Volcanoes
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Megaphone

Yellowstone: The Super-Volcano that Could Blow up America

Jack Moore
International Business Times
Wed, 11 Dec 2013 13:17 UTC
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© ReutersThe Grand Prismatic Spring, fueled by the underground magma chamber, is seen in Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming.
A super-volcano under Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming is an even bigger threat to the US than previously thought, scientists have found.

Researchers from the University of Utah said the volcano's magma chamber - a lake of molten rock beneath the National Park - is approximately 2.5 times bigger than earlier estimates suggested.

If the volcano were to erupt today, scientists predict that the resulting ash cloud would affect areas 1,000 miles away, leaving two thirds of the entire US uninhabitable.

The team discovered that the underground cavern is more than 90km long, containing up to 600 cubic km of molten rock.

Prof Bob Smith, of the University of Utah, said: "We've been working there for a long time, and we've always thought it would be bigger but this finding is astounding."

To gauge the size of the underground magma chamber, the research team used a series of seismometers placed around the park.
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Bizarro Earth

Sumatra's Sinabung volcano sees large eruption this morning, ash plume at 38,000 ft (12 km) altitude


VolcanoDiscovery.com
Tue, 10 Dec 2013 09:32 UTC
After a relatively calm period, a large vulcanian explosion occurred at the volcano this morning (04:30 GMT). VAAC Darwin reports an ash plume to 38,000 ft (12 km) altitude drifting 50 nautical miles to the NW. The eruption was preceded by a smaller one at midnight (GMT) with an ash plume altitude of estimated 18,000 ft (5.5 km). The volcano has been on red alert for 2 weeks and more than 17,000 people remain evacuated (for good reason!).
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Bizarro Earth

Geologists discover 'Supervolcano' in Utah: past eruption superseded Yellowstone

Ed Yeates
KSL.com
Tue, 10 Dec 2013 09:22 UTC
Geologists at Brigham Young University have discovered what may be the world's largest "super" volcano that erupted in Utah's own backyard. While there are a variety of volcanoes that blast away in different ways, super volcanic eruptions are the biggest that collapse into large calderas. Yellowstone Park is the remains of one of those calderas and it's still very much alive and active.

But, geologists think they may have found an equally as big if not bigger super volcano, one that shook up western Utah and eastern Nevada 30 million years ago. The eruption is hardly visible to the naked eye now, but underneath and in surrounding formations, the evidence was waiting to be uncovered.

"As far as we know, the Wah Wah Springs eruption is the largest known explosive volcanic eruption," said BYU professor of geology Eric Christiansen.

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Arrow Up

Japan: new volcanic island growing rapidly


Extinction Protocol
Sat, 07 Dec 2013 15:54 UTC
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© Wired AP
According to Japan's Coast Guard, the island, close to the Ogasawara archipelago, emerged as a result of undersea volcanic eruptions far south of Tokyo on November 20th and has since grown 3.7 times. It is now 300 meters long and 260 meters wide, the RIA Novosti news agency reports.

According to expert estimates, the overall surface of the land mass makes up some 56,000 square meters. The island, originally a circle-turned an oval, now looks like a trapezoid, according to the NHK TV Channel. When the island emerged during volcanic eruptions of ash and magma from the Pacific Ocean bottom, it was 200 meters in diameter and 20 meters high. Just two days later, it was 400 meters in diameter and 30 meters high.
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Bizarro Earth

Twin volcanoes erupt on volcanic island of Vanuatu

Alan Boyle
NBCNews.com
Thu, 05 Dec 2013 09:11 UTC
Steam and ash stream from the twin volcanoes on the island of Ambrym in the Pacific archipelago of Vanuatu, as seen in a picture captured from the International Space Station as it passed overhead. "Not every day you get to see an active volcano, let alone two," NASA astronaut Mike Hopkins tweeted on Monday.

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© Mike Hopkins / NASA via TwitterNASA astronaut Mike Hopkins shared this picture of the double volcano on the island of Ambrym in the Pacific archipelago of Vanuatu on Dec. 2 via Twitter.
Ambrym is literally one of the hotspots for volcano tourists, but it has been known to turn deadly in the past. To find out more about the island and its double-barrelled volcano (Marum and Benbow), check out Phil Plait's volcano roundup on the Bad Astronomy blog.
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Hardhat

Kamchatka's Shiveluch volcano spews ash cloud 9 km high


Voice of Russia
Wed, 04 Dec 2013 05:58 UTC
Kamchatka
© RIA Novosti
Kamchatka
The Shiveluch Volcano erupting in Kamchatka has spewed ash nine kilometers high, the Kamchatkan territorial emergency situations department reported on Tuesday. No ashfall has been reported from towns nearby.

