Supervolcanoes 101 | National Geographic
Summary
TLDRSupervolcanoes, Earth's most powerful and complex volcanic phenomena, are marked by calderas and can undergo explosive eruptions, reaching magnitude eight on the Volcanic Explosivity Index. They experience a life cycle of pressure build-up, supereruption, and resurgence, with the latter stage often leading to the creation of natural beauty and life renewal. The Campi Flegrei in Italy and the Taupo in New Zealand exemplify this cycle, with the latter's last eruption expelling enough material for half a million Great Pyramids of Giza.
Takeaways
- 🌋 Supervolcanoes are the most powerful and complex type of volcano, capable of the most violent eruptions.
- 🌍 There are around 20 supervolcanoes worldwide, often characterized by large depressions called calderas.
- 🔥 They erupt at a magnitude of eight on the Volcanic Explosivity Index, which is the highest and most violent classification.
- 🔥🔧 The life cycle of a supervolcano includes three major stages: magma accumulation, supereruption, and resurgence.
- 🌡️ The first stage involves a hotspot, a pocket of trapped magma under the Earth's crust, which builds pressure and can cause the ground to rise.
- 📈 The Campi Flegrei in Italy has demonstrated significant ground uplift due to magma accumulation in recent decades.
- 💥 A supereruption occurs when the pressure in the magma reservoir reaches a critical point, ejecting vast amounts of tephra into the atmosphere.
- 🌋💨 The most recent supereruption was at Taupo in New Zealand, which ejected about 1,100 cubic kilometers of tephra.
- 🕰️ After a supereruption, a supervolcano enters the resurgence stage, where the magma reservoir collapses, forming a caldera.
- 🏞️ The Yellowstone Caldera is an example of a supervolcano in the resurgence stage, with a lake and geothermal features formed post-eruption.
- 🌿 Supervolcanoes, despite their destructive power, can lead to the creation of new ecosystems and natural beauty after their eruptions.
Q & A
What are supervolcanoes?
-Supervolcanoes are the most violent and complex class of volcanoes, characterized by large depressions in the ground called calderas, located above multiple openings in the Earth's crust.
How many supervolcanoes are there on Earth?
-There are around 20 supervolcanoes scattered across the planet.
What is the Volcanic Explosivity Index and how does it classify supervolcano eruptions?
-The Volcanic Explosivity Index is a scale that measures the explosivity of volcanic eruptions. Supervolcanoes are classified at a magnitude of eight, which is the highest and most violent classification on the index.
What are the three major stages in the life cycle of a supervolcano?
-The three major stages in the life cycle of a supervolcano are the surge of trapped magma, a supereruption, and a resurgence.
What is a hotspot in the context of supervolcanoes?
-A hotspot is a pocket of magma trapped under the Earth's crust that is fed by a pipeline deep into Earth's molten interior. It grows and builds pressure underground.
How does the ground react when a hotspot forms under it?
-When a hotspot forms under the ground, it causes the crust above to be pushed upward due to the buildup of pressure from the trapped magma.
What is the Campi Flegrei supervolcano and what has it done in recent times?
-The Campi Flegrei is a supervolcano on the west coast of Italy that has pushed the ground up several times over the past few decades, with one instance causing the ground to swell up to six and a half feet within two years.
What happens during a supereruption?
-During a supereruption, the buildup of pressure in a magma reservoir reaches a critical mass and explodes, sending over 1,000 cubic kilometers of tephra, or ash and rocky material, into the sky.
When was the most recent supereruption and which supervolcano was responsible?
-The most recent supereruption occurred approximately 26,000 years ago at the supervolcano Taupo in New Zealand.
What is the Taupo supervolcano's supereruption estimated to have ejected?
-The Taupo supervolcano ejected about 1,100 cubic kilometers of tephra into the air during its supereruption, which is enough material to constitute nearly half a million Great Pyramids of Giza.
What is the resurgence stage of a supervolcano and what happens during this stage?
-The resurgence stage is when a supervolcano's magma reservoir collapses after a supereruption, forming a caldera. Freshwater collects in the caldera to form a lake, plants and wildlife return, and geothermal features emerge.
What is the Yellowstone Caldera and what stage is it currently in?
-The Yellowstone Caldera is a supervolcano in the United States that is currently in the resurgence stage after a supereruption occurred about 640,000 years ago.
How do supervolcanoes contribute to natural beauty after their cataclysmic events?
-Supervolcanoes create unparalleled natural beauty by forming unique geological features, lakes, and supporting the return of plant and wildlife life after their destructive eruptions.
