Greedy Pig
05-04-2005, 15:25
http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2005/4/4/world/10583879&sec=world
World’s biggest super volcano ‘waiting to erupt’
SYDNEY: As Indonesians struggled to recover from the second deadly earthquake to strike them in three months, an Australian expert warned on Friday that the country faced the prospect of a “super volcano” eruption that would dwarf all previous catastrophes.
Professor Ray Cas of Monash University's School of Geosciences said the world's biggest super volcano was Lake Toba, on Indonesia's Sumatra island, worst-hit by both the recent massive earthquakes.
Prof Cas told Australian media on Friday that Toba sits on a faultline running down the middle of Sumatra – just where some seismologists say a third earthquake might strike following the 9.0-magnitude quake on Dec 26 and Monday's 8.7 temblor.
He said Toba last erupted 73,000 years ago in an event so massive that it altered the world's climate.
“The eruption released 1,000 cubic km of ash and rock debris into the atmosphere, much of it as fine ash which blocked out solar radiation, kicking the world back into an ice age.”
The scientist said super volcanoes represented the greatest potential hazard on earth, “the only greater threat being an asteroid impact from space.”
“A super volcano will definitely erupt,” he said.
“It could be in a few years or another 1,000 years but sooner or later one is going to go off.”
Super volcanoes are also found in Italy, South America, the United States and New Zealand. – AFP
This is kinda scary, especially I live relatively near to it.
Anyway, just curious, what are the possibilities of setting off a volcano before it builds up to become a supervolcano? The problem about the ash is that it's usually not hot enough to totally evaporate it. And would be a threat to our atmosphere
I was thinking, is it a good idea to shoot several nuclear weapons, or if not nuclear, the US has bombs that has the same effect but without the radiation. Use it to totally offset the volcano so that it doesn't build up and Would it be hot enough to evaporate the ash particles?
World’s biggest super volcano ‘waiting to erupt’
SYDNEY: As Indonesians struggled to recover from the second deadly earthquake to strike them in three months, an Australian expert warned on Friday that the country faced the prospect of a “super volcano” eruption that would dwarf all previous catastrophes.
Professor Ray Cas of Monash University's School of Geosciences said the world's biggest super volcano was Lake Toba, on Indonesia's Sumatra island, worst-hit by both the recent massive earthquakes.
Prof Cas told Australian media on Friday that Toba sits on a faultline running down the middle of Sumatra – just where some seismologists say a third earthquake might strike following the 9.0-magnitude quake on Dec 26 and Monday's 8.7 temblor.
He said Toba last erupted 73,000 years ago in an event so massive that it altered the world's climate.
“The eruption released 1,000 cubic km of ash and rock debris into the atmosphere, much of it as fine ash which blocked out solar radiation, kicking the world back into an ice age.”
The scientist said super volcanoes represented the greatest potential hazard on earth, “the only greater threat being an asteroid impact from space.”
“A super volcano will definitely erupt,” he said.
“It could be in a few years or another 1,000 years but sooner or later one is going to go off.”
Super volcanoes are also found in Italy, South America, the United States and New Zealand. – AFP
This is kinda scary, especially I live relatively near to it.
Anyway, just curious, what are the possibilities of setting off a volcano before it builds up to become a supervolcano? The problem about the ash is that it's usually not hot enough to totally evaporate it. And would be a threat to our atmosphere
I was thinking, is it a good idea to shoot several nuclear weapons, or if not nuclear, the US has bombs that has the same effect but without the radiation. Use it to totally offset the volcano so that it doesn't build up and Would it be hot enough to evaporate the ash particles?