SuperVolcano!

SUPER VOLCANO

it is a volcano that produces the largest & most voluminous kinds of erruption on earth. the explosivity of such eruptions varies, but the volume of ejected tephra is enough to radically alter the landscape & severely affect global climate for years, with cataclysmic consequences for life. the term originally coined by the producers of the BBC popular science program, horizon. in the year 2000 it refered to three types of eruption. a large igneous province is an extensive region of basalts on a continental scale, resulting from flood basalt eruptions. when created regions often occupy several million km2 & have volumes on the order of 1 million km3. eruptions with a volcanic explosively index of 8are mega- colossal events that eject at least 1000 km3 of pyroclastic material. VEI-8 eruptions are so powerful that they form circular calderas rather than montains because the downward collapse of land at the eruption site fills empited space in the magma chamber beneath. the caldera can remain for millions of years after all volcanic activity at the site has ceased.

ERUPTIONS :
- lake tarpo, nothr island, new zealand - oruanui eruption - 26,500 years ago , 1170 km3

- lake toba , sumatra, indonesia - 75,000 years ago , 2800 km3

- la garita caldera, colorada, us, - 2.2 million years ago , 2500 km3

lake toba eruption plunged the earth into a volcanic winter, eradicating an estimated 60% of human population & was responsible for the sulphuric acid in the atmosphere.