Outlines
🌋 Introduction to Supervolcanoes
Supervolcanoes are the most powerful and complex type of volcano, capable of both immense destruction and fostering new life. There are around 20 such volcanoes globally, typically marked by large depressions known as calderas, which are positioned above multiple points where the Earth's crust is thin. They are categorized as the most violent, with eruptions reaching magnitude eight on the Volcanic Explosivity Index. The life cycle of a supervolcano includes three stages: the buildup of trapped magma, a supereruption, and a resurgence. The first stage involves a magma reservoir, or hotspot, that accumulates pressure beneath the crust, sometimes causing the ground to rise significantly, as seen at Campi Flegrei in Italy. The second stage is characterized by a supereruption, where immense pressure leads to an explosion that can send over 1,000 cubic kilometers of tephra into the atmosphere, as exemplified by the Taupo eruption in New Zealand 26,000 years ago. The final stage, resurgence, sees the magma reservoir collapse, forming a caldera, which can eventually fill with water and support new ecosystems, as observed at the Yellowstone Caldera.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Supervolcanoes
💡Calderas
💡Magma
💡Volcanic Explosivity Index (VEI)
💡Supereruption
💡Tephra
💡Resurgence
💡Hotspot
💡Life Renewed
💡Geothermal Features
💡Natural Beauty
Highlights
Supervolcanoes are the most violent and complex class of volcanoes.
Supervolcanoes can also make way for life renewed after their eruptions.
There are around 20 supervolcanoes scattered across the planet.
They are characterized by large depressions in the ground called calderas.
Supervolcanoes are located above multiple openings in the Earth's crust.
They explode at a magnitude of eight on the Volcanic Explosivity Index.
Supervolcanoes undergo a life cycle of three major stages: surge, supereruption, and resurgence.
The first stage involves a pocket of magma trapped under the Earth's crust called a hotspot.
The hotspot is fed by a pipeline deep into Earth's molten interior.
The supervolcano Campi Flegrei in Italy has caused the ground to swell up to six and a half feet.
The next stage of a supervolcano's life cycle is a supereruption, releasing over 1,000 cubic kilometers of tephra.
The most recent supereruption occurred in New Zealand approximately 26,000 years ago.
The supervolcano Taupo ejected about 1,100 cubic kilometers of tephra in its supereruption.
After a supereruption, a supervolcano's magma reservoir collapses and forms a caldera.
The Yellowstone Caldera in the United States is currently in resurgence after a supereruption 640,000 years ago.
Freshwater collected in the Yellowstone caldera to form a lake after the eruption.
Plants and wildlife returned to reclaim the space after the eruption at Yellowstone.
Some of the world's largest geothermal features emerged after the eruption at Yellowstone.
Supervolcanoes create unparalleled natural beauty in the wake of cataclysmic events.
Transcripts
(dramatic music)
- [Narrator] Supervolcanoes are the most violent
and complex class of volcanoes.
But despite their destructive capabilities,
they can also make way for life renewed.
Around 20 supervolcanoes are scattered across the planet.
They're usually characterized
as large depressions in the ground, called calderas,
located above multiple openings in the Earth's crust.
In terms of eruptions,
supervolcanoes explode at a magnitude of eight,
the highest and most violent classification
on the Volcanic Explosivity Index.
Supervolcanoes undergo a life cycle of three major stages:
a surge of trapped magma, a supereruption, and a resurgence.
The first stage of a supervolcano's life cycle
involves a pocket of magma trapped under the Earth's crust.
Called a hotspot, this magma reservoir is fed by a pipeline
deep into Earth's molten interior.
It grows and builds pressure underground,
eventually causing the crust above to be pushed upward.
The supervolcano Campi Flegrei
on the west coast of Italy has pushed the ground up
several times over the past few decades.
At one point, within a matter of only two years,
enough magma accumulated to cause the ground
to swell up to six and a half feet.
The next stage of a supervolcano's life cycle
is a supereruption.
At this point, the buildup of pressure
in a magma reservoir hits a critical mass and then explodes,
sending over 1,000 cubic kilometers of tephra,
or ash and rocky material, into the sky.
The most recent supereruption occurred in New Zealand
approximately 26,000 years ago.
The supervolcano Taupo ejected
about 1,100 cubic kilometers of tephra into the air,
enough material to constitute
nearly half a million Great Pyramids of Giza.
After a supereruption,
a supervolcano undergoes a stage called resurgence.
Having dispelled its contents,
a supervolcano's magma reservoir collapses
and forms a caldera.
The Yellowstone Caldera in the United States
is currently in resurgence,
after a supereruption occurred about 640,000 years ago.
In the time since,
freshwater collected in the caldera to form a lake,
plants and wildlife returned to reclaim the space,
and some of the world's largest geothermal features emerged.
Supervolcanoes have created unparalleled natural beauty,
all in the wake of some of the world's
most cataclysmic events.
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