old repeat. Yellowstone National Park is a huge caldera volcano, it's showing alarming signs of pressure build up (since even before that Horizon first aired in the late 90s) and Planet Earth is overdue a big caldera eruption. We're also overdue a big comet collision, so I vote that we get it over with and elect for a big comet collision right on top of Yellowstone...
 
You forgot about Super Bugs and those gamma-ray beams thrown out by black-holes too (or whatever they are).

The media does seem to be very keen on telling us about all the different ways we can be destroyed over recent years. Perhaps it's part of a conspiracy to keep us stressed and worried or are they just chasing large viewing figures?

I was just wondering about what happened with human beings between 100,000 and 70,000 years ago, and who and where were those few thousand people after Toba?
 
I seem to have read recently in some journal ( But can not remember which) That there is super/caldera volcano in Italy N. E. of Naples (I used to live there and I never knew about it then.) That is showing disturbing signs of life and some scientists who are after some Sponsorship/money are saying were all doomed.
 
I'm willing to bet that the science based armageddon that gets us is the one that hasn't been thought of yet. Good bet to make, who's gonna be around to collect?
 
Justin :
Just typical media gits gloming onto something that sounds sensational.

They so psychopathic that they just think the idea's cool, they can't concieve that they might be alarming people for no good reason. Heck, just look at their behavior on your local news.
 
Gratuitous Simpsons Quote

Kent Brockman:"Do you think we should go about bashing other people's heads in and feasting on the goo inside?"

The Expert : "Yes, I do, Kent."
 
She's Gonna Blow!

Just snipped this from AOL:

Volcano Threatens Life on Earth

A SUPERVOLCANO simmering beneath one of the planet's areas of outstanding natural beauty has been branded a threat to mankind.

The massive explosive force lies beneath America's Yellowstone National Park - and scientists believe it is ready to erupt.

The volcano is so huge that when it does blow all life will be extinguished within a 300-mile radius, leaving vast swathes of the US devastated.

Thousands of tons of ash and sulphur dioxide will be thrown up into the atmosphere causing acid rain, blocking out sunlight and plunging the world into a bleak frozen era that will threaten all life on earth.

And scientists are warning the 'extinction-level event' is long overdue.

Professor Bill McGuire, of the Benfield Greig Hazard Research Centre, at University College, in London, said: "The Yellowstone supervolcano has been on a regular eruption cycle of 600,000 years.

"The last eruption was 640,000 years ago, so the next is long overdue."

US geologists have discovered a bulge beneath Yellowstone Lake which is 2,000 feet long and has forced the lake bed to rise by 100 feet.

Part of the park has been closed to visitors as ground temperatures have also soared - sparking fears the volcano is set to blow.

Liz Morgan, one of the geologists monitoring the site, said: "The inflated plain is a potential and serious hazard and possible precursor to a large hydrothermal explosion."
Click to expand...

I remember seeing a Horizon TV programme about this a couple of years back, which scared me shitless at the time. Is there any way of predicting when this thing's going to go off, and is there anything at all that could be done about it? Or are we all doomed?
 
Buy heaters.


if it goes off there's not much we could really do, either the eruption itself or the shockwaves following would most likely mean most of the nuclear plants/weapons currently in the US would go up. There's enough there to finish off any survivors of the explosion:(
 
jima said:
Buy heaters.


if it goes off there's not much we could really do, either the eruption itself or the shockwaves following would most likely mean most of the nuclear plants/weapons currently in the US would go up. There's enough there to finish off any survivors of the explosion:(
Click to expand...

Nuclear weapons are really hard to set off, but all the reactors would be in trouble.
Can't they drill a hole to let the pressure off?
 
possibly, if they actually survive the eruption:nonplus:
 
Send in a machine of some kind. Surely money is no object???
 
