https://amp.cnn.com/cnn/2018/12/25/asia/indonesia-tsunami-intl/index.html?__twitter_impression=true
Should we worry more about these Super-Volcanoes like Krakatoa and Yellowstone?
Potential for harm and disaster? Move populations away from the local area?
We sit and wait for disasters- why no forward planning and strategy for mitigating manoeuvres ?
We know enough to identify high-risk areas- why no action?
Our inaction is very disturbing. We are sitting ducks for disaster. Our leaders are not leading. The priorities are wrong.
The warning bells are ringing, but no one is listening
Some ways of living with volcanoes, with answer to some of your questions:
1. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jvolgeores.2007.12.007
2. https://doi.org/10.1108/09653561011070349
These examples are from more localised or regional volcanoes and eruptions and see also disaster tourism http://ijmed.org/articles/499/download
Supervolcanoes have differences in that they will have global impacts, namely on weather and potentially on climate. Why are we not ready for it? Same reasons that all other disaster vulnerability exists and is not being addressed http://currents.plos.org/disasters/article/the-good-the-bad-and-the-ugly-disaster-risk-reduction-drr-versus-disaster-risk-creation-drc
A Supervolcano is a term that refers to a type of volcano that has a magma chamber that is a thousand times larger than that of a conventional volcano and therefore has the largest and most voluminous eruptions on Earth.
-II-
A Supervolcano has the largest and most voluminous eruptions on Earth. The actual explosiveness of these eruptions varies, although the volume of magma erupted is sufficient in each case to radically alter the surrounding landscape, and even to alter the global climate for years, with a similar cataclysmic effect on life, called volcanic winter. which could have a nuclear winter. The term was coined in 2000 by the producers of the BBC's "Horizon" science program to refer specifically to this type of eruption. In principle, supervolcano is not a technical term used in volcanology, although since 2003 it has been used in several articles. Although there is no defined minimum size for a supervolcano, there are at least two types of volcanic eruptions that can be identified with supervolcanoes: massive eruptions and large igneous provinces.
Comparatively, a supervolcano can be considered as such when in a single eruption it expels more than 50 times the amount of material that the Krakatoa expelled. Like the rest of volcanoes, supervolcanoes are aligned in the convergent edges of the tectonic plates, in where one plate sinks under the other, but they are also formed by so-called mantle feathers. Most of Earth's supervolcanoes are in the Pacific Belt of Fire, where most of the world's converging boundaries are.
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But a supervolcano is not just about a large volcano, the main difference between these is that the supervolcano is not seen, it is an underground accumulation of magma and only seen on the surface in the form of a large depression like a caldera. What happens is that by not being able to release pressure because it is underground, the magma accumulates, "inflating" the ground, increasing the pressure dramatically until it explodes. It is known that in the Yellowstone supervolcano, previous explosions launched rocks of considerable size that could have reached from America to Europe.
The extraordinary power of the eruption that devastated Tonga on 15 January, captured by a range of sophisticated Earth-observing satellites, is challenging ideas about the physics of eruptions. Researchers are finding it hard to explain why the volcano sent an ash plume into the upper atmosphere, yet emitted less ash than expected for an eruption of such magnitude. And the shock waves that rippled through the atmosphere and oceans are unlike anything seen in the modern scientific era...
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-022-00394-y
please, see the following helpful link:
https://www.usgs.gov/faqs/what-supervolcano-what-supereruption
Dear Francisco Javier Gala , I have recommended all your contributions, but I did expect you to bring the sources which you vere used. Please, bring the links.
I will bring only one which you have used.
https://www.usgs.gov/volcanoes/yellowstone/questions-about-supervolcanoes#:~:text=What%20is%20a%20supervolcano%3F&text=(Public%20domain.)-,The%20term%20%22supervolcano%22%20implies%20a%20volcanic%20center%20that%20has%20had,kilometers%20(240%20cubic%20miles).
Some magma comparisons are given on this link and this picture.
https://www.usgs.gov/media/images/comparison-eruption-sizes-using-volume-magma-erupted
Dear Dr Fazleh Mahomed . A supervolcano erupts less frequently in a greater magnitude compared to an ordinary volcano. See the link: https://pediaa.com/what-is-the-difference-between-volcano-and-supervolcano/
Kindly see also the following useful RG link: Article The feeder system of the Toba supervolcano from the slab to ...
Also check please the following useful link: https://www.nature.com/articles/nature.2014.14460
Podcast: Tonga blast changed volcanology
The extraordinary power of the eruption that devastated Tonga on 15 January, captured by a range of sophisticated Earth-observing satellites, is challenging ideas about the physics of eruptions. Researchers are finding it hard to explain why the volcano sent an ash plume into the upper atmosphere, yet emitted less ash than expected for an eruption of such magnitude. And the shock waves that rippled through the atmosphere and oceans are unlike anything seen in the modern scientific era...
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-022-00475-y
The Tonga eruption may have spawned a tsunami as tall as the Statue of Liberty
The blast also created an atmospheric pressure wave that generated especially fast-moving tsunamis...
https://www.sciencenews.org/article/tonga-volcano-eruption-tsunami-shock-wave?utm_source=email&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=latest-newsletter-v2&utm_source=Latest_Headlines&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Latest_Headlines
When the BBC team came to make a documentary on the Yellowstone phenomenon didn't know they were going to introduce the term "super volcano" until they published their video. Scientists the world over paused and wondered what they missed before.
