“Super Volcanoes”
Tom Pering
Today’s topics…
 What is a super eruption?
 Where do super eruptions occur?
 What do super volcanoes look like?
 “Super Volcanoes” around the world.
 Yellowstone Caldera Chain
 Yellowstone Now
 What would an eruption at Yellowstone be like to live
through?
 What are the chances of an eruption occurring in our
lifetime?
What is a super eruption?
 You may know about super eruptions under the term
“supervolcano”.
 Definition of a super eruption
 VEI 8 – Ultra-Plinian, Mega-Colossal
Lord Byron - Darkness
“I had a dream, which was not all a dream.
The bright sun was extinguished, and the stars
Did wander darkling in the eternal space,
Rayless, and pathless, and the icy earth
Swung blind and blackening in the moonless air;
Morn came and went -and came, and brought no day”
Where do super eruptions occur?
 Plate Boundaries
 Hot Spots
 Mantle Plume
 Huge Magma Chambers
What do super volcanoes look like?
 Caldera Volcanoes
Well known “super volcanoes”
 Yellowstone, USA
 Lake Toba, INDONESIA
 Taupo, NEW ZEALAND
Not so well known “super volcanoes”
 La Garita Caldera, USA
 Cerro Galán, ARGENTINA
 Glen Coe, SCOTLAND
 Scafells, Lake District, ENGLAND
Glen Coe, Scotland
 Last eruption 420 million years ago
 Silurian (Paleozoic Era)
 5 eruptions
 Roughly 500,000 years apart.
 Glaciations
Scafells, Lake District, England
 440 – 520 million years ago (unknown last eruption)
 Ordovician (Paleozoic Era)
 Largest known phreatomagmatic eruption
 VEI 7 or 8?
 Glaciations
Lake Toba, Indonesia
 74,000 years ago
 Largest Volcanic Lake in world
 Mankind survived
Taupo, New Zealand
 First Eruption – 300,000 years ago
 Oruanui Eruption
 26,500 years ago
 Lots of volcanic activity nearby
La Garita Caldera, USA
 Colorado
 26 million years ago
 Largest known eruption
 5000 km³
Cerro Galán, Argentina
 Andes Mountain Range
 2.2 million years ago
 1050 km³
Yellowstone Caldera Chain
Yellowstone Eruptions
 Huckleberry Ridge Caldera, 2.1 million years ago
 2450 km³
 Mesa Falls, 1.3 million years ago
 280 km³
 Lava Creek, 640,000 years ago
 1000 km³
• Source: USGS
Yellowstone
Yellowstone Now
 National Park - over 3 million visitors a year.
 307 million people in the USA
 An eruption at Yellowstone could be a small outflow of lava
or an VEI 8 eruption.
 Large Magma Chamber
Warning signs of an imminent eruption
 High ground temperatures
 Increased volcanic gas emission
 Hydrothermal feature – activity increase
 Ground uplift
 Hydrothermal explosions
 Earthquakes
 Harmonic tremors
Possible regional effects of an eruption
at Yellowstone
 Zone 1 – Pyroclastic Zone (Around 90,000 could be killed –
90% mortality rate)
 100 km radius
 Zone 2 and 3 – Asphyxiation and Roof Collapse
 3 million people trapped by ash
 Zone 4
 Ashfall – 15cm
 Zone 5
 Ashfall – 5cm
 Zone 6
 Ashfall – 1cm
Different ways to die…
 Direct
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Asphyxiation
Gas Poisoning
Pyroclastic Flows
Roof Collapse
Burning
Lahars
Plane Crash
 Indirect
 Starvation / Drought
 Freeze
 Riots / Conflict
What could be the global effects of an
eruption at Yellowstone?
 Water Contamination
 Food Shortages
 Increase Rainfall
 Economic Failure
 Extinction
 Volcanic Winter
 Triggering of an Ice Age
What are the chances of a super
eruption occurring in our lifetimes?
 Are we overdue?
Further Reading
 http://www.yellowstonenationalpark.com/calderas.htm
 Yellowstone Volcano Observatory
 USGS
References
 Brenchley, P.J., Rawson, P.F., 1990? The Geology of England and Wales. The
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Geological Society. Bath. 256pp
CIA World Fact book [Online]
Cole, J.W., Milner, D.M., Spinks, K.D., 2005. Calderas and caldera structures:
a review. Earth Science Reviews. 69, pp. 1-26
Grotzinger, J., Jordan, T.H., Press, F., Siever, R., 2006. Understanding Earth.
W.H.Freeman. Basingstoke.
Moore, I., Kokelaar, P., 1998. Tectonically controlled piecemeal caldera
collapse: A case study of Glencoe volcano, Scotland. Geological Society of America
Bulletin. 110 (11), pp. 1448-1466
Riciptu, L.R., Johnson, C.M., Sawyer, D.A., Lipman, P.W., 1995. Crustal and
magmatic evolution in a large multicyclic caldera complex. Journal ofVolcanology
and Geothermal Research. 67, pp. 1 – 28
Wilson, C.J.N., 2001. The 26.5ka oruanui eruption, New Zealand: an
introduction and overview. Journal ofVolcanology and Geothermal Research. 112,
pp. 133 - 174