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Curtin scientists were part of an international research group that examined an ancient supervolcano of Indonesia. They found that such volcanoes can remain active and dangerous for thousands of years following a super-erupttion. This has prompted the need to rethink how these potentially disastrous events are predicted.
Associate Professor Martin Danik from Curtin University is the lead Australian author. He said that supervolcanoes can erupt multiple times over a period of many thousands of years, but it wasn't known what happened during these periods.
Associate Professor Danik stated, "Gaining an appreciation of those long dormant times will determine what we look at in young active supervolcanoes that will help us predict future eruptions."
Super-eruptions are some of the most devastating events in Earth's past history. They release enormous amounts magma almost instantly. They can have a devastating impact on the global climate, causing extreme cold and possibly leading to widespread famine or population disruption.
Understanding how supervolcanoes operate is crucial for understanding the threat of a super-eruption in the future. These occur about once every 17,000 year.
Associate Professor Danik stated that the team examined the fate of magma after the Toba supereruption 75,000 years ago using the minerals feldspar (and zircon) which have independent records of time, based on the accumulations of gasses such as argon or helium in volcanic rocks.
Associate Professor Danik stated that the geochronological data, statistical analysis, and thermal modeling showed that magma continued ooze out of the caldera (or deep depression) created by the super-eruption. Then, the carapace made of solidified left over magma was pushed up like a turtle shell.
"These findings challenge existing knowledge and study of eruptions. Normally, this involves looking for liquid magma beneath a volcano to evaluate future hazards. It is important to recognize that eruptions can happen even when no liquid magma exists underneath a volcano.
"A super-eruption can have a regional or global impact and recovery may take years or even decades. However, our results show that the hazard does not end with the super-eruption. The threat of additional hazards remains for thousands of years.
Understanding supervolcanoes is crucial by understanding when and how magma erupts and what the magma looks like before and after eruptions.
Researchers from Oregon State University led the study. The study was co-authored with researchers from Heidelberg University, The Geological Agency of Indonesia and Dr. Jack Gillespie, Curtin’s School of Earth and Planetary Sciences and The Institute for Geoscience Research, Curtin’s flagship institute for earth sciences research.
The paper "Resurgence initation and subsolidus eruption cold carapace warm magma at Toba Kaldera, Sumatra" was published in NatureEarth and Environmental Sciences.
Continue reading More research is needed to predict supervolcano eruptions
More information: Resurgence initiation and subsolidus eruption of cold carapace of warm magma at Toba Caldera, Sumatra, NatureEarth and Environmental Sciences, DOI: 10.1038/s43247-021-00260-1 Resurgence initiation and subsolidus eruption of cold carapace of warm magma at Toba Caldera, Sumatra,