If we know a major catastrophe can be imminent all we can do is avoid building major cities and infrastructure in such places as well as informing the public. The new Yellowstone Observatory is a place of study and source of issuing warnings of danger to the public, like the maybe 7 million people who visit Yellowstone yearly.
The greatest problem in tectonic activity in general is the lack of understanding of the underlying driving forces. In my article ' The driving forces of tectonic activity' on RG a new theory is developped based on the forces generated in the earth by its tilt in its circulation around the sun.
Hawaii's Mauna Loa volcano — the world's largest active volcano — is erupting for the first time in almost 40 years. Lava flows are not threatening local communities now, but officials have warned nearby residents to prepare to evacuate. “Right now, we just don’t know what’s going to happen,” says Ken Hon at the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory...
https://www.newscientist.com/article/2348871-hawaiis-mauna-loa-volcano-is-erupting-for-the-first-time-since-1984/
We can see more earthquakes [and] detect a wider range of frequencies in the seismic waves. And we have GPS and electronic tiltmeters to measure deformation continuously. That technology allowed scientists to detect not only that there was land deformation recently, but also how it was changing over time, giving just a bit of extra warning time.
That wasn’t possible 40 years ago. Back then, researchers measured deformation by hand, hiking up to the volcano’s summit every few weeks or so. There was a technique called EDM, for electronic distance measuring, which was essentially shining a laser into a reflector, so you could get very precise distance measurements...Subtle shifts in the reflector’s location, installed on the volcano, helped reveal the deformation...
https://www.sciencenews.org/article/hawaii-mauna-loa-volcano-erupting-what-you-need-to-know?utm_source=email&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=latest-newsletter-v2&utm_source=Latest_Headlines&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Latest_Headlines
The Hunga Tonga volcano eruption touched space and spawned a lightning blitz
These are ‘once in a lifetime … observations,’ scientists say...
The eruption of Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai volcano in the Pacific in January was so powerful that it shot water vapor high enough to touch space, the first time an earthly volcano has been observed achieving that feat...
https://www.sciencenews.org/article/hunga-tonga-volcano-eruption-touched-space-lightning?utm_source=email&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=latest-newsletter-v2&utm_source=Latest_Headlines&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Latest_Headlines
One interesting article!
Even While Dormant, Volcanoes Leak Climate-Changing Gasses Into The Atmosphere
We know volcanoes can cause dramatic shifts in the atmosphere when they erupt, but what about those long stretches of time when they appear to have fallen silent?
A new study suggests that dormant volcanoes could be leaking out much more sulfur than we thought...
https://www.sciencealert.com/even-while-dormant-volcanoes-leak-climate-changing-gasses-into-the-atmosphere
Shockwaves from the Hunga Tonga–Hunga Haʻapai volcano that erupted on 15 January 2022 produced waves up to 45 metres high in Tonga, and higher-than-usual waves as far away as the Caribbean. It also gave researchers a unique opportunity to study tsunamis caused by volcanoes, which are difficult to monitor because they move faster than those caused by earthquakes or landslides. A digital simulation of three key blasts from the Tongan volcano reveals how shallow reefs, which usually protect the island from waves, made the tsunami worse for Tonga’s coastlines...
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-023-01272-x
The Kīlauea volcano in Hawaii has burst to life again. The eruption is so far confined to the Halemaʻumaʻu crater at the volcano’s summit. As one of the most closely monitored volcanoes in the world, it is studded with cameras and instruments that measure ground deformation and seismic activity...
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-023-01957-3
Mountains of Fire - Clive Oppenheimer ,Hodder & Stoughton (2023)
“Volcanoes loom at a thrilling crossroads of nature, spirit, climate, geology, technology, society and culture,” writes Clive Oppenheimer, without exaggeration...
Blending cultural history, science, myth and adventure, Mountains of Fire reminds us that, wherever we are on the planet, our stories are profoundly intertwined with volcanoes...
https://www.hachette.co.uk/titles/clive-oppenheimer/mountains-of-fire/9781529351095/
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-023-03357-z
The volcanic eruptions in Iceland’s southwest are the fifth such event since 2021 and many researchers think that the region is entering a new phase of volcanic activity that could last for decades or centuries...
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-024-00129-1
According to my concept theory the volcanic eruptions in Iceland are a turbulence effect caused by the maximal inclination of the earth at the winter solstice as explained in my article 'The driving forces of tectonics on RG.
Santorini blew big 520,000 years ago
One of the world’s most-studied volcanoes turns out to be hiding plenty of secrets...
"The partially submerged volcano that forms the Greek island of Santorini experienced a gargantuan blast more than half a million years ago. An expedition that drilled into the sea floor discovered signs of an eruption bigger than one in around 1600 BC that might have contributed to the decline of the Minoan civilization on the nearby island of Crete. Researchers also found that a blast in AD 726 was much bigger than previously thought. “The 726 eruption has always been used as a worst-case scenario” for a modern eruption at Santorini, says expedition volcanologist Timothy Druitt. “What’s interesting is, the worst-case scenario has just increased in magnitude quite a lot.”..."
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-024-00326-y
How volcanoes shaped our planet — and why we need to be ready for the next big eruption
"The world should learn from past disasters and prepare for the effects of future, inevitable volcanic catastrophes, a wide-reaching book teaches us..."
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-024-01179-1
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