Supervolcano
Encyclopedia
A supervolcano is a volcano
capable of producing a volcanic eruption with an ejecta
volume greater than 1,000 cubic kilometers (240 cubic miles). This is thousands of times larger than most historic volcanic eruptions. Supervolcanoes can occur when magma
in the Earth
rises into the crust
from a hotspot
but is unable to break through the crust. Pressure builds in a large and growing magma pool until the crust is unable to contain the pressure
. They can also form at convergent plate boundaries (for example, Toba
) and continental hotspot locations (for example, Yellowstone).
The Discovery Channel
highlighted six known supervolcanoes:
Although there are only a handful of Quaternary
supervolcanoes, supervolcanic eruptions typically cover huge areas with lava
and volcanic ash
and cause a long-lasting change to weather (such as the triggering of a small ice age
) sufficient to threaten species with extinction
.
popular science
television program Horizon in 2000 to refer to eruptions of this type. That program introduced the subject of large-scale volcanic eruptions to the general public.
Volcanologists and geologists do not refer to "supervolcanoes" in their scientific work, since this is a blanket term that can be applied to a number of different geothermal conditions. Since 2003, however, the term has been used by professionals when presenting to the public. The term megacaldera is sometimes used for caldera
s with supervolcano characteristics, such as the Blake River Megacaldera Complex
in the Abitibi greenstone belt
of Ontario
and Quebec
, Canada
. Eruptions that rate VEI
8 are termed "super eruptions".
Though there is no well-defined minimum explosive size for a "supervolcano", there are at least two types of volcanic eruption that have been identified as supervolcanoes: large igneous provinces and massive eruptions.
, the Siberian Traps
, Deccan Traps
, and the Ontong Java Plateau
are extensive regions of basalt
s on a continental scale resulting from flood basalt
eruptions. When created, these regions often occupy several thousand square kilometres and have volumes on the order of millions of cubic kilometers. In most cases, the lavas are normally laid down over several million years. They do release massive amounts of gases. The Réunion
hotspot
produced the Deccan Traps
about 65 million years ago, coincident with the extinction of the dinosaur
s at the end of the Cretaceous
. Because the largest flood basalt event (the Siberian Traps) occurred around 250 Ma and was coincident with the largest mass extinction in history (end Permian), and the second largest flood basalt event (The Deccan Traps) occurred around 65 Ma and was coincident with the second largest extinction event (end Cretaceous), research continues into the effect of these volcanic outpourings and whether they contributed to mass extinctions.
Such outpourings are not explosive though fire fountains
may occur. Many volcanologists consider that Iceland
may be a LIP that is currently being formed. The last major outpouring occurred in 1783–84 from the Laki fissure which is ~40 km long. An estimated 14 km3 of basaltic lava was poured out during the eruption.
The Ontong Java Plateau
now has an area of about 2 million km2, and the province was at least 50% larger before the Manihiki
and Hikurangi Plateau
s broke away.
(VEI) of 8 are colossal events that throw out at least 1,000 km3 Dense Rock Equivalent
(DRE) of ejecta; VEI-7 events eject at least 100 km3 (DRE).
VEI-7 or 8 eruptions are so powerful that they often form circular caldera
s rather than cone
s because the downward withdrawal of magma causes the overlying mass to collapse and fill the void magma chamber
beneath.
One of the classic calderas is at Glen Coe
in the Grampian Mountains of Scotland. First described by Clough et al. (1909) its geology and volcanic succession have recently been re-analysed in the light of new discoveries. There is an accompanying 1:25000 solid geology map.
By way of comparison, the 1980 Mount St. Helens eruption was at the lower end of VEI-5 with 1.2 km3, and both Mount Pinatubo
in 1991 and Krakatoa
in 1883 were VEI-6 with 10 km3 and 25 km3. respectively.
Estimates of the volume of ejected material are given in parentheses.
8 eruptions have happened in the following locations.
The Lake Toba eruption
plunged the Earth into a volcanic winter
, eradicating an estimated 60% of the human population (although humans managed to survive even in the vicinity of the volcano). However the coincidental agreement in above sources about percentage value of extinction is contrary to differing estimates of human population size at that time.
VEI-7 volcanic events, less colossal but still supermassive, have occurred in the geological past. The only ones in historic times are Tambora
, in 1815, Lake Taupo
(Hatepe), around 180 CE, and possibly Baekdu Mountain
, 969 CE (± 20 years).
Volcano
2. Bedrock3. Conduit 4. Base5. Sill6. Dike7. Layers of ash emitted by the volcano8. Flank| 9. Layers of lava emitted by the volcano10. Throat11. Parasitic cone12. Lava flow13. Vent14. Crater15...
capable of producing a volcanic eruption with an ejecta
Ejecta
Ejecta can mean:*In volcanology, particles that came out of a volcanic vent, traveled through the air or under water, and fell back on the ground surface or on the ocean floor...
volume greater than 1,000 cubic kilometers (240 cubic miles). This is thousands of times larger than most historic volcanic eruptions. Supervolcanoes can occur when magma
Magma
Magma is a mixture of molten rock, volatiles and solids that is found beneath the surface of the Earth, and is expected to exist on other terrestrial planets. Besides molten rock, magma may also contain suspended crystals and dissolved gas and sometimes also gas bubbles. Magma often collects in...
in the Earth
Earth
Earth is the third planet from the Sun, and the densest and fifth-largest of the eight planets in the Solar System. It is also the largest of the Solar System's four terrestrial planets...
rises into the crust
Crust (geology)
In geology, the crust is the outermost solid shell of a rocky planet or natural satellite, which is chemically distinct from the underlying mantle...
from a hotspot
Hotspot (geology)
The places known as hotspots or hot spots in geology are volcanic regions thought to be fed by underlying mantle that is anomalously hot compared with the mantle elsewhere. They may be on, near to, or far from tectonic plate boundaries. There are two hypotheses to explain them...
but is unable to break through the crust. Pressure builds in a large and growing magma pool until the crust is unable to contain the pressure
Pressure
Pressure is the force per unit area applied in a direction perpendicular to the surface of an object. Gauge pressure is the pressure relative to the local atmospheric or ambient pressure.- Definition :...
