Supervolcano

A supervolcano is any volcano capable of producing a volcanic eruption with an ejecta mass greater than 10¹⁵ kg. Supervolcanoes can occur when magma in the mantle rises into the crust from a hotspot but is unable to break through the crust, and pressure builds in a large and growing magma pool until the crust is unable to contain the pressure (this is the case for the Yellowstone Caldera). They can also form at convergent plate boundaries (for example, Toba). Large igneous provinces can cover huge areas with lava and volcanic ash, causing long-lasting climate change (such as the triggering of a small ice age or global warming), which can threaten species with extinction.

Terminology

The origin of the term "supervolcano" is linked to an early 20th-century scientific debate about the geological history and features of the Three Sisters volcanic region of Oregon in the United States. In 1925, Edwin T. Hodge suggested that a very large volcano, which he named Mount Multnomah, had existed in that region. He believed that several peaks in the Three Sisters area are the remnants left after Mount Multnomah had been largely destroyed by violent volcanic explosions, similar to Mount Mazama. In 1948, the possible existence of Mount Multnomah was ignored by volcanologist Howel Williams in his book The Ancient Volcanoes of Oregon. The book was reviewed in 1949 by another volcanologist, F. M. Byers Jr. In the review, Byers refers to Mount Multnomah as a supervolcano. Although Hodge's suggestion that Mount Multnomah is a supervolcano was rejected long ago, the term "supervolcano" was popularised by the BBC popular science television program Horizon in 2000 to refer to eruptions that produce extremely large amounts of ejecta.

Supervolcano (film)

Supervolcano is a disaster television film that originally aired on 13 March 2005 on BBC One, and released by the BBC on 10 April 2005 on the Discovery Channel. It is centered on the speculated and potential eruption of the volcanic caldera of Yellowstone National Park. Its tagline is "Scientists know it as the deadliest volcano on Earth. You know it...as Yellowstone."

Plot

The film begins with a group of hooded people in caribou parkas riding through snow on snowmobiles. Arriving at a nearly buried building, inside they find a video recorded journal of a man who appears to be dying. He tells he is Richard Lieberman, the scientist who was in charge of Yellowstone Volcano Observatory.

The film then goes back five years, showing a press conference where Rick and his colleagues are with their boss, Michael Eldridge are trying to persuade the press that their new simulator, VIRGIL, can help determine any possibility of an eruption. A woman named Maggie Chin asks about the possibility of a supereruption, which Rick dismisses as the possibility of such an event is in the odds of 1 in 600,000.

Supervolcano (disambiguation)

A supervolcano is a type of volcano.

Supervolcano may also refer to: