GeoActive 432

Online
What is a Supervolcano? by John Davidson

T HE TERM supervolcano
was first used in the year
2000 to describe a small number
D
of giant volcanoes that have
E
produced rare but catastrophic Yellowstone
G Long Valley
eruptions. Somewhere in the Campi
Aso
Flegrei
world a supervolcano erupts C
A
roughly every 50,000 to 100,000
Toba
years and blasts over 1,000 B F
cubic km (km3) of material into
the air. Supervolcanoes are very Taupo
large and usually 50 to 100 km
H
in diameter. Figure 1 shows
the location of the world’s Key
Supervolcano eruption in the last 2 million years
known supervolcanoes. Some
supervolcanoes are located in Figure 1: World distribution of supervolcanoes
areas of dense human population,
in South-east Asia, western USA,
Japan and Italy, and they have Supervolcano Country GeoActiveDate
Seriesof21eruption
Issue 2 Volume of ejected
(years before11 s/s material (km3)
Fig 432_01 Mac/eps/illustrator
attracted considerable interest
present)
NELSON THORNES PUBLISHING
from geographers and geologists Artist: David Russell Illustration
because they are potentially Long Valley USA 760,000 560
caldera, California
very dangerous and not fully
understood. The dates of historic Lava Creek, USA 640,000 1,000
Yellowstone
supervolcano eruptions in the
last million years are shown in Whakamaru New Zealand 254,000 2,000
Figure 2. As no supervolcano has Aso Japan 80,000 600
produced a full-scale eruption in Mount Toba, Indonesia 74,000 2,800
the last 2,000 years, we can only Sumatra
work out from rocks and fossils Campi Flegrei Italy 39,000 500
how extreme their eruptions can Lake Taupo New Zealand 26,500 1,170
be.
Figure 2: Dates of historic supervolcano eruptions
Geologists classify volcanoes
into eight types using the How do supervolcanoes rather like air rushing out of a
Volcano Explosivity Index (VEI), erupt? balloon that has been burst.
which is based on the types Geologists believe that beneath 2 The pressure from the rising
of eruption (Figure 3). Runny each supervolcano there is a bubble of magma underneath
lava (Hawaiian-type) volcanoes very large bubble of very sticky literally pushes off the lid of
found along mid-ocean ridges let magma tens of kilometres across. overlying rock, in the same
gases escape easily. Cone-shaped This bubble of magma becomes way that floodwater in an
composite volcanoes found along trapped under overlying rock, underground drain can lift up
destructive plate boundaries with water vapour, carbon manhole covers in a road. With
have sticky lavas and produce dioxide and sulphur dioxide the overlying lid gone, the whole
explosive eruptions graded trapped within it. magma bubble bursts out.
from 2 to 7. Supervolcanoes are 3 A sudden drop in pressure,
graded VEI 8, the most explosive Supervolcanic eruptions may be produced as the magma nears
category. Figure 4 shows the main started in three ways: the surface, may cause dissolved
differences between a composite 1 An earthquake cracks the rock gases in the liquid magma to
volcano and a supervolcano. above it and suddenly releases be released from solution.
the magma which explodes out, The whole magma mass then

Series 21 Spring issue Unit 432 What is a Supervolcano? © 2010 Nelson Thornes GeoActive Online
This page may be photocopied for use within the purchasing institution only. Page 1 of 4
 VEI Classification Description Height of ash Amount of material Example
plume ejected
1 Hawaiian Non-explosive/ 100–1,000 metres Less than 1 million m3 Mauna Loa, Hawaii
gentle
2 Strombolian Explosive 1–5 km 1 million to 10 million Stromboli, Italy
m3
3 Vulcanian Severe explosive 3–15 km 10 million m3 to 0.1 Vulcano, Italy
km3
4 Pelean Cataclysmic 10–25 km 0.1 km3 to 1 km3 Mount Pelée, Martinique 1902
5 Plinian Paroxysmal Over 25 km 1 km3 to 10 km3 Mount St Helens, USA 1980
6 Ultra-Plinian Colossal Over 25 km 10 km to 100 km
3 3
Mount Pinatubo, Philippines
1991
7 Ultra-Plinian Super-colossal Over 25 km 100 km3 to 1,000 km3 Tambora, Indonesia 1815
8 Supervolcano Mega-colossal Over 25 km Over 1,000 km 3
Mount Toba, Sumatra, 74,000
years ago
Figure 3: Volcano Explosivity Index (VEI)

becomes a massive explosive COMPOSITE VOLCANO SUPERVOLCANO

froth which blasts out of the Example, Mt St Helens
ground – rather as a bottle of
fizzy drink can explode if it is Main vent
shaken very violently. Caldera
Layers of ash Possible
side vents Smaller volcano
Scientists believe that a and lava
or steam eruption/
supervolcano produces a massive geyser Rising dome
Lake
explosion which literally blasts
the crust and molten froth into Local Local
the air. Ash is blown over 30 rocks
Magma
rocks

km up into the atmosphere. bubble Faults

Some remains airborne for many
months, drifting around the
Earth and gradually falling like Magma
grey snow, but large amounts chamber Rising magma from below

collapse back down to Earth
while still very hot and then
travel long distances over the
ground as pyroclastic flows.
When all the magma has been
erupted, a deep crater is left
behind called a caldera (from the
Latin word for cauldron). These
depressions are often over 50
km in diameter, and sometimes
fill with water. Figure 5 shows
an example of such a depression
as a cross-section through the
Long Valley caldera in the Sierra
Nevada mountains east of San
Francisco. Figure 6 show how
supervolcano eruptions compare
with more recent volcanic events.
How and why do
supervolcanoes form?
Supervolcanoes mainly occur in
areas of continental crust in two
types of location:
1 Near destructive plate
boundaries where a large
Figure 4: Differences between composite volcanoes and supervolcanoes
amount of material from a What are their effects?
GeoActive
descending plate begins Series 21 Issue 2
to rise
Using
Fig 432_04 Mac/eps/illustrator 11 evidence
s/s such as ash and
back up to the surface.
NELSON This fossil remains, geologists have
THORNES PUBLISHING
magma rises up under
Artist:the
David Russell Illustration
worked out that a supervolcano
continental crust and produces a eruption could produce the
very sticky mass of molten rock following effects:
rich in silica.
2 Above continental ‘hotspots’ • Between 1,000 and 3,000 km3
where a large bubble of rising of ash are blasted up into the
magma is pushing up through atmosphere.
the plate and heating the • Ash fall between 1 and 5 metres
continental crust. deep can occur up to 1,000 km
from the supervolcano.
In both these cases, the crust
• The cloud of ash can block out
is being extended locally
solar radiation causing a ‘volcanic
or ‘stretched’, producing
winter’, which may last from one
weaknesses that allow the magma
to five years. Estimates suggest
bubbles (sometimes called
worldwide falls in temperature
plumes) to rise up towards the
of between 5° and 10°C, possibly
surface over a long period of
resulting in an ice age.
time. This steady flow of hot
rock over thousands of years • The explosive eruption could
forms the large magma lakes destroy everything within a
beneath supervolcanoes. radius of 500 km.

GeoActive Online Series 21 Spring issue Unit 432 What is a Supervolcano? © 2010 Nelson Thornes
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 Mammoth Mountain
Caldera
Glass Mountain
Case Study
Dome
Yellowstone
Deposits of ash/lava
The Yellowstone caldera is
Faults located in the north-west corner
Faults 5 km of the state of Wyoming in the
Solid magma
USA and measures 55 km by
Rising
magma 10 km 72 km. Yellowstone lies over
bubble a hotspot where a large mass
of magma is rising up from
15 km
the mantle. The Yellowstone
supervolcano has erupted at
20 km least twelve times in the last 15
million years, at regular intervals
Rising magma of about 600,000 years. The
last supervolcano eruption was
Local extension (stretching) of crust 640,000 years ago. Previous
Figure 5: Cross-section through a caldera (Long Valley, California) eruptions have produced a blast
zone of 1,000 km and ash fall up
GeoActive Series
to211,600
Issue 2km from Yellowstone
Volcano Country Date Volume of Figmaterial
432_05 Mac/eps/illustrator 11 s/s
NELSON THORNES (see Figure 8) and today 20
PUBLISHING
ejected (km 3
)
million
Artist: David Russell people live within
Illustration
Mount St Helens, USA 1980 0.25 1,000 km of the supervolcano.
Washington
COMPOSITE VOLCANO SUPERVOLCANO
Earthquakes occur frequently
Mount Pinatubo Philippines
Example, Mt St Helens 1991 5 and Yellowstone is swelling
Tambora Indonesia 1815 160 by 1–3 cm every year, which
Campi Flegrei Main vent Italy 39,000 years ago 500 may indicate increasing magma
Long Valley USA Possible 760,000 years ago
Caldera
560
pressure below. The Yellowstone
Layers of ash
caldera, California
and lava side vents Smaller volcano Volcano Observatory will issue
or steam eruption/ warnings based on earthquake
Lava Creek, USA 640,000 years agoRising dome1,000Lake
geyser
Yellowstone readings if an eruption is
believed to be imminent and
Lake Taupo New Zealand 26,500 years ago 1,170
Local Local the State of Wyoming has
Mount Toba, Indonesia rocks years ago
74,000 2,800 rocks
Magma evacuation plans in place, but
Sumatra bubble Faults
a supervolcano eruption here
Figure 6: Comparison of supervolcano eruptions and some recent eruptions could destroy much of the
farming across the USA, and
• An erupting Magmasupervolcano on earthquakes and the changing make large areas of the continent
the coast could chamber
trigger massive shape ofRisingthemagma from below
volcano, but it is uninhabitable.
wave surges (tsunamis) which difficult to predict precisely
may travel up to 5,000 km. when a volcano will erupt Conclusion
• Poisonous gases could and how massive the eruption Supervolcanoes are hard
contaminate water supplies and will be. Some supervolcanoes to predict. Geologists have
rainfall. like Yellowstone are now calculated that there could be at
intensively monitored, but less least one VEI 7 or VEI 8 super-
• People and animals would be is known about those in remote
severely affected worldwide. eruption in the next hundred
areas where there is a lack of years and it is very unlikely that
The effects would include equipment. Scientists know that
burying crops and other plants, humans would be able to prevent
supervolcanoes will erupt in the or stop a supervolcano eruption.
damage to health from gases and future – and the Earth is five
breathing in ash, polluted water However, research may make the
times more likely to be affected prediction of future eruptions
supplies and climate change. by a supervolcano eruption than easier.
to be hit by an asteroid! Figure
Can we predict 7 on page 4 is a summary of the
supervolcano eruptions? last major supervolcano eruption
In recent years scientists have on Mount Toba in Sumatra, and
been studying volcanoes and the case study of Yellowstone
attempting to predict their suggests how human populations
behaviour by looking at how are at risk.
rising magma may be linked to