. They can also form at convergent plate boundaries (for example, Toba
Lake Toba
Lake Toba is a lake and supervolcano. The lake is 100 kilometres long and 30 kilometres wide, and 505 metres at its deepest point. Located in the middle of the northern part of the Indonesian island of Sumatra with a surface elevation of about , the lake stretches from to...
) and continental hotspot locations (for example, Yellowstone).
The Discovery Channel
Discovery Channel
Discovery Channel is an American satellite and cable specialty channel , founded by John Hendricks and distributed by Discovery Communications. It is a publicly traded company run by CEO David Zaslav...
highlighted six known supervolcanoes:
- YellowstoneYellowstone CalderaThe Yellowstone Caldera is the volcanic caldera located in Yellowstone National Park in the United States, sometimes referred to as the Yellowstone Supervolcano. The caldera is located in the northwest corner of Wyoming, in which the vast majority of the park is contained. The major features of...
, - Long ValleyLong Valley CalderaLong Valley Caldera is a depression in eastern California that is adjacent to Mammoth Mountain. The valley is one of the largest calderas on earth, measuring about long and wide . The elevation of the floor of the caldera is in the east and in the west...
, and - Valles Caldera in the United StatesUnited StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
; - Lake TobaLake TobaLake Toba is a lake and supervolcano. The lake is 100 kilometres long and 30 kilometres wide, and 505 metres at its deepest point. Located in the middle of the northern part of the Indonesian island of Sumatra with a surface elevation of about , the lake stretches from to...
, North SumatraNorth SumatraNorth Sumatra is a province of Indonesia on the Sumatra island. Its capital is Medan. It is the most populous Indonesian province outside of Java. It is slightly larger than Sri Lanka in area.- Geography and population :...
, IndonesiaIndonesiaIndonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...
; - Taupo VolcanoTaupo VolcanoLake Taupo, in the centre of New Zealand’s North Island is not recognised as such by most people, but it is actually the Caldera of a large rhyolitic volcano...
, North IslandNorth IslandThe North Island is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, separated from the much less populous South Island by Cook Strait. The island is in area, making it the world's 14th-largest island...
, New ZealandNew ZealandNew Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
; and - Aira CalderaAira CalderaAira Caldera is a gigantic volcanic caldera in the south of the island of Kyūshū, Japan. The caldera was created by a massive eruption, approximately 22,000 years ago. Eruption of voluminous pyroclastic flows accompanied the formation of the 17 × 23 km-wide Aira caldera...
, Kagoshima PrefectureKagoshima Prefectureis a prefecture of Japan located on the island of Kyushu. The capital is the city of Kagoshima.- Geography :Kagoshima Prefecture is located at the southwest tip of Kyushu and includes a chain of islands stretching further to the southwest for a few hundred kilometers...
, KyūshūKyushuis the third largest island of Japan and most southwesterly of its four main islands. Its alternate ancient names include , , and . The historical regional name is referred to Kyushu and its surrounding islands....
, JapanJapanJapan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
.
Although there are only a handful of Quaternary
Quaternary
The Quaternary Period is the most recent of the three periods of the Cenozoic Era in the geologic time scale of the ICS. It follows the Neogene Period, spanning 2.588 ± 0.005 million years ago to the present...
supervolcanoes, supervolcanic eruptions typically cover huge areas with lava
Lava
Lava refers both to molten rock expelled by a volcano during an eruption and the resulting rock after solidification and cooling. This molten rock is formed in the interior of some planets, including Earth, and some of their satellites. When first erupted from a volcanic vent, lava is a liquid at...
and volcanic ash
Volcanic ash
Volcanic ash consists of small tephra, which are bits of pulverized rock and glass created by volcanic eruptions, less than in diameter. There are three mechanisms of volcanic ash formation: gas release under decompression causing magmatic eruptions; thermal contraction from chilling on contact...
and cause a long-lasting change to weather (such as the triggering of a small ice age
Ice age
An ice age or, more precisely, glacial age, is a generic geological period of long-term reduction in the temperature of the Earth's surface and atmosphere, resulting in the presence or expansion of continental ice sheets, polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers...
) sufficient to threaten species with extinction
Extinction event
An extinction event is a sharp decrease in the diversity and abundance of macroscopic life. They occur when the rate of extinction increases with respect to the rate of speciation...
.
Terminology
The term "supervolcano" was originally used in the BBCBBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
popular science
Popular science
Popular science, sometimes called literature of science, is interpretation of science intended for a general audience. While science journalism focuses on recent scientific developments, popular science is broad-ranging, often written by scientists as well as journalists, and is presented in many...
television program Horizon in 2000 to refer to eruptions of this type. That program introduced the subject of large-scale volcanic eruptions to the general public.