"The volcanic event occurred on Tuesday afternoon. The ash cloud stretched northwest, bypassing populated areas," the report said.

No ashfall has been reported from towns nearby, it added.

Nevertheless, rescuers advised tour operators to avoid paths around the volcano, for which a red alert has been issued.

Shiveluch is the northernmost active volcano of Kamchatka situated 45 kilometers away from the town of Klyuchi in the Ust-Kamchatsky district with a population of approximately 5,000.

It is also one of the largest Kamchatkan volcanoes. Shiveluch became active in May 2009 and got a fissure that is almost 30 meters deep in its dome.
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Cloud Lightning

Russian volcano Klyuchevskoy sends pillar of fire 1,000 meters into the air


The Extinction Protocol
Tue, 03 Dec 2013 09:44 UTC
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© Marc SzeglatKlyuchevskoy
With a pillar of fire stretching up into the clouds, this spectacular image captures the moment a volcano erupted in remote Russia. The stream of lava rose up to a kilometer above the summit of Klyuchevskoy, one of the active volcanoes on the Kamchatka peninsula in the east of the country. The volcano, which erupts around every two years, is one of the largest on-land active volcanoes, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. It stands at 15,584f t on the north end of a belt of 30 active volcanoes.

Comment: From the recent chain reaction on the 'Ring of fire':
Kliuchevskoi on the Kamchatka Peninsula: Kliuchevskoi on the Kamchatka Peninsula in Russia had a busy weekend after its busy week - and a lot of the action was caught on the webcams pointed at the volcano or by satellite. For much of Friday and into Saturday (October 18-19), the volcano continued to produce some vigorous lava fountains and lava flows, mixed in with Strombolian explosions that sent bombs down the slopes of the volcano. This activity was significant enough to cause some aviation alerts even over the western Aleutian Islands.
Source: Why have 10 major volcanoes along the Ring of Fire suddenly roared to life?

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Bizarro Earth

A rare sight: Etna eruption visible from Malta


Sott.net
Thu, 28 Nov 2013 00:11 UTC
Image
© Roberto Cassar
People in Naxxar, Madliena, Mellieha and in Gozo said this evening that they could (faintly) see the latest eruption of Mt Etna in Sicily.

The distance between Mount Etna and the tiny island state of Malta is about 312 km and this is indeed a very rare sight. During explosive Etna eruptions in the past Malta has suffered from ash plumes fallout on several occasions.

In 2002 Mount Etna made a heavy physical presence in Malta when ash from the volcano crossed the Mediterranean and coated the country in an insidious film of black fine dust after a volcanic plume was swept there by north to north easterly winds from Sicily.

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Bizarro Earth

Mount Sinabung is just one of 35 currently erupting volcanoes

Lisa Mahapatra
IBTimes.com
Tue, 26 Nov 2013 13:16 UTC
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The volcano at Mount Sinabung at Jakarta, Indonesia, erupted six times early Monday, shooting volcanic ash 2,000 meters into the sky. Thousands have been evacuated from the region since the Sinabung volcano began erupting sporadically in September. 5,000 people were evacuated from the area the day before the eruption on Monday, bringing the total number of evacuees to 11,000. There have been no casualties so far.

The Sinabung is just one of 35 active, erupting volcanoes in the world, according to a categorized list on Volcano Discovery. Of the 35 currently erupting volcanoes in the world, seven are in Indonesia. Most of Indonesia is situated along the "Ring of Fire" -- a horseshoe shaped ring around the Pacific where most earthquakes and volcanic eruptions take place.

Here's a map of the Ring of Fire and the 35 volcanoes that are experiencing sporadic eruptions and other active volcanic activity. Click here to see what sort of volcanic activity that volcano is experiencing.
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Bizarro Earth

Now it's Japan's Sakurajima volcano: Strong explosions and near constant ash emissions


VolcanoDiscovery.com
Mon, 25 Nov 2013 10:47 UTC
After a short phase of weaker activity, the volcano began to erupt more violently yesterday with a series of powerful explosions that sent ash plumes up to 15,000 ft (4,5 km). Near-constant ash emissions have been taking place from the Showa crater.

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