Killer volcanoes. The most powerful volcanic eruptions in history. When Yellowstone explodes - the most common versions
August 24-25, 79 AD there was an eruption of what was considered extinct Mount Vesuvius, located on the shores of the Gulf of Naples, 16 kilometers east of Naples (Italy). The eruption led to the death of four Roman cities - Pompeii, Herculaneum, Oplontius, Stabia - and several small villages and villas. Pompeii, located 9.5 kilometers from the crater of Vesuvius and 4.5 kilometers from the base of the volcano, was covered with a layer of very small pieces of pumice about 5-7 meters thick and covered with a layer of volcanic ash. As night fell, lava flowed from Vesuvius, everywhere fires started, the ash made it difficult to breathe. On August 25, together with the earthquake, a tsunami began, the sea receded from the coast, and a black thundercloud hung over Pompeii and the surrounding cities, hiding Cape Mizensky and the island of Capri. Most of the population of Pompeii was able to escape, but about two thousand people died on the streets and in the houses of the city from poisonous sulfur gases. Among the victims was the Roman writer and scientist Pliny the Elder. Herculaneum, located seven kilometers from the crater of the volcano and about two kilometers from its base, was covered with a layer of volcanic ash, the temperature of which was so high that all the wooden objects were completely charred. The ruins of Pompeii were accidentally discovered at the end of the 16th century, but systematic excavations began only in 1748 and continue to this day, along with reconstruction and restoration.
March 11, 1669 there was an eruption Mount Etna in Sicily, which lasted until July of the same year (according to other sources, until November 1669). The eruption was accompanied by numerous earthquakes. Lava fountains along this crack gradually shifted downward, and the largest cone formed near the town of Nikolosi. This cone is known as Monti Rossi (Red Mountain) and is still clearly visible on the slope of the volcano. Nikolosi and two nearby villages were destroyed on the first day of the eruption. In another three days, the lava flowing down the slope to the south destroyed four more villages. At the end of March, two larger cities were destroyed, and in early April, lava flows reached the outskirts of Catania. Lava began to accumulate under the fortress walls. Part of it flowed into the harbor and filled it. On April 30, 1669, lava flowed over the upper part of the fortress walls. The townspeople built additional walls across the main roads. This stopped the advance of lava, but the western part of the city was destroyed. The total volume of this eruption is estimated at 830 million cubic meters. Lava flows burned 15 villages and part of the city of Catania, completely changing the configuration of the coast. According to some sources, 20 thousand people, according to others - from 60 to 100 thousand.
October 23, 1766 on the island of Luzon (Philippines) began to erupt Mayon volcano... Dozens of villages were swept away, incinerated by a huge lava flow (30 meters wide), which for two days descended along the eastern slopes. Following the initial explosion and lava flow, Mayon continued to erupt for four more days, releasing large amounts of steam and watery mud. Dull-brown rivers, 25 to 60 meters wide, tumbled down the slopes of the mountain in a radius of up to 30 kilometers. They completely swept away roads, animals, villages with people (Daraga, Kamalig, Tobaco) on their way. More than 2,000 residents died in the eruption. Basically, they were absorbed by the first lava flow or secondary mud avalanches. For two months, the mountain spewed ash and poured lava onto the surrounding area.
5-7 April 1815 there was an eruption Tambora volcano on the Indonesian island of Sumbawa. Ash, sand and volcanic dust were thrown into the air at a height of 43 kilometers. Stones weighing up to five kilograms were scattered over a distance of up to 40 kilometers. The Tambora eruption affected the islands of Sumbawa, Lombok, Bali, Madura and Java. Subsequently, under a three-meter layer of ash, scientists found traces of the dead kingdoms of Pecat, Sangar and Tambor. Simultaneously with the eruption of the volcano, huge tsunamis of 3.5-9 meters high were formed. Having flowed away from the island, the water hit the neighboring islands and drowned hundreds of people. During the eruption, about 10 thousand people died. At least 82 thousand more people died from the consequences of the disaster - hunger or disease. The ash that covered Sumbawa with a shroud destroyed the entire crop and covered the irrigation system; acid rain poisoned the water. For three years after the eruption of Tambora, a veil of dust and ash particles enveloped the entire globe, reflecting part of the sun's rays and cooling the planet. The next year, 1816, the Europeans felt the aftermath of the volcanic eruption. He entered the annals of history as a "year without summer". The average temperature in the Northern Hemisphere has dropped by about one degree, and in some areas even by 3-5 degrees. Large areas of crops suffered from spring and summer frosts on the soil, and famine began in many territories.
