Claim: NASA simulation indicates ancient flood volcanoes could have altered climate

I’ll have to read this again, too late int he day to absorb it all.

Interesting idea, gases released by volcanoes capable of causing climate change.

What is already known though, is volcanic activity definitely can cause major adjustments in climate, at least on a temporary basis, by producing huge ash clouds that block out sunlight. This has already been mentioned in another post, and is a verified fact.

The ash clouds produced by very large volcanic eruptions can be immense, comparable to nothing in recent human history. I think of Pompeii as a possible example. Thick layers of ash have been discovered in various areas that indicate some of the prehistoric eruptions have been like nothing we can even imagine.

One potential location is the Yellowstone Caldera, which I only recently found out about, capable of producing enough ash to cover at least 1/3 of the US. And that’s just what settles to the ground. The light weight ash that remains in the atmosphere would probably be enough to block sunlight for a long time and possibly shut down all or most plant growth in this country. That would also result in a short term decrease in temperatures that would resemble a mini ice age, which is probably already in our future due to decreased solar activity. In addition, along with this period of reduced solar activity, historically we’ve seen an increase in earthquake and volcanic activity. The one mentioned earlier in this thread I think was during one of those, the 1810 to 1815 period when the New Madrid fault in the US also produced major earthquakes. (1811 I think) I’ll have to read again and make sure I saw the date range I’m actually thinking of.

OK I decided to open it in another tab, same period. Posted by RayChuang88 in post #14, the Tambora eruption was in 1815, same time period as the New Madrid earthquake, which was in 1811. Right at the same time as world wide colder winters, generally called a mini ice age. Also associated with reduced solar activity. Those were just two instances during that period.

So an eruption of any of the caldera volcanoes discovered so far would produce enough ash to block or reduce sunlight worldwide...that can happen, remember the African dust storm a couple of years ago? I heard about it and took pictures of the fog it produced after being blown across the ocean to right here in my back yard in Texas. It looked like a foggy day, but it was actually a huge dust cloud produced by a dust storm in the Sahara. Everyone I know had serious sinus problems for a few days. If that, produced on the surface in Africa, can be blown all the way to Texas, an ash cloud from a volcano can do the same thing in the upper atmosphere.

Very interesting topic, I’ll have to read this article again later and see if I can understand a little more of it when I’m not tired out...

Franklin did indeed speculate that strange weather and atmospheric coloring might be due to Icelandic volcanism. What this article does not mention is the fact that there were serious effects on food supply in Europe, and that this may have been enough to help spark the French Revolution. The Laki Fissure event extended along a fissure of some 25 miles. Much larger that one of the “smaller” ones described above. However, not in the same league with the Deccan or Siberian Traps. The article speaks of the Columbia River “Roza” flood basalt event as being 14.7 million years ago. I, too, wondered if there had been a major extinction connected with that. I found this excellent chart of Geologic Ages, but that time falls smack in the middle of the Miocene. On the other hand the Chesapeake Meteor which left a 60 mile crater extending north from Norfolk to the middle of the Delmarva Peninsula is about 34 Ma, which seems to pretty well separate the Oligocene from the Miocene. This was no doubt helped by another 60 mile crater forming meteor in Russia and a 9 mile wide crater formed off of Toms River, NJ, both with roughly that age.

http://home.comcast.net/~cvn1813/geology/timeline/images/ICS.gif

After more than 15 years of debating whether the Yucatan Asteroid and Deccan Traps are related, this 2015 article indicates that specific scientific correlation seems to have been found.

http://earthsky.org/earth/dinosaur-killing-asteroid-caused-indias-deccan-traps

Regarding Benjamin Franklin, I found this interesting essay: “Benjamin Franklin and Slavery: A Man Ahead of His Times” by Frank Cronin. This is a fascinating presentation of Ben Franklin’s life, the kind of advanced and liberal thinkers he associated with, his printing of controversial anti-slavery material at his shop, and near the end of his life active participation in Abolitionist efforts in the US. The views and conflicts of the times are well covered, and the complex web of labor force presented.

http://www.austincc.edu/history/cronin.html

I have been interested in volcanoes since childhood, when my father showed me the National Geographic article about the creation of Paracutin Volcano out of a Mexican cornfield. How amazing was that!!! Before he died he drafted a novel imagining a major eruption of Yellowstone. Unfortunately, it needs too much editing to print, but I expanded my knowledge of Yellowstone’s history and capabilities. Maybe some day I will rewrite it. Here is a USGS article on Yellowstone with two useful maps that can be enlarged by clicking on the map. One shows the distribution of the three big explosions, 640,000 ya, 1.3 Mya, and 2.1 Mya. This map also shows the ashspread of a major explosion of Long Valley which occurred 760,000 ya.

http://volcanoes.usgs.gov/volcanoes/yellowstone/yellowstone_sub_page_91.html

This link to Long Valley information has several interesting graphics, including one comparing the volume of various large and huge volcanic eruptions. The Long Valley ash fall was larger than the smallest of the 3 great Yellowstone blasts, but not as big as the second largest.

http://www.dpc.ucar.edu/earthscopeVoyager/JVV_Jr/didyouknow/lvcVolcanoes.html

I have noticed a pattern of increased earth rupturing activity which seems to run for about 30 years and in the past few centuries has been repeated at 90 to 100 year intervals. New Madrid and Tambora seemed to be at the end of a period that started with the Laki Fissure event in Iceland in 1783. Another started with Krakatoa in 1883 and ended with Katmai in Alaska, 1912. I need to go to bed soon so will not fill in the other between events. I will mention that New Madrid had 3 giant earthquakes separated by months in 1811 and 1812, dozens of major quakes and hundreds of lesser quakes. There was also a major quake in Caracas, Venezuela in 1812 that killed 20,000 people.

Thanks for the ping and associated URL links. I shall book this post and review a bit later. My brain is in “fry mode”,
currently. You will understand my comments more so as you read the mail response I provided for you.

But. I keep my mind open to good reasoning as how climate change can go in short and longer term new sets of conditions.

Obvious to you, we have known for a long time as how major
volcanic eruptions can effect local and sometimes near global variations in temperatures, In-farad levels entering the various levels with the atmosphere, that can alter slight land/sea temperature ranges etc..
Such complex chemical and physics to figure out with some level of honest accuracy if I may.
You take care Glee.

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