Posted on 04/01/2005 3:01:49 PM PST by DannyTN
"Super volcano" could dwarf Indonesia's earthquake catastrophes: expert
Fri Apr 1,12:21 AM ET Science - AFP
SYDNEY (AFP) - As Indonesians struggled to recover from the second deadly earthquake to strike them in three months, an Australian expert warned the country faced the prospect of a "super volcano" eruption that would dwarf all previous catastrophes.
AFP/File Photo
Professor Ray Cas of Monash University's School of Geosciences said the world's biggest super volcano was Lake Toba, on Indonesia's island of Sumatra, site of both the recent massive earthquakes.
Cas told Australian media Friday that Toba sits on a faultline running down the middle of Sumatra -- just where some seismologists say a third earthquake might strike following the 9.0 magnitude quake on December 26 and Monday's 8.7 temblor.
Those quakes occurred along faultlines running just off Sumatra's west coast and created seismological stresses which could hasten an eruption.
Cas said Toba last erupted 73,000 years ago in an event so massive that it altered the entire world's climate.
"The eruption released 1,000 cubic kilometers (240 cubic miles) of ash and rock debris into the atmosphere, much of it as fine ash which blocked out solar radiation, kicking the world back into an ice age," he said.
The scientist said super volcanos represented the greatest potential hazard on earth, "the only greater threat being an asteroid impact from space".
"A super volcano will definitely erupt," he said.
"It could be in a few, 50 or another 1000 years but sooner or later one is going to go off."
Other super volcanos are found in Italy, South America, the United States and New Zealand -- where Mount Taupo could be ready for eruption.
"It has a big eruption every 2,000 years, and it last erupted about 2,000 years ago," Cas said.
The potential death toll from a super volcano eruption "could reach the hundreds of thousands to millions and there are serious implications on climate, weather and viability of food production," Cas said.
"The big problem is a lot of the volcanoes that potentially could erupt are perhaps not monitored to the degree that they should be, and of course we learnt that lesson from the Boxing Day tsunami disaster," he said.
Check out the history of the hot spot that is now under Yellowstone NP before you conclude that the US has no risk.
A large portion of Yellowstone National Park is said to be a super-volcanic crater visible from space, more than 40 miles in diameter - last erupted 600,000 years ago and is supposed to be due for another mega-blast that could swaddle the planet in ash.... forget global warming, we'll be talking major ice age.... if that one goes off it will leave most other enviro-horror scenarios in the dust.... literally. Hope it waits at least a few hundred or thousand years more, until humanity has better ways of coping....
The super volcano referred to in the U.S...... are they referring to Yellowstone?
That is what some astronomers say, the earth's natural wobble would be much greater without the moon, so great that there wouldn't be a stable climate zone for lifeforms to find their niches. Maybe so. One of the outer planets is spinning so far over on its axis that the seasons are as radical as possible. Summer at the pole lasts for years with the sun way overhead. Then winter with no sun for more years. If earth did that the arctic would boil dry and the antarctic likewise. Not life friendly.
You may yet get a chance to witness BOTh events..
I'm very very far from expert on any of this, but I think it's on such a massive scale that any hole we could bore would be inadequate..... but maybe if we excavate an area a few miles across.... but maybe we'll just speed up the natural catastrophe as all h--- breaks loose when the lava gets exposed. I have no idea if there's anything humanity can do about it, but I sure hope someone knowledgeable is thinking about it! We won't have to talk about global warming anymore if any of these super-volcanoes acts up....
I feel really stupid for asking this, but I will anyway. Is there anyway to release pressure on a super volcano?
I know I know.... dumb question.
Did you watch that Hillary Swank movie, "Core"?
yes
The Toba volcanoe almost wiped out homo sapiens once already.
After the eruption 73,000 years ago, the human population dropped drastically and reached a bottleneck population of about 1,000 people (the bare minimum needed to sustain the species in a healthy fashion.)
This bottleneck is also responsible for the lack of genetic diversity in us. Compared to other species we are one of the most similar genetically.
Toba played a big part in that.
See #49
Other species must have been impacted similarly.
So who documented this? Or is this another "theory", like "evolution".
"I think it's on such a massive scale that any hole we could bore would be inadequate..... but maybe if we excavate an area a few miles across.... but maybe we'll just speed up the natural catastrophe as all h--- breaks loose when the lava gets exposed".
"Okay, whose going to start? Here, Bob, take the shovel and dig and when you hear a rumble don't forget to 'duck and cover'".
let's see 200,000 miles in 4,000,000,000 years is about 5ft per year. I don't think were is much to worry about the Sun will go red giant before mars messes with our moon.
How do you make claims like that? Based on what records?
I would think that if there had been two earthquakes in the last month in the continental US, one of mag 9.0 and one of mag 8.7, and if they were anywhere near the supervolcano Yellowstone, scientists in the US would be scrambling all over the place to find out when the caldera would blow.
Frankly, I think the two big earthquakes and the massive Sumatran fault instability are HUGE news. Something is going to happen there. Gonna be in the next 100 years. Just my guess.
We should be able to tap into this gas as an energy source.
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