Located 2000 miles from the American mainland, Hawaii is an island state in the western United
States.
The Mauna Loa volcano, which may be the largest volcano on the planet, is located in Hawaii,
which makes up practically the whole Hawaiian archipelago.
Four more volcanoes, including Kohala, Mauna Kea, Hualalai, and Kilauea, make up the island
of Hawaii in addition to Mauna Loa.
The five shield volcanoes erupted somewhat sequentially in the past, and now Kohala is
extinct, Mauna Kea and Hualapai are dormant, and Mauna Loa and Kilauea are active, all
of which are part of the Hawaii volcanoes national park.
Geological evidence suggests that two ancient shields named Ninole and Kulai were buried
by the young and active Mauna Loa.
Since Kilauea and Mauna Loa are still active, geologists consider these outcrops to be part
of the earlier building of Mauna Loa, which accounts for more than half of the island's
surface area.
Mauna Loa is the largest sub-aerial volcano not only in mass but also in volume.
The only historically known volcano bigger than Mauna Loa is the Tamu Massif extinct
submarine shield volcano located in the north west Pacific Ocean.
Mauna Loa has relatively gentle slopes with an estimated volume of about 75000 cubic kilometers,
but its peak is around 38 meters lower than that of Mauna Kea, which is also its neighbor.
So far, the lava eruptions from this massive volcano have been silica poor and fairly fluid,
with a non-explosive nature.
The gigantic super volcano has most likely been erupting for at least 700,000 years,
and researchers estimate it first appeared above water approximately 400 000 years ago.
Mauna Loa obtained its magma from the Hawaii hotspot, which was responsible for the formation
of the Hawaiian island chain over a 10-million-year period.
Geologists expect that the volcano will be carried away from the hot spot by the slow
drift of the Pacific plate in roughly 1 million years, and it will finally become extinct.
But for the time being, it's brewing and blowing right over the hot spot, keeping civilization
on edge in the event of a disastrous eruption.
Mauna Loa's most recent eruption occurred between March 24th and April 15th, 1984.
While recent eruptions of this massive volcano have been without casualties, the 1926 and
1950 eruptions destroyed villages.
Mauna Loa has been included in the DECADE VOLCANOES PROGRAM, which encourages the study
and analysis of the world's most dangerous volcanoes, and because Mauna Loa fits the
very definition of dangerous and potentially hazardous volcanoes, the Hawaiian volcano
observatory has been intensively monitoring it since 1912.
Most people believe that an asteroid will strike the planet and end life as we know
it, or that a nuclear war will, but there is another gruesome way for life as we know
it to come to an abrupt halt: raging magma building pressure eager to ooze out from the
earth's surface can also destroy the planet we live on.
There are a frightening number of volcanoes distributed intermittently ranging roughly
560 kilometers from northern Nevada to southern Idaho and up to northwest Wyoming, some of
which are super volcanoes about 18 million years old.
So, what exactly is a super volcano?
Well, it's a volcano with a documented past eruption and a volcanic explosivity index
of eight, the highest ever recorded value on the index.
The volume of deposits for such volcanoes is always greater than 1000 cubic kilometers.
Super volcanoes form when magma from the earth's mantle makes its way to the crust but is unable
to break through it.
Pressure continues to develop in the huge and ever-expanding pool of magma until the
crust eventually breaks way, unable to withstand the pressure, and ruptures.
This can occur at hot spots such as the Yellowstone caldera, the Hawaii hotspot, the Louisville
ridge, Saint Helens hotspot, the Canary hotspot, and others.
Large volume Super volcanic eruptions are mostly associated with large igneous provinces
where lava and volcanic ash can cover vast areas.
Super eruptions can be incredibly destructive, causing long-term climate changes that wipe
out species and even humanity.
The most recent super eruption with an Explosivity Index of 8 happened 26500 years ago on New
Zealand's Taupo volcano.
According to scientific consensus, the reunion host pit generated the deccan traps around
66 million years ago, and the fact that this event coincided with the Cretaceous Paleogene
extinction event was not a coincidence.
Similarly, the greatest flood basalt episode known as the Siberian traps happened around
250 million years ago, coinciding with the Permian-Triassic extinction catastrophe, the
planet's largest known mass extinction.
This clearly demonstrated that if the volcanoes go rogue, no one can prevent the end of the
world from occurring.
Mount St. Helens, an active stratovolcano located in Skamania County Washington, is
also a part of the cascade volcanic ark a segment of the Pacific Ring of Fire.
On May 18, 1980, a major eruption by this volcano resulted in the deadliest and most
economically catastrophic volcanic event in US history.
The thermal energy released in this eruption was equivalent to 26 megatons of TNT, 57 people
were killed, and property damage totaled 1.1 billion dollars, and this was only a VEI-5
eruption.
Can you imagine what would happen if one of these super volcanoes erupted?
The prospect of a similar or even more deadly volcanic eruption is keeping scientists awake
at night, particularly on active volcanoes such as Mauna Loa and Kilauea.
Scientists have been monitoring the erratic geological activity on Hawaii's largest island,
and according to them, a colossal eruption of the volcano that may destroy the landscape
isn't imminent just yet, but Mauna Loa may be waking up from its long slumber.
Being half of the island's mass, any surge of activity in Mauna Loa means the entire
island and the region around it could be in grave danger its neighbor Kilauea has been
in the throes of a fierce and sometimes destructive eruptive period for many decades now the huge
eruption from Kilauea in 2018 flattened an entire residential neighborhood about 2 000
people were displaced as a result of that eruption.