Volcanologists and geologists do not refer to "supervolcanoes" in their scientific work, since this is a blanket term that can be applied to a number of different geothermal conditions. Since 2003, however, the term has been used by professionals when presenting to the public. The term megacaldera is sometimes used for caldera
Caldera
A caldera is a cauldron-like volcanic feature usually formed by the collapse of land following a volcanic eruption, such as the one at Yellowstone National Park in the US. They are sometimes confused with volcanic craters...
s with supervolcano characteristics, such as the Blake River Megacaldera Complex
Blake River Megacaldera Complex
The Blake River Megacaldera Complex, also called the Blake River Group, is a giant subaqueous caldera cluster or a nested caldera system that spans across the Ontario-Quebec border in Canada....
in the Abitibi greenstone belt
Abitibi greenstone belt
The Abitibi greenstone belt is a 2,800-2,600 million year old greenstone belt that spans across the Ontario-Quebec border in Canada. It is mostly made of volcanic rocks, but also includes ultramafic rocks, mafic intrusions, granitoid rocks, and early and middle Precambrian sediments.-Geographical...
of Ontario
Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
and Quebec
Quebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
. Eruptions that rate VEI
Volcanic Explosivity Index
The Volcanic Explosivity Index was devised by Chris Newhall of the U.S. Geological Survey and Stephen Self at the University of Hawaii in 1982 to provide a relative measure of the explosiveness of volcanic eruptions....
8 are termed "super eruptions".
Though there is no well-defined minimum explosive size for a "supervolcano", there are at least two types of volcanic eruption that have been identified as supervolcanoes: large igneous provinces and massive eruptions.
Large igneous provinces
Large igneous provinces (LIP) such as IcelandIceland
Iceland , described as the Republic of Iceland, is a Nordic and European island country in the North Atlantic Ocean, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Iceland also refers to the main island of the country, which contains almost all the population and almost all the land area. The country has a population...
, the Siberian Traps
Siberian Traps
The Siberian Traps form a large region of volcanic rock, known as a large igneous province, in the Russian region of Siberia. The massive eruptive event which formed the traps, one of the largest known volcanic events of the last 500 million years of Earth's geological history, continued for...
, Deccan Traps
Deccan Traps
The Deccan Traps are a large igneous province located on the Deccan Plateau of west-central India and one of the largest volcanic features on Earth. They consist of multiple layers of solidified flood basalt that together are more than thick and cover an area of and a volume of...
, and the Ontong Java Plateau
Ontong Java Plateau
The Ontong Java Plateau is a huge oceanic plateau located in the Pacific Ocean, lying north of the Solomon Islands. The plateau covers an area of approximately , or roughly the size of Alaska, and reaches a thickness of up to . The plateau is of volcanic origin, composed mostly of flood basalts...
are extensive regions of basalt
Basalt
Basalt is a common extrusive volcanic rock. It is usually grey to black and fine-grained due to rapid cooling of lava at the surface of a planet. It may be porphyritic containing larger crystals in a fine matrix, or vesicular, or frothy scoria. Unweathered basalt is black or grey...
s on a continental scale resulting from flood basalt
Flood basalt
A flood basalt or trap basalt is the result of a giant volcanic eruption or series of eruptions that coats large stretches of land or the ocean floor with basalt lava. Flood basalts have occurred on continental scales in prehistory, creating great plateaus and mountain ranges...
eruptions. When created, these regions often occupy several thousand square kilometres and have volumes on the order of millions of cubic kilometers. In most cases, the lavas are normally laid down over several million years. They do release massive amounts of gases. The Réunion
Réunion
Réunion is a French island with a population of about 800,000 located in the Indian Ocean, east of Madagascar, about south west of Mauritius, the nearest island.Administratively, Réunion is one of the overseas departments of France...
hotspot
Hotspot (geology)
The places known as hotspots or hot spots in geology are volcanic regions thought to be fed by underlying mantle that is anomalously hot compared with the mantle elsewhere. They may be on, near to, or far from tectonic plate boundaries. There are two hypotheses to explain them...
produced the Deccan Traps
Deccan Traps
The Deccan Traps are a large igneous province located on the Deccan Plateau of west-central India and one of the largest volcanic features on Earth. They consist of multiple layers of solidified flood basalt that together are more than thick and cover an area of and a volume of...
about 65 million years ago, coincident with the extinction of the dinosaur
Dinosaur
Dinosaurs are a diverse group of animals of the clade and superorder Dinosauria. They were the dominant terrestrial vertebrates for over 160 million years, from the late Triassic period until the end of the Cretaceous , when the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event led to the extinction of...
s at the end of the Cretaceous
Cretaceous
The Cretaceous , derived from the Latin "creta" , usually abbreviated K for its German translation Kreide , is a geologic period and system from circa to million years ago. In the geologic timescale, the Cretaceous follows the Jurassic period and is followed by the Paleogene period of the...
. Because the largest flood basalt event (the Siberian Traps) occurred around 250 Ma and was coincident with the largest mass extinction in history (end Permian), and the second largest flood basalt event (The Deccan Traps) occurred around 65 Ma and was coincident with the second largest extinction event (end Cretaceous), research continues into the effect of these volcanic outpourings and whether they contributed to mass extinctions.
Such outpourings are not explosive though fire fountains
Lava fountain
A lava fountain is a volcanic phenomenon in which lava is forcefully but non-explosively ejected from a crater, vent, or fissure. Lava fountains may reach heights of up to . They may occur as a series of short pulses, or a continuous jet of lava. They are commonly seen in Hawaiian eruptions.-See...
may occur. Many volcanologists consider that Iceland
Iceland
Iceland , described as the Republic of Iceland, is a Nordic and European island country in the North Atlantic Ocean, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Iceland also refers to the main island of the country, which contains almost all the population and almost all the land area. The country has a population...
may be a LIP that is currently being formed. The last major outpouring occurred in 1783–84 from the Laki fissure which is ~40 km long. An estimated 14 km3 of basaltic lava was poured out during the eruption.
