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Ancient Global Dimming Linked to Volcanic Eruption Ker Than for National Geographic NewsMarch 19, 2008 A "dry fog" that muted the sun's rays in A.D. 536 and plunged half the world into a famine-inducing chill was triggered by the eruption of a supervolcano, a new study says. The cause of the sixth-century global dimming has long been a matter of debate, but a team of international researchers recently discovered acidic sulphate molecules, which are signs of an eruption, in Greenland ice. This is the first physical evidence for the A.D. 536 event, which according to ancient texts from Mesoamerica, Europe,...

The ground on the western edges of Naples, Italy is rising, spurring worries of a possible volcanic eruption, but scientists now think they know exactly what is causing the uplift and may be able to better predict any potential eruption. Using GPS measurements, a group of scientists at the National Institute of Geophysics and Vulcanology in Italy monitored the ground’s motions for several years, and based on the patterns they observed, they believe the uplifting is caused by magma intruding from a shallow chamber. The rising motions of the ground reached a peak rate of about three feet per year...

Ancient "Supervolcano" Rocked Washington State Richard A. Lovett for National Geographic News February 6, 2007 An ancient "supervolcano" in what is now Washington State spewed steam and billowed ash in amounts that dwarf the eruption of Mount St. Helens in 1980, new research shows. The blow-up occurred in two major bursts about 3.7 million years ago in the northern Cascade Range, creating flows of searing-hot gas and belching out some 33 cubic miles (137 cubic kilometers) of ash. It wasn't the first eruption to occur there, said David Tucker, a research associate at Western Washington University. And it wasn't the...

Eruption May Have Been Bigger Larry O'Hanlon, Discovery News Dec. 21, 2006 — One of the largest volcanic eruptions on record just got bigger. The Taupo Volcanic Zone of New Zealand appears to have had twin eruptions only 20 miles apart within days of each other a quarter-million years ago. Each eruption belched out more than 25 cubic miles (100 cubic kilometers) of rock and volcanic ash. This is the first evidence of twin supervolcanic eruptions. "It's possible one of these triggered the other," said geologist Darren Gravley of the University of Auckland, New Zealand. But exactly how the...

Pulse reveals beating heart of a supervolcano 01 March 2006 From New Scientist Print Edition Jessica Marshall "I DON'T think visitors appreciate that they're standing directly on top of the largest, most dynamic magmatic system on the planet," says geologist Daniel Dzurisin. While the supervolcano that is Yellowstone National Park won't be erupting any time soon, he and his colleagues have uncovered a surprising source of volcanic activity beneath tourists' feet, which was probably the reason trails had to be closed in 2003. The Yellowstone caldera formed 640,000 years ago in an explosion of magma more than 1000 times greater...

Government officials are evaluating and revising disaster plans around the United States in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, just as they did after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. While war and automobiles kill more people than nature, find out what natural disasters top scientists’ worry lists. #10 Pacific Northwest Megathrust Earthquake Geologists know it’s just a matter of time before another 9.0 or larger earthquake strikes somewhere between Northern California and Canada. The shaking would be locally catastrophic, but the biggest threat is the tsunami that would ensue from a fault line that’s seismically identical to the one that...

BBC and the Discovery Channel produced a new docudrama and documentary about Yellowstone. The BBC version was shown in March and the Discovery Channel version will be shown on April 10th. The docudrama Supervolcano dramatically explores the impact of a large caldera-forming eruption at Yellowstone. The scale of the portrayed eruption is similar to the eruption of the Huckleberry Ridge Tuff at Yellowstone 2.1 million years ago. The movie is realistic insofar as depicting what could happen if an eruption of this magnitude were to occur again. Although the drama is set in the future, it does an acceptable job...

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. 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...

An exploding supervolcano would be a calamity to dwarf an asteroid strike or the Asian tsunami A VOLCANIC super-eruption that would threaten the future of modern civilisation is up to ten times more likely than a catastrophic asteroid impact, yet it has been ignored by the world’s governments, scientists said yesterday. Vast volcanic blasts that cause global devastation occur on average every 50,000 years — and, as the last one struck 74,000 years ago, at Toba, Indonesia, another may be overdue. The scale of such a cataclysm would dwarf that of the recent Asian tsunami: the eruption could kill millions...