Series 21 Spring issue Unit 432 What is a Supervolcano? © 2010 Nelson Thornes GeoActive Online
This page may be photocopied for use within the purchasing institution only. Page 3 of 4
 Activities
1 On a copy of Figure 1, name:
(a) the oceans A, B and C
(b) the continents D, E and F
(c) the countries G and H.
2 Using the data in Figure 2,
plot a supervolcano time line
on graph paper, to show the
amount of material ejected by
the supervolcano on the vertical
axis, and the date of the eruption
in years before present on the
horizontal axis. You could use
a computer spreadsheet to help
you with this task.
3 Using Figures 4 and 5,
describe three main differences
between a composite volcano
such as Mount Pinatubo and a
supervolcano.
4 Referring to Figure 7, suggest
three reasons why scientists think
that so many plants and animals,
including humans, were killed
by the supervolcano eruption of
Mount Toba 74,000 years ago.
5 Using Figure 8 and the
internet, write a description of
the Yellowstone supervolcano
using the following headings:
• What is the present volcanic
activity in the region?
• What are the present land uses
that an eruption might affect?
• How is volcanic activity in the
area being monitored?
6 Before answering this
question, try to view an extract
of the BBC Horizon TV
programme on Yellowstone.
Extracts are available on the
web: www.bbc.co.uk/science/
horizon/1999/supervolcanoes.
shtml
Using Figure 8, suggest five
different ways in which the
present human population of
the USA would be at risk if a
supervolcano eruption occurred
at either Yellowstone or Long
Valley in the USA.
GeoActive Online
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Where?
When?
What happened?
In the northern part of the Indonesian island of Sumatra
(an area of continental crust).
74,000 years ago.
A VEI 8 eruption blasted out nearly 3,000 km3 of ash
and pyroclastics which were deposited over a large
area of Asia. About two-thirds of this raced across the
ground as scorching hot pyroclastic flows destroying
everything in their path. The remaining third fell as ash
covering South-east Asia and India in layers several
metres thick. Large quantities of sulphuric acid were
ejected into the atmosphere producing acid rain
around the world. The volcano finally collapsed into a
caldera 100 km long and 30 km wide, now called Lake
Toba.
What were the effects? The ash clouds from Mount Toba cooled the Earth by
3–4°C for several years, causing a ‘volcanic winter’.
Fossil evidence suggests that very few plants and
animals survived in South-east Asia. Some scientists
believe that the eruption may have led to the deaths of
up to a staggering 80% of our human ancestors on the
planet at this time.
Figure 7: Factfile: Mount Toba, Sumatra
Key
N CANADA
Area of ash deposits from Yellowstone
Lava Creek eruption 640,000 years ago
Mt St Helens
1980
Yellowstone
supervolcano
Long Valley caldera
USA
MEXICO
0 800 km
Figure 8: Location of volcanoes and supervolcanoes in the USA
GeoActive Series 21 Issue 2
7 Write a short article forFiga432_08 Mac/eps/illustrator
9 Using the11internet,
s/s find
magazine suggesting why moneyNELSON THORNES out what is meant by a
PUBLISHING
Artist: David Russell Illustration
should be spent by governments ‘volcanic winter’. Write a
on finding out more about short explanation of how a
supervolcanoes and their supervolcano eruption could
eruptions. affect the whole planet. (There
are articles on this on the BBC
8 Imagine you had the job of News website: http://news.bbc.
explaining to people in an area co.uk)
near a supervolcano who did not
want to move, why they might
need to be evacuated in the
future if the volcano suddenly
became dangerous. Design a
poster or cartoon strip to show
the main hazards that could
affect people if they did not
leave.
Series 21 Spring issue Unit 432 What is a Supervolcano? © 2010 Nelson Thornes