The Ontong Java Plateau
Ontong Java Plateau
The Ontong Java Plateau is a huge oceanic plateau located in the Pacific Ocean, lying north of the Solomon Islands. The plateau covers an area of approximately , or roughly the size of Alaska, and reaches a thickness of up to . The plateau is of volcanic origin, composed mostly of flood basalts...
now has an area of about 2 million km2, and the province was at least 50% larger before the Manihiki
Manihiki Plateau
The Manihiki Plateau is an oceanic plateau in the southwest Pacific Ocean. The Manihiki Plateau was formed by volcanic activity 125 to 120 million years ago during the mid-Cretaceous period at a triple junction plate boundary called the Tongareva triple junction....
and Hikurangi Plateau
Hikurangi Plateau
Hikurangi Plateau is an Early Cretaceous basaltic oceanic plateau in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. The portion of the plateau exposed on the seafloor has an area of 350,000 km2, and including the portions subducted beneath the...
s broke away.
Massive explosive eruptions
Eruptions with a Volcanic Explosivity IndexVolcanic Explosivity Index
The Volcanic Explosivity Index was devised by Chris Newhall of the U.S. Geological Survey and Stephen Self at the University of Hawaii in 1982 to provide a relative measure of the explosiveness of volcanic eruptions....
(VEI) of 8 are colossal events that throw out at least 1,000 km3 Dense Rock Equivalent
Dense-rock equivalent
Dense-rock equivalent is a volcanologic calculation used to estimate volcanic eruption volume. One of the widely accepted measures of the size of a historic or prehistoric eruption is the volume of magma ejected as pumice and volcanic ash, known as tephra during an explosive phase of the eruption,...
(DRE) of ejecta; VEI-7 events eject at least 100 km3 (DRE).
VEI-7 or 8 eruptions are so powerful that they often form circular caldera
Caldera
A caldera is a cauldron-like volcanic feature usually formed by the collapse of land following a volcanic eruption, such as the one at Yellowstone National Park in the US. They are sometimes confused with volcanic craters...
s rather than cone
Volcanic cone
Volcanic cones are among the simplest volcanic formations. They are built by ejecta from a volcanic vent, piling up around the vent in the shape of a cone with a central crater. Volcanic cones are of different types, depending upon the nature and size of the fragments ejected during the eruption...
s because the downward withdrawal of magma causes the overlying mass to collapse and fill the void magma chamber
Magma chamber
A magma chamber is a large underground pool of molten rock found beneath the surface of the Earth. The molten rock in such a chamber is under great pressure, and given enough time, that pressure can gradually fracture the rock around it creating outlets for the magma...
beneath.
One of the classic calderas is at Glen Coe
Glen Coe
Glen Coe is a glen in the Highlands of Scotland. It lies in the southern part of the Lochaber committee area of Highland Council, and was formerly part of the county of Argyll. It is often considered one of the most spectacular and beautiful places in Scotland, and is a part of the designated...
in the Grampian Mountains of Scotland. First described by Clough et al. (1909) its geology and volcanic succession have recently been re-analysed in the light of new discoveries. There is an accompanying 1:25000 solid geology map.
By way of comparison, the 1980 Mount St. Helens eruption was at the lower end of VEI-5 with 1.2 km3, and both Mount Pinatubo
Mount Pinatubo
Mount Pinatubo is an active stratovolcano located on the island of Luzon, near the tripoint of the Philippine provinces of Zambales, Tarlac, and Pampanga. It is located in the Tri-Cabusilan Mountain range separating the west coast of Luzon from the central plains, and is west of the dormant and...
in 1991 and Krakatoa
Krakatoa
Krakatoa is a volcanic island made of a'a lava in the Sunda Strait between the islands of Java and Sumatra in Indonesia. The name is used for the island group, the main island , and the volcano as a whole. The island exploded in 1883, killing approximately 40,000 people, although some estimates...
in 1883 were VEI-6 with 10 km3 and 25 km3. respectively.
Known super eruptions
VEI 8
VEIVolcanic Explosivity Index
The Volcanic Explosivity Index was devised by Chris Newhall of the U.S. Geological Survey and Stephen Self at the University of Hawaii in 1982 to provide a relative measure of the explosiveness of volcanic eruptions....
8 eruptions have happened in the following locations.
- Lake TaupoLake TaupoLake Taupo is a lake situated in the North Island of New Zealand. With a surface area of , it is the largest lake by surface area in New Zealand, and the second largest freshwater lake by surface area in geopolitical Oceania after Lake Murray ....
, Taupo Volcanic ZoneTaupo Volcanic ZoneThe Taupo Volcanic Zone is a highly active volcanic V shaped area in the North Island of New Zealand that is spreading east -west at the rate of about 8mm per year...
, North IslandNorth IslandThe North Island is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, separated from the much less populous South Island by Cook Strait. The island is in area, making it the world's 14th-largest island...
, New ZealandNew ZealandNew Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
—Oruanui eruptionOruanui eruptionThe Oruanui eruption of New Zealand's Taupo Volcano was the world's largest known eruption in the past 70,000 years, with a Volcanic Explosivity Index of 8...
~26,500 years ago (~1,170 km³) - Lake TobaLake TobaLake Toba is a lake and supervolcano. The lake is 100 kilometres long and 30 kilometres wide, and 505 metres at its deepest point. Located in the middle of the northern part of the Indonesian island of Sumatra with a surface elevation of about , the lake stretches from to...
, SumatraSumatraSumatra is an island in western Indonesia, westernmost of the Sunda Islands. It is the largest island entirely in Indonesia , and the sixth largest island in the world at 473,481 km2 with a population of 50,365,538...
, IndonesiaIndonesiaIndonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...
—~74,000 years ago (~2,800 km³) - WhakamaruWhakamaruWhakamaru is a town in the central region of the North Island of New Zealand. The Maori words 'whaka' and 'maru' literally mean to give shelter to, or safeguard....
, Taupo Volcanic Zone, North Island, New Zealand—Whakamaru Ignimbrite/Mount Curl Tephra ~254,000 years ago (1,200–2,000 km³) - Yellowstone CalderaYellowstone CalderaThe Yellowstone Caldera is the volcanic caldera located in Yellowstone National Park in the United States, sometimes referred to as the Yellowstone Supervolcano. The caldera is located in the northwest corner of Wyoming, in which the vast majority of the park is contained. The major features of...
, Lava Creek TuffLava Creek TuffLava Creek Tuff is a tuff formation, in Wyoming, created when the Yellowstone Caldera erupted about 640,000 years ago.The Lava Creek Tuff distributed in a radial pattern around the caldera and is formed of of ash in pyroclastic flows....
, WyomingWyomingWyoming is a state in the mountain region of the Western United States. The western two thirds of the state is covered mostly with the mountain ranges and rangelands in the foothills of the Eastern Rocky Mountains, while the eastern third of the state is high elevation prairie known as the High...
, United StatesUnited StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, Yellowstone hotspotYellowstone hotspotThe Yellowstone hotspot, also referred to as the Snake River Plain-Yellowstone hotspot, is a volcanic hotspot responsible for large scale volcanism in Oregon, Nevada, Idaho, and Wyoming, United States. It created the eastern Snake River Plain through a succession of caldera forming eruptions...
—640,000 years ago (1,000 km³) - Island Park CalderaIsland Park CalderaThe volcanic feature commonly called the Island Park Caldera in the states of Idaho and Wyoming, U.S., is actually two calderas, one nested inside the other. The Island Park Caldera is the older and much larger caldera, with approximate dimensions of 58 miles by 40 miles...
, Huckleberry Ridge TuffHuckleberry Ridge TuffThe Huckleberry Ridge Tuff is a tuff formation created by the Huckleberry Ridge eruption that formed the Island Park Caldera that lies partially in Yellowstone Park, Wyoming and stretches westward into Idaho into a region known as Island Park...
, IdahoIdahoIdaho is a state in the Rocky Mountain area of the United States. The state's largest city and capital is Boise. Residents are called "Idahoans". Idaho was admitted to the Union on July 3, 1890, as the 43rd state....
/WyomingWyomingWyoming is a state in the mountain region of the Western United States. The western two thirds of the state is covered mostly with the mountain ranges and rangelands in the foothills of the Eastern Rocky Mountains, while the eastern third of the state is high elevation prairie known as the High...
, United States, Yellowstone hotspotYellowstone hotspotThe Yellowstone hotspot, also referred to as the Snake River Plain-Yellowstone hotspot, is a volcanic hotspot responsible for large scale volcanism in Oregon, Nevada, Idaho, and Wyoming, United States. It created the eastern Snake River Plain through a succession of caldera forming eruptions...
—2.1 million years ago (2,500 km³) - Cerro Galan, Catamarca ProvinceCatamarca ProvinceCatamarca is a province of Argentina, located in the northwest of the country. The province has a population of 334,568 as per the , and covers an area of 102,602 km². Its literacy rate is 95.5%. Neighbouring provinces are : Salta, Tucumán, Santiago del Estero, Córdoba, and La Rioja...
, ArgentinaArgentinaArgentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
—2.5 million years ago (1,050 km³) - Atana Ignimbrite, Pacana CalderaPacana CalderaLa Pacana Caldera is the most important caldera of the La Pacana Complex in the Antofagasta Region, northern of Chile, East of the Salar de Atacama. The La Pacana Complex belongs to the Altiplano-Puna Volcanic Complex...
, northern Chile—4 million years ago (2,500 km³) - Heise volcanic field, Kilgore Tuff, Idaho, United States, Yellowstone hotspot—4.5 million years ago (1,800 km³).
- Heise volcanic field, Blacktail Tuff, Idaho, United States, Yellowstone hotspot—6.6 million years ago (1,500 km³).
- La Garita CalderaLa Garita CalderaLa Garita Caldera is a large volcanic caldera located in the San Juan volcanic field in the San Juan Mountains near the town of Creede in southwestern Colorado, United States. It lies to the west of the town of La Garita, Colorado...
, ColoradoColoradoColorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...
, United States—Source of the enormous eruption of the Fish Canyon Tuff ~27.8 million years ago (~5,000 km³)
The Lake Toba eruption
Toba catastrophe theory
The Toba supereruption was a supervolcanic eruption that occurred some time between 69,000 and 77,000 years ago at Lake Toba . It is recognized as one of the Earth's largest known eruptions...
plunged the Earth into a volcanic winter
Volcanic winter
A volcanic winter is the reduction in temperature caused by volcanic ash and droplets of sulfuric acid obscuring the sun and raising Earth's albedo after a large particularly explosive type of volcanic eruption...
, eradicating an estimated 60% of the human population (although humans managed to survive even in the vicinity of the volcano). However the coincidental agreement in above sources about percentage value of extinction is contrary to differing estimates of human population size at that time.
VEI 7
Mount Tambora
Mount Tambora is an active stratovolcano, also known as a composite volcano, on the island of Sumbawa, Indonesia. Sumbawa is flanked both to the north and south by oceanic crust, and Tambora was formed by the active subduction zone beneath it. This raised Mount Tambora as high as , making it...
