Scientists Observing Threat of Developing Supervolcano Beneath US

For thousands of years, volcanic eruptions have shaken human civilizations, such as the historic Mount Vesuvius eruption of 79 AD, which buried the ancient city of Pompeii under meters of volcanic ash and pumice.

In January, a volcanic explosion in Tonga hurled ash 60,000 feet (18,000 meters) into the sky, obliterating a volcanic island. The eruption, which killed at least five individuals, was classified as a once-in-a-thousand-year occurrence with a Volcanic Explosivity Index (VEI) of up to five.

(Photo : Photo by Ulet Ifansasti/Getty Images)

Meanwhile, supervolcanic eruptions have a VEI score of eight, the maximum conceivable.

They explode every 17,000 years and are 1,000 times more powerful than the 1980 Mount St Helens explosion, the worst in US history.

Yellowstone in the United States, Lake Toba in Indonesia, and Lake Taupo in New Zealand are just a few of the world's recognized supervolcanoes.

New Supervolcano Threat

A new supervolcano might be forming beneath the US states of Massachusetts, Vermont, and New Hampshire, according to a groundbreaking 2018 research.

As described in a research published in 2016, the North Appalachian Anomaly is an active, autonomous upwelling of molten rock under the surface.

Scientists at Rutgers University analyzed two years of data from the 2016 research to understand better what was going on under the surface.

"The upwelling we saw is like a hot-air balloon," geophysicist Vadim Levin told Fox News. "We deduce that something is coming up through the deepest section of our earth under New England."

The area where they discovered it is geologically stable and devoid of active volcanoes.

In terms of Earth's geological processes, the magma build-up is recent - tens of millions of years, to be precise.

"It will most likely take millions of years for the upwelling to get where it's heading," Prof Levin concluded.

The next stage is to figure out exactly what's going on.

He said, It's not Yellowstone-like, but it's a distant relative in the sense that something little - a couple of hundred kilometers across - is happening.

Also Read: Scientists Warn of Disastrous Aftermath in Case of Supervolcano Eruption in US

Not Reaching the Surface

The magma bubble may never reach the surface. If it happens, it will very certainly take a very long period.

"Perhaps it didn't have time yet, or maybe it's too little and will never make it," Prof Levin told National Geographic in 2018.

We'll see what happens in 50 million years, say the researchers. When magma from the mantle rises into the crust but cannot break through supervolcanoes form.

In a big, rising magma pool, pressure develops until the crust can no longer withstand it. They can form in hotspots, such as the Yellowstone Caldera, or subduction zones, such as Toba. When they erupt, they can trigger long-term climate disruption and extinction of species.

Historic Eruptions

Mount Tambora's 1815 explosion was the most intense volcanic eruption recorded in human history, resulting in the "year without a summer."

Any possible supereruption with a VEI of 7 would be ten times more powerful than Mount Tambora. The most recent supereruption occurred roughly 26,500 years ago in Taupo, New Zealand.

Most New Zealand was hit by ashfall, with an 18-centimeter coating remaining on the Chatham Islands, 1,000 kilometers distant.

It's unclear how humanity would react if such a catastrophe occurred again, but experts have suggested that humans might not receive much warning when the next supereruption occurs.

"Our work also reveals that no severe events occur before a supereruption," Earth scientist Luca Caricchi said in a report published in PNAS last year.

However, other research at Yellowstone suggests magma reserves might achieve eruptive capability within decades, which scientists would undoubtedly notice.

Related Article: One of the World Largest Mass Extinctions May Have Been Triggered by Volcanic Winter

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