The eruption of a super volcano "sooner or later" will chill the planet and threaten human civilization, British scientists warned Tuesday. And now the bad news: There's not much anyone can do about it. Several volcanoes around the world are capable of gigantic eruptions unlike anything witnessed in recorded history, based on geologic evidence of past events, the scientists said. Such eruptions would dwarf those of Mount St. Helens, Krakatoa, Pinatubo and anything else going back dozens of millennia. "Super-eruptions are up to hundreds of times larger than these," said Stephen Self of the United Kingdom’s (U.K.) Open University. "An...

SUPERVOLCANOES WARNING Slumbering supervolcanoes powerful enough to wipe out much of the planet may awaken much sooner than it had previously been thought. Experts believed it would take hundreds of thousands of years for reservoirs of molton rock, or magma, beneath a supervolcano to build for an eruption. But a new study indicates the time between super-eruptions can actually be tens of thousands of years - and many are already long overdue. A blast from a supervolcano would be strong enough cause mass extinction and change the world's climate. The findings, published in the Journal of Petrology, are bad...

BBC to Unleash Supervolcano Disaster Film By Anita Singh, PA Showbusiness Editor The BBC has made a disaster movie which predicts one billion people will be wiped off the earth by a “supervolcano”. The £3 million drama claims America’s Yellowstone National Park is due an eruption of cataclysmic proportions. If – or when – it does erupt, 100,000 Americans will be killed in minutes by a giant cloud of burning ash. But the volcano will have such a profound effect on the global climate that up to one billion people will die as a result, the programme will claim. The...

I just noticed that the Yellowstone Supervolcano show will be on National Geographic Channel tonight at 10 eastern time, in case anyone is interested. ;-D

People love to talk about scary stuff. Especially when it’s end-of-the-world scary, such as the big asteroid recently in the news that was supposed to hit Earth and destroy all life, including human life. The big media morons went right along with this far-fetched prediction for the sake of a few more viewers and readers, but as usual the truth came out: Oops! Our calculations were off. The asteroid won’t hit Earth after all. It’s not the first time an on-again, off-again asteroid was headed for Planet Earth, and it’s only one of many “doom and gloom” scenarios the news...

Scientists CloselyMonitoring YellowstoneProLiberty.com12-23-3   Recent eruptions, 200 degree ground temperatures, bulging magma and 84 degree water temperatures prompt heightened srutiny of park's geothermal activity...  BILLINGS, Mont. -- Yellowstone National Park happens to be on top of one of the largest "super volcanoes" in the world. Geologists claim the Yellowstone Park area has been on a regular eruption cycle of 600,000 years. The last eruption was 640,000 years ago making the next one long overdue. This next eruption could be 2,500 times the size of the 1980 Mount St. Helens eruption. Volcanologists have been tracking the movement of magma under...

Park lake hints at buildup to huge blast By Diedtra Henderson Denver Post Science Writer Sunday, August 10, 2003 - YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK, Wyo. - The mystery of the deep at picturesque Yellowstone Lake is a bulge that rises 100 feet from the lake floor, stretches the length of seven football fields, and has the potential to explode at any time. Of all the life-threatening events that could happen at Yellowstone - from volcanic eruptions to massive earthquakes - this type of hydrothermal explosion is likely the most immediate, serious hazard in the park. So, scientists are trying to better...

Yellowstone National Park,Wyo.- The mystery of the deep at picturesque Yellowstone Lake is a BULGE that rises 100 feet from the lake floor, stretches the length of seven football fields, and has the potential to explode at any time.

It is little known that lying underneath one of America's areas of outstanding natural beauty - Yellowstone Park - is one of the largest super volcanoes in the world. Scientists have revealed that it has been on a regular eruption cycle of 600,000 years. The last eruption was 640,000 years ago…so the next is overdue. The next eruption could be 2,500 times the size of the 1980 Mount St. Helens eruption.And the sleeping giant is breathing: volcanologists have been tracking the movement of magma under the park and have calculated that in parts of Yellowstone the ground has risen over...