, in 1815, Lake Taupo
Lake Taupo
Lake Taupo is a lake situated in the North Island of New Zealand. With a surface area of , it is the largest lake by surface area in New Zealand, and the second largest freshwater lake by surface area in geopolitical Oceania after Lake Murray ....
(Hatepe), around 180 CE, and possibly Baekdu Mountain
Baekdu Mountain
Baekdu Mountain, also known in China as Changbai Mountain and Baitou Mountain , is a volcanic mountain on the border between North Korea and China, located at...
, 969 CE (± 20 years).
- TamboraMount TamboraMount Tambora is an active stratovolcano, also known as a composite volcano, on the island of Sumbawa, Indonesia. Sumbawa is flanked both to the north and south by oceanic crust, and Tambora was formed by the active subduction zone beneath it. This raised Mount Tambora as high as , making it...
, Sumbawa Island, West Nusa TenggaraWest Nusa TenggaraWest Nusa Tenggara is a province in south-central Indonesia. The province encompasses the western portion of the Lesser Sunda Islands, except for Bali as the Wallace line running the length of the Lombok Strait forms the western boundary of the province....
, IndonesiaIndonesiaIndonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...
—1815 (160 km³), the following year, 1816, became known as the "Year Without a SummerYear Without a SummerThe Year Without a Summer was 1816, in which severe summer climate abnormalities caused average global temperatures to decrease by about 0.4–0.7 °C , resulting in major food shortages across the Northern Hemisphere...
" - Baekdu MountainBaekdu MountainBaekdu Mountain, also known in China as Changbai Mountain and Baitou Mountain , is a volcanic mountain on the border between North Korea and China, located at...
, ChinaChinaChinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
/North KoreaNorth KoreaThe Democratic People’s Republic of Korea , , is a country in East Asia, occupying the northern half of the Korean Peninsula. Its capital and largest city is Pyongyang. The Korean Demilitarized Zone serves as the buffer zone between North Korea and South Korea...
—~969 CE (96±19 km³) - Lake TaupoLake TaupoLake Taupo is a lake situated in the North Island of New Zealand. With a surface area of , it is the largest lake by surface area in New Zealand, and the second largest freshwater lake by surface area in geopolitical Oceania after Lake Murray ....
, Taupo Volcanic ZoneTaupo Volcanic ZoneThe Taupo Volcanic Zone is a highly active volcanic V shaped area in the North Island of New Zealand that is spreading east -west at the rate of about 8mm per year...
, North IslandNorth IslandThe North Island is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, separated from the much less populous South Island by Cook Strait. The island is in area, making it the world's 14th-largest island...
, New ZealandNew ZealandNew Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
—Hatepe eruptionHatepe eruptionThe Hatepe eruption around the year 180 CE was Lake Taupo's most recent major eruption, and New Zealand's largest eruption during the last 20,000 years. It ejected some of material , of which was ejected in the space of a few minutes...
~181 CECECE, Ce or ce may refer to:* Common Era , secular alternative to Anno Domini * Cerium, chemical element with symbol Ce- Titles :* Chief Executive, administrative head of some regions...
(120 km³) - Kikai CalderaKikai Calderais a massive, mostly submerged caldera up to in diameter in the Ōsumi Islands of Kagoshima prefecture, Japan. It is the remains of the ancient eruption of a gigantic volcano....
, Ryukyu IslandsRyukyu IslandsThe , also known as the , is a chain of islands in the western Pacific, on the eastern limit of the East China Sea and to the southwest of the island of Kyushu in Japan. From about 1829 until the mid 20th century, they were alternately called Luchu, Loochoo, or Lewchew, akin to the Mandarin...
, JapanJapanJapan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
—~6,300 years ago (~4,300 BCE) (150 km³) - Macauley IslandMacauley IslandMacauley Island is a volcanic island in New Zealand's Kermadec Islands, approximately halfway between New Zealand's North Island and Tonga in the southwest Pacific Ocean....
, Kermadec IslandsKermadec IslandsThe Kermadec Islands are a subtropical island arc in the South Pacific Ocean northeast of New Zealand's North Island, and a similar distance southwest of Tonga...
, New Zealand—~6,300 years ago (~4,300 BCE) (100 km³) - Aira CalderaAira CalderaAira Caldera is a gigantic volcanic caldera in the south of the island of Kyūshū, Japan. The caldera was created by a massive eruption, approximately 22,000 years ago. Eruption of voluminous pyroclastic flows accompanied the formation of the 17 × 23 km-wide Aira caldera...
, KyūshūKyushuis the third largest island of Japan and most southwesterly of its four main islands. Its alternate ancient names include , , and . The historical regional name is referred to Kyushu and its surrounding islands....
, Japan—~22,000 years ago (~110 km³) - Rotoiti Ignimbrite, Taupo Volcanic Zone, North Island, New Zealand—~50,000 years ago (~240 km³)
- Campi FlegreiCampi FlegreiThe Phlegraean Fields, also known as Campi Flegrei, , is a large wide caldera situated to the west of Naples, Italy. It was declared a regional park in 2003. Lying mostly underwater, the area comprises 24 craters and volcanic edifices. Hydrothermal activity can be observed at Lucrino, Agnano and...
, NaplesNaplesNaples is a city in Southern Italy, situated on the country's west coast by the Gulf of Naples. Lying between two notable volcanic regions, Mount Vesuvius and the Phlegraean Fields, it is the capital of the region of Campania and of the province of Naples...
, ItalyItalyItaly , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
—39,280 ± 110 years ago (500 km³) - AsoMount Asois the largest active volcano in Japan, and is among the largest in the world. It stands in Aso Kujū National Park in Kumamoto Prefecture, on the island of Kyūshū. Its peak is 1592 m above sea level. Aso has one of the largest caldera in the world...
