Supervolcanoes: The Supervillains of the Geologic World

Source: sciencefocus.com

SUPERVOLCANOES are like the supervillains of the geologic world, as stories of their looming threat grow ever more exaggerated. Though massive eruptions do pose real dangers, misconceptions about them abound.
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 scattered across the planet. They are 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 violemt classification on the Volcanic Explosivity Index (VEI). Supervolcanoes undergo a life cycle of three major stages: a surge of trapped magma, a supereruption and a resurgence

1. Surge of Magma: The first stage of a supervolcano's life cycle involves a pocket of magma trapped under the Earth's crust. Magma is extremely hot liquid and semi-liquid rock located under Earth’s surface. Earth has a layered structure that consists of the inner core, outer core, mantle, and crust. Much of the planet’s mantle consists of magma. This magma can push through holes or cracks in the crust, causing a volcanic eruption. When magma flows or erupts onto Earth’s surface, it is called lava.
Like solid rock, magma is a mixture of minerals. It also contains small amounts of dissolved gases such as water vapor, carbon dioxide, and sulfur. The high temperatures and pressure under Earth’s crust keep magma in its fluid state.

Magma

Source: wikipedia.org

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 uoward.
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 two years, enough magma accumulated to cause the ground to swell up to six and a half feet.

2.Super-eruption: 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 kilometres of tephra, or ash and rocky material, into the sky.

Pools in Yellowstone National Park

Source: nypost.com

The largest supereruption at Yellowstone Caldera (640,000 years ago) had a volume of 2,450 cubic km. Like many other caldera-forming volcanoes, most of Yellowstone’s many eruptions have been smaller than VEI 8 supereruptions, so it is confusing to categorize Yellowstone as a supervolcano.
The most recent supereruption occured in New Zealand approximately 26,000 years ago. The supervolcano Taupo ejected about 1,100 cubic kilometres of tephra into the air, enough material to constitute nearly half a million Great Pyramids of Giza.

3. Resurgence: After a supereruption, a supervolcano undergoes a stage called resurgence. It is also known as post-supereruption phase. 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.

The northeastern part of Yellowstone Caldera

Source: wikipedia.org

Supervolcanoes have created unparalleled natural beauty, all in the wake of some of the world's most cataclysmic events. Despite it's brutal destruction it is a force of beauty and rebirth for the planet. Lava creates new lands where life can flourish. Like it or not, volcanoes are part of the planet's life cycle. We must learn to live side by side with its awesome power.