26-27 August 1883 there was an eruption volcano Krakatoa located in the Sunda Strait between Java and Sumatra. Houses collapsed from tremors on nearby islands. On August 27, at about 10 o'clock in the morning, a gigantic explosion occurred, an hour later - a second explosion of the same force. More than 18 cubic kilometers of rock debris and ash were thrown into the atmosphere. The tsunami waves caused by the explosions instantly engulfed cities, villages, forests on the coast of Java and Sumatra. Many islands disappeared under water along with the population. The tsunami was so powerful that it bypassed almost the entire planet. In total, on the coasts of Java and Sumatra, 295 cities and villages were wiped out from the face of the earth, over 36 thousand people died, hundreds of thousands were left homeless. The shores of Sumatra and Java have changed beyond recognition. On the coast of the Sunda Strait, fertile soil was washed away down to the rocky base. Only a third of the island survived from Krakatoa. In terms of the amount of water and rock moved, the energy of the eruption of Krakatoa is equivalent to the explosion of several hydrogen bombs. The strange glow and optical phenomena persisted for several months after the eruption. In some places above the Earth, the sun appeared blue and the moon bright green. And the movement in the atmosphere of the dust particles thrown out by the eruption allowed scientists to establish the presence of a "jet" stream.
May 8, 1902 volcano Mont Pele, located in Martinique, one of the islands of the Caribbean, literally tore to pieces - four strong explosions were heard, similar to cannon shots. They threw a black cloud from the main crater, which was pierced by flashes of lightning. Since the emissions did not go through the top of the volcano, but through side craters, all volcanic eruptions of this type have since been called "Pelei". Superheated volcanic gas, due to its high density and high speed of movement, floated above the ground itself, penetrated into all the cracks. A huge cloud covered the area of total destruction. The second destruction zone stretched for another 60 square kilometers. This cloud, formed from super-hot steam and gases, weighed down with billions of hot ash particles, moving at a speed sufficient to carry rock debris and volcanic emissions, had a temperature of 700-980 ° C and was able to melt glass. Mont-Pele erupted again on May 20, 1902, with almost the same force as on May 8. The volcano of Mont Pele, scattering to pieces, destroyed one of the main ports of Martinique, St. Pierre, along with its population. 36 thousand people died instantly, hundreds of people died from side effects. Two of the survivors became celebrities. The shoemaker Leon Comper Leandre managed to escape within the walls of his own home. He miraculously survived, although he received severe burns to his legs. Luis August Cypress, nicknamed Samson, was in a prison cell during the eruption and remained there for four days, despite severe burns. After he was rescued, he was pardoned, he was soon hired by the circus and during the performances he was shown as the only surviving resident of Saint-Pierre.