, Kyūshū, Japan—four large explosive eruptions between 300,000 to 80,000 years ago (last one >600 km³) - Reporoa CalderaReporoa calderaThe Reporoa caldera is a 10 km by 15 km caldera in New Zealand's Taupo Volcanic Zone. It formed some 230,000 years ago, in a large eruption that deposited the approximately 100 km3 Kaingaroa Ignimbrites. It contains three rhyolitic lava domes and the active Reporoa geothermal field...
, Taupo Volcanic Zone, North Island, New Zealand—230,000 years ago (~100 km³) - Mamaku Ignimbrite, Rotorua CalderaRotorua CalderaThe Rotorua Caldera is one of several large volcanoes located in the Taupo Volcanic Zone on the North Island of New Zealand. Its last major eruption was about 240,000 years ago. At this time, the Mamaku ignimbrite, covering about 4000 square km, was deposited. After the eruption, the magma...
, Taupo Volcanic Zone, North Island, New Zealand—240,000 years ago (>280 km³) - Matahina Ignimbrite, Haroharo Caldera, Taupo Volcanic Zone, North Island, New Zealand—280,000 years ago (~120 km³)
- Long Valley CalderaLong Valley CalderaLong Valley Caldera is a depression in eastern California that is adjacent to Mammoth Mountain. The valley is one of the largest calderas on earth, measuring about long and wide . The elevation of the floor of the caldera is in the east and in the west...
, Bishop TuffBishop TuffThe Bishop Tuff is a welded tuff that formed 767100 ± 900 years ago as a rhyolitic pyroclastic flow during the eruption that created the Long Valley Caldera. Large outcrops of the tuff are located in Inyo and Mono Counties, California, United States....
, CaliforniaCaliforniaCalifornia is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, United StatesUnited StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
—~760,000 years ago (600 km³) - Valles Caldera, New MexicoNew MexicoNew Mexico is a state located in the southwest and western regions of the United States. New Mexico is also usually considered one of the Mountain States. With a population density of 16 per square mile, New Mexico is the sixth-most sparsely inhabited U.S...
, United States—~1.15 million years ago (~600 km³) - MangakinoMangakinoMangakino is a small town on the banks of the Waikato River in the North Island of New Zealand. It is located close to the hydroelectric power station at Lake Maraetai, southeast of Hamilton. Its population in 2001 was 1257...
, Taupo Volcanic Zone, North Island, New Zealand—three eruptions from 0.97 to 1.23 million years ago (each > 300 km³) - Henry's Fork CalderaHenry's Fork CalderaThe Henry's Fork Caldera in Idaho is a caldera located an area known as Island Park west of Yellowstone National Park. The caldera was formed by one of the world's supervolcanos in an eruption of more than 280 cubic kilometers 1.3 million years BP, and is the source of the Mesa Falls Tuff.The...
, Mesa Falls TuffMesa Falls TuffThe Mesa Falls Tuff is a tuff formation created by the Mesa Falls eruption that formed the Henry's Fork Caldera that is located in Idaho west of Yellowstone Park. It is the second most recent caldera forming eruption from the Yellowstone hotspot and ejected of 280 km³ of material...
, IdahoIdahoIdaho is a state in the Rocky Mountain area of the United States. The state's largest city and capital is Boise. Residents are called "Idahoans". Idaho was admitted to the Union on July 3, 1890, as the 43rd state....
, United States, Yellowstone hotspotYellowstone hotspotThe Yellowstone hotspot, also referred to as the Snake River Plain-Yellowstone hotspot, is a volcanic hotspot responsible for large scale volcanism in Oregon, Nevada, Idaho, and Wyoming, United States. It created the eastern Snake River Plain through a succession of caldera forming eruptions...
—1.3 million years ago (280 km³) - Karymshina, Kamchatka, Russia—1.78±0.02 million years ago
- Pastos Grandes Ignimbrite, Pastos Grandes CalderaPastos Grandes CalderaPastos Grandes Caldera or Cerro Pastos Grandes is an old caldera in the Potosí Department, Bolivia, which belongs to the Altiplano-Puna Volcanic Complex. Lagunas Pastos Grandes, Khara and Cachi may be remnants of a greater caldera lake. Size of the caldera: 50 km x 40 km. A large ...
—2.9 million years ago (>820 km³) - Heise volcanic field, Walcott Tuff, Idaho, United States, Yellowstone hotspot—6.4 million years ago (750 km³).
- Bruneau-Jarbidge, IdahoIdahoIdaho is a state in the Rocky Mountain area of the United States. The state's largest city and capital is Boise. Residents are called "Idahoans". Idaho was admitted to the Union on July 3, 1890, as the 43rd state....
, United StatesUnited StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, Yellowstone hotspot—~10–12 million years ago (>250 km³) (responsible for the Ashfall Fossil BedsAshfall Fossil BedsThe Ashfall Fossil Beds of Antelope County in northeastern Nebraska are among the rare preservation sites called lagerstätten, which preserve ecological "snapshots" from a moment in time, due to extraordinary local conditions that have preserved a range of fossilized organisms undisturbed.The...
~1,600 km to the east) - Bennett Lake Volcanic ComplexBennett Lake Volcanic ComplexThe Bennett Lake Volcanic Complex is a huge 50 million year old extinct caldera complex that spans across the BC-Yukon border in Canada. The caldera complex is surrounded by granitic rocks containing pendants....
, British ColumbiaBritish ColumbiaBritish Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...