Inverurie Jones said:
Nuclear weapons are really hard to set off, but all the reactors would be in trouble.
Can't they drill a hole to let the pressure off?
Click to expand...
Nuclear power stations are remarkably stable constructions, and hopefully, the yanks wouldn't be daft enough to build one on a fault line that may be affected by a large volcanic eruption.
A recent tv prog (as usual, I can't remember what channel, or what it was called) featured a 'maverick scientist type' who'd gone against conventional wisdom of predicting eruptions, and come up with a whole new way of predicting using harmonics produced by magma being compressed in subterranean tunnels. It worked, too. So with a bit of warning when the eruption was due, maybe they could drop some HE on the weak spots to release the pressure, and create a more controlled eruption.
 
more likely the gov'll sit round going "too expensive, no evidence of a risk" until it explodes.

just before the power goes out they'll broadcast the message: "we're going to hold an enquiry into this":rolleyes:
 
Filcee said:
Nuclear power stations are remarkably stable constructions, and hopefully, the yanks wouldn't be daft enough to build one on a fault line that may be affected by a large volcanic eruption.
Click to expand...

An eruption that big would probably send tidal waves through solid rock...
 
Inverurie Jones said:
An eruption that big would probably send tidal waves through solid rock...
Click to expand...
Hmmm, not good...
 
Filcee said:
....So with a bit of warning when the eruption was due, maybe they could drop some HE on the weak spots to release the pressure, and create a more controlled eruption.
Click to expand...

I don't think this have ever been tried, so there's the possibility you'd either have no effect whatsover, or just set the whole thing off earlier.

Unless they decide to try the technique out on a small volocano a long way from anywhere, this could be the geological equivalent of dropping a firework into a tank of petrol.

The only real option if you get warning of it going is to evacuate as many people as possible and such down anything potentially nasty like nuclear power plants or chemical works.

The script of the Horizon programme is here:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/science/horizon/1999/supervolcanoes_script.shtml

The really worrying bit is the conclusion:

BILL McGUIRE: This would generate sheets of magma which will be probably rising up to 30, 40, 50 kilometres sending gigantic amounts of debris into the atmosphere.

ROBERT CHRISTIANSEN: Where we are right now would be gone. We would be instantly incinerated.

MICHAEL RAMPINO: Pyroclastic flows will cover that whole region, maybe kill tens of thousands of people in the surrounding area.

BILL McGUIRE: You're getting a, an eruption which we can barely imagine. We've never seen this sort of thing. You wouldn't be able to get within 1,000 kilometres of it when it was going like this.

ROBERT CHRISTIANSEN: The ash carried in the atmosphere and deposited over large areas of the United States, particularly over the great plains, would have devastating effects.

BILL McGUIRE: The area that would be affected is, is the bread basket of North America in effect and it produces an enormous amount of grain on a global scale really. That's, that's, that's the problem and you would see nothing. The harvest would vanish virtually overnight.

ROBERT CHRISTIANSEN: All basic economic activity would certainly be impacted by this and let alone changes in the climate that could possibly be induced.

MICHAEL RAMPINO: The climatic effects globally from that eruption will be produced by the plume of material that goes up into the atmosphere. That'll spread worldwide and will have a cooling effect that will probably knock out the growing season on a global basis. We can't really overstate the effect of these huge eruptions. Civilisation will start to creak at the seams in a sense.

ROBERT SMITH: The fact that we haven't seen one in historic time or documented means the human race really is not attuned to these things because they're such a rare event.

MICHAEL RAMPINO: It's really not a question of if it'll go off, it's a question of when because sooner or later one of these large super eruptions will happen.
Click to expand...

It'll completely overshadow the fall of Pompeii and Herculaneum, and it'll give archeologists plenty to do in 2,000 year's time.

But that's the Hollywood way when you remake something European, relocate the story to the USA and make it BIGGER.
 
It is really only likely to happen some time in the next fifty thousand years or so-
still, a compelling reason to get off the planet.
Let's do it Now!
 
Re: Re: A Supervolcano almost wiped out the human race???