As the magma from this hot spot rises, it pushes up and out of the shield-type Hawaiian
volcanoes, causing the islands to grow continuously.
As the magma and gases beneath these volcanoes rise and release, the earth moves, which frequently
manifests as earthquakes, indicating that another eruption may be imminent.
Such seismic spikes have been seen prior to previous eruptions as well.
It's crucial to understand that we don't even know where the lava flow encased them eruption
might come from, as in the 2018 eruption of Kilauea, the lava didn't come from the famous
crater in fact it oozed out from dozens of Fissures that opened in a residential neighborhood.
Scientists are working hard to predict and get ready for these eruptions.
It's difficult to forecast the size of an eruption ahead of time, but it's better to
be safe than sorry.
Furthermore, lava isn't the only dangerous byproduct of an eruption; the toxic fumes
that accompany it can be lethal as well.
While Mauna Loa puts the residents of Hawaii on edge, another giant with considerably more
dangerous eruptions in its history may also be waking up, bringing the worst of our nightmares
to life.
Yes, we're referring to the Yellowstone caldera at Yellowstone National Park.
Scientists are now attempting to forecast how this ticking time bomb will explode while
hoping that it will simply fizzle out.
This sleeping monster in western North America occasionally stirs, but it hasn't fully awoken
in 70 000 years.
However, dealing with this ferocious beast when it ultimately awakens will be extremely
challenging.
This gigantic super volcano rests in a hot spot of molten and semi-molten rock, breathing
in and out due to magma flow beneath it.
The magma beneath Yellowstone pulls into a magma chamber or reservoir only six to ten
kilometers beneath the park, causing the ground to swell and rise, and when this magma finally
starts cooling and solidifying, the ground falls again.
Volcanologists have been measuring this activity since 1923, and according to them, the ground
rose nearly 25 centimeters between 2004 and 2009, but in 2010 the land began to fall.
Many experts are puzzled by this gradual and steady rise, believing it is a warning of
an approaching eruption.
"They're worried that the eruption at the Yellowstone caldera will be much more intense
than we fear from on the lowest eruption owing to the history of this super volcano", according
to Dr. Steve Henderson a volcanologist and earth science professor.
The last eruption of the Yellowstone volcano sent a deadly plume of ash, lava, and toxic
gases thousands of meters into the air, completely darkening a third of the continent.
The pyroclastic flows swept through the countryside at breakneck speed, burying and shattering
practically everything in their path.
The magma that spewed from the ground scorched the stunning landscape for many kilometers,
and traces of the last eruption may also be seen in the 50-kilometer-wide and 70-kilometer-long
Yellowstone caldera.
The volcanic debris can still be seen in an area now known as the Lava Creek Tuff.
So, what will happen if Yellowstone erupts?
According to experts, the lava from the volcano will probably destroy just about everything
within a 40-mile radius of the blast, and major cities like Denver, Salt Lake City,
and Boise could be wiped out.
A large volume of volcanic materials in the atmosphere will eventually rain down toxic
ash across the entire US, but the northwest will face the worst conditions.
The ash will also kill plants, animals, crush buildings, and destroy infrastructure.
According to the federal emergency management agency, the Yellowstone eruption can cause
approximately $3 trillion in damage, but the most horrific aspect would still be the loss
of life.
Scientists are hoping that such an event does not occur because such explosions are extremely
rare.
Today, scientists are keeping a close eye on every hiccup of this volcano, as its activity
continues to warn us of a major catastrophe in the future.
The 1815 explosion of Mount Tambora on Sumbawa Island in modern-day Indonesia can offer us
with some insight into what a big eruption from one of the world's active and possibly
catastrophic volcanoes will look like.
This has been deemed the most powerful volcanic eruption in recorded human history.
The VEI-7 eruption spewed over 160 to 213 cubic kilometers of volcanic material into
the atmosphere.
This was the most recent confirmed VEI-7 eruption.
Mount Tambora reached its climax on April 10, 1815, and a rise in steaming and small
phreatic eruptions occurred over the next three years.
The ash from this eruption was dispersed around the world, causing global temperatures to
drop, resulting in what is now known as the year without a summer in 1816.
Around 11 000 people died from direct volcanic effects of this eruption, and between 49,000
and 90,000 died as a result of the consequences.
A significant phase of climate change resulted in catastrophic weather and crop failures
all around the world.
The Mount Tambora eruption was horrific, but our planet has seen far worse.
Massive and widespread volcanic eruptions occurred around 200 million years ago, at
the end of the Triassic extinction.
Believe it or not, this catastrophic extinction wiped out 76% of all marine and terrestrial
species and marked the end of the Triassic period.
This was the event that set the stage for dinosaurs to rule the Earth for the next 135
million years.
Should we actually consider packing our stuff and going to Mars in the future?
Experts may be optimistic that such catastrophic events will not take place in the future,
but there's really no way of knowing what's going on beneath these fearsome volcanoes;
at some point, one or more of these super volcanoes is bound to blow up, and we don't
know how humanity will deal with the full impact of such a devastating event; besides,
what can we actually do except evacuate in case predictors of an eruption appear right.
So, among all the other possible catastrophes that can wipe out life on earth, we must remember
that a potential cause of disaster is the magma boiling underneath us.
Which of the world's most active and dangerous volcanoes, in your opinion, is most likely
to explode first?
Let us know in the comments.