/YukonYukonYukon is the westernmost and smallest of Canada's three federal territories. It was named after the Yukon River. The word Yukon means "Great River" in Gwich’in....
, CanadaCanadaCanada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
—~50 million years ago (850 km³)
Ongoing studies
- A Campanian ignimbriteIgnimbriteAn ignimbrite is the deposit of a pyroclastic density current, or pyroclastic flow, a hot suspension of particles and gases that flows rapidly from a volcano, driven by a greater density than the surrounding atmosphere....
super-eruption around 40,000 years ago has been hypothesised as having contributed to the demise of the NeanderthalNeanderthalThe Neanderthal is an extinct member of the Homo genus known from Pleistocene specimens found in Europe and parts of western and central Asia...
, based on evidence from Mezmaiskaya caveMezmaiskaya caveMezmaiskaya Cave is a cave at 44° 10' N 40° 00' E overlooking the right bank of the Sukhoi Kurdzhips in the southern Russian Republic of Adygea, located in the northwestern foothills of the Caucasus Mountains. Preliminary excavations recovered Mousterian artefacts, dated to about 35,000 B.P. and...
in the Caucasus MountainsCaucasus MountainsThe Caucasus Mountains is a mountain system in Eurasia between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea in the Caucasus region .The Caucasus Mountains includes:* the Greater Caucasus Mountain Range and* the Lesser Caucasus Mountains....
of southern Russia.
Media portrayal
- In 2005, a two-part television docudramaDocudramaIn film, television programming and staged theatre, docudrama is a documentary-style genre that features dramatized re-enactments of actual historical events. As a neologism, the term is often confused with docufiction....
called Supervolcano aired on BBC OneBBC OneBBC One is the flagship television channel of the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It was launched on 2 November 1936 as the BBC Television Service, and was the world's first regular television service with a high level of image resolution...
, the Discovery ChannelDiscovery ChannelDiscovery Channel is an American satellite and cable specialty channel , founded by John Hendricks and distributed by Discovery Communications. It is a publicly traded company run by CEO David Zaslav...
, and other television networks worldwide.
- NovaNOVA (TV series)Nova is a popular science television series from the U.S. produced by WGBH Boston. It can be seen on the Public Broadcasting Service in the United States, and in more than 100 other countries...
featured an episode "Mystery of the Megavolcano" in September 2006 examining such eruptions in the last 100,000 years.
- In 2006, the Sci Fi ChannelSyfySyfy , formerly known as the Sci-Fi Channel and SCI FI, is an American cable television channel featuring science fiction, supernatural, fantasy, reality, paranormal, wrestling, and horror programming. Launched on September 24, 1992, it is part of the entertainment conglomerate NBCUniversal, a...
aired the documentary Countdown to DoomsdayCountdown to Doomsday (documentary)Countdown to Doomsday is an American documentary television film that originally aired in 2006 on the Sci Fi Channel. The program features various risks to civilization, humans and planet Earth. Hosted by Matt Lauer, the documentary features 10 different scenarios that could bring an end to all...
which featured a segment called "Supervolcano". The same year, ABC NewsABC NewsABC News is the news gathering and broadcasting division of American broadcast television network ABC, a subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company...
aired the documentary Last Days on EarthLast Days on EarthThe Last Days on Earth is a 20/20 science special which aired on ABC in August 2006 and has been aired on The History Channel. The show counts down the seven most likely ways in which the world could end, including gamma ray bursts, machine rule, asteroids, super volcanoes, nuclear war, pandemic...
, which featured a segment called "Supervolcano".
- In the episode "Humanity" of Young JusticeYoung Justice (TV series)Young Justice is an American animated television series created by Greg Weisman and Brandon Vietti for Cartoon Network. Despite its title, it is not an adaptation of Todd Dezago and Todd Nauck's Young Justice comic series, but rather an adaptation of the entire DC Universe with a focus on young...
, the team must relieve the pressure of the Yellowstone CalderaYellowstone CalderaThe Yellowstone Caldera is the volcanic caldera located in Yellowstone National Park in the United States, sometimes referred to as the Yellowstone Supervolcano. The caldera is located in the northwest corner of Wyoming, in which the vast majority of the park is contained. The major features of...
supervolcano caused by Red VolcanoRed VolcanoRed Volcano is a fictional character, a comic book android supervillain published by DC Comics. He first appeared in DC Universe #0 , and was created by Grant Morrison, Gail Simone and Aaron Lopresti.-Publication history:...
before an eruption with the potential for mass extinction takes place.
See also
- Risks to civilization, humans and planet EarthRisks to civilization, humans and planet EarthVarious existential risks could threaten humankind as a whole, have adverse consequences for the course of human civilization, or even cause the end of planet Earth.-Types of risks:...
- Toba catastrophe theoryToba catastrophe theoryThe Toba supereruption was a supervolcanic eruption that occurred some time between 69,000 and 77,000 years ago at Lake Toba . It is recognized as one of the Earth's largest known eruptions...
- Timetable of major worldwide volcanic eruptionsTimetable of major worldwide volcanic eruptionsThis article is a list of volcanic eruptions of approximately at least magnitude 6 on the Volcanic Explosivity Index or equivalent sulfur dioxide emission around the Quaternary period. Some cooled the global climate; the extent of this effect depends on the amount of sulfur dioxide emitted...
External links
- Overview and Transcript of the original BBC program
- Yellowstone Supervolcano and Map of Supervolcanoes Around The World
- USGS Fact Sheet – Steam Explosions, Earthquakes, and Volcanic Eruptions – What's in Yellowstone's Future?
- Discovery Channel's site on "Supervolcano"
- Scientific American's The Secrets of Supervolcanoes