Zygon said:
Old news. And the Horizon is a pretty old repeat. Yellowstone National Park is a huge caldera volcano, it's showing alarming signs of pressure build up (since even before that Horizon first aired in the late 90s) and Planet Earth is overdue a big caldera eruption. We're also overdue a big comet collision, so I vote that we get it over with and elect for a big comet collision right on top of Yellowstone...
Click to expand...
I say that a giant comet should hit the yellowstone caldera at precisely the right time to that they cancel each other out. The comets impact forces going against the explosive forces of the volcano. yeah it's completely ficticious concept but funny to think about lol
 
...Of Natural Causes...

could you take your Super Volcano cause of world wide disaster and take it over there to the Natural Causes queue, with Meteors, Comets, Super Tidal Waves, Super Earthquakes, Solar Flares, Forest Fires, the stopping of the North Atlantic Conveyor, a New Ice Age, the Melting of the Ice Caps
Click to expand...

There is a great deal of evidence, I dare say proof, for cataclysms beyond our imagination during the long history of the Earth. Perhaps there is nothing we can do about something like that but that is no reason to be unaware of the danger. While human civilation has been witness to a few 'minor' cataclysms already, our tenure is brief. Unfortunately, we are currently witnessing a mass extinction event on a par with that of the dinosaurs, which included 90% of all species. Rather than merely witnessing, humans are directly responsible for the carnage. Other species have also pressured their contemporaries out of existence. However, those "winners" also died out, whether by cataclysmic events or due to the fact that they unbalanced the ecosystem.

Face it, the Yellowstone Caldera could explode any day, just as could any number of apocalyptic scenarios take place. Over the course of millions of years, such is inevitable. Proof of this is as solid as the bedrock, where the evidence itself is. Only because our written history records a brief interval of time, it is not common knowledge.
 
Super volcano vs hotspot

There is a bit of misunderstanding in the news around this kind of thing.

Toba was a super volcano.

Yellowstone Park is a hotspot.

Although the latter doesn't sound quite so scary (and wouldn't look so great in the news) it is potentially an order of magnitude more 'problematic'.

Hotspots occur where mantel plumes come to the surface - when they erupt they result in flood basalts which invovle continuous eruptions over a very wide area for a long period of time. The current best examples of hotspots are Iceland and the Hawaiian islands/Emperor sea mount chain (hold a piece of paper over a lighter and move the paper and that is the effect of the hotspot on the production of Emperor sea mount chain). I wouldn't be too worried about Yellowstone Park as an Extinction Level Event as the intitial plume erupted long ago (hence the YP) but it does appear that, under the thick continental crust, it builds up rather than creates a more rolling vulcanism.

A competing theory for the extinction of the dinosaurs points out that flood basalt eruptions (specificlly the Deccan traps eruption in India) can explain all the evidence from the KTE put forward to support a bolid impact - Iridium, nuclear winter, etc.

There is a series of older flood basalts in Siberia (name escapes me) which date to the time of the Permian exctinction and it might be that there is some kind of link - flood basalt activity would be devavstating and the prolonged nature would be like a rolling nuclear winter.

The eruption of mantel plumes is associated with the breaking up of continents. The best example for the UK audience is Iceland. The mantel plume created a triple junction of faults and the successful arms helped create the northern parts of the Atlantic while the failed arm created the North Sea (you can see similar triple points all down the 'join' of the Atlantic - the best other example is the 'corner' in Nigeria - the failed arm also formed a basin for hydrocarbon production like the North Sea - ask Shell ;) ). The flood basalts can be seen across the whole area and are the Tertiary Flood Basalts - various Scottish islands are the product of them (Rhum and Aran?) and the Giants Causeway was also produced at the time (other formations can be seen over the Atlantic at places like Skaargaard (sp?) in Greenland).

They do seem to have been interesting engines of change - you can see flood basalts in the Ethiopian highlands connected to opening of the Red Sea and the failed arm is possibly the most important one to us as without the African Rift Valley we might not be here ;)

OK I'll shut up now ;)

Emps
 
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