June 1, 1912 the eruption began volcano Katmai in Alaska, which was dormant for a long time. On June 4, ash material was thrown out, which, mixed with water, formed mud streams; on June 6, an explosion of colossal force occurred, the sound of which was heard in Juneau 1200 kilometers away and in Dawson 1040 kilometers from the volcano. Two hours later, there was a second explosion of enormous power and in the evening - a third. Then, for several days, an enormous amount of gases and solid products erupted almost continuously. During the eruption, about 20 cubic kilometers of ash and debris escaped from the volcano's mouth. The deposition of this material formed a layer of ash with a thickness of 25 centimeters to 3 meters, and much more near the volcano. The amount of ash was so great that for 60 hours there was continuous darkness around the volcano at a distance of 160 kilometers. On June 11, volcanic dust fell in Vancouver and Victoria at a distance of 2200 km from the volcano. In the upper atmosphere, it spread throughout North America and fell in large numbers in the Pacific Ocean. For a whole year, small ash particles moved in the atmosphere. Summer all over the planet turned out to be much colder than usual, since more than a quarter of the sun's rays falling on the planet were delayed in the ash veil. In addition, in 1912, amazingly beautiful scarlet dawns were celebrated everywhere. On the site of the crater, a lake with a diameter of 1.5 kilometers was formed - the main attraction of the Katmai National Park and Reserve, formed in 1980.
December 13-28, 1931 there was an eruption volcano Merapi on the island of Java in Indonesia. For two weeks, from December 13 to 28, the volcano erupted a lava flow about seven kilometers long, up to 180 meters wide and up to 30 meters deep. A white-hot stream scorched the earth, burned trees and destroyed all the villages in its path. In addition, both slopes of the volcano exploded, and erupted volcanic ash covered half of the island of the same name. During this eruption, 1,300 people died. The eruption of Mount Merapi in 1931 was the most devastating, but far from the last.
In 1976, a volcanic eruption killed 28 people and destroyed 300 homes. The significant morphological changes taking place in the volcano caused another disaster. In 1994, a dome that had formed in previous years collapsed, and the massive release of pyroclastic material that occurred forced the local population to leave their villages. 43 people were killed.
In 2010, the death toll from the central part of the Indonesian island of Java was 304. The list of the dead included those who died from the exacerbations of lung and heart diseases and other chronic diseases caused by ash emissions, as well as those who died from injuries.
November 12, 1985 the eruption began volcano ruiz in Colombia, considered extinct. On November 13, several explosions were heard one after another. The power of the strongest explosion, according to experts, was about 10 megatons. A column of ash and debris rose into the sky to a height of eight kilometers. The eruption that began caused the instantaneous melting of vast glaciers and eternal snows lying at the top of the volcano. The main blow fell on the city of Armero, located 50 kilometers from the mountain, which was destroyed in 10 minutes. Of the 28.7 thousand residents of the city, 21 thousand died. Not only Armero was destroyed, but also a number of villages. Such settlements as Chinchino, Libano, Murillo, Casabianca and others suffered greatly from the eruption. Mudflows damaged oil pipelines, and the supply of fuel to the southern and western parts of the country was cut off. Snow melting in the mountains of Nevado Ruiz overflowed the banks of nearby rivers as a result of the sudden melting. Powerful streams of water washed away roads, demolished power and telephone pylons, destroyed bridges. According to the official report of the Colombian government, as a result of the eruption of the Ruiz volcano 23 thousand people died and went missing, about 5 thousand were seriously injured and injured. About 4,500 residential buildings and administrative buildings were completely destroyed. Tens of thousands of people were left homeless and without any means of subsistence. Colombia's economy has suffered significant damage.
June 10-15, 1991 there was an eruption volcano pinatubo on the island of Luzon in the Philippines. The eruption began quite rapidly and was unexpected, as the volcano came into a state of activity after more than six centuries of hibernation. On June 12, the volcano exploded, throwing a mushroom cloud into the sky. Streams of gas, ash and rocks molten to a temperature of 980 ° C poured down the slopes at a speed of up to 100 kilometers per hour. For many kilometers around, all the way to Manila, day turned into night. And the cloud and the ash falling out of it reached Singapore, which is 2.4 thousand kilometers away from the volcano. On the night of June 12 and the morning of June 13, the volcano erupted again, throwing ash and flames into the air for 24 kilometers. The volcano continued to erupt on June 15 and 16. Mud streams and water washed away the houses. As a result of numerous eruptions, about 200 people died and 100 thousand were left homeless.
The material was prepared on the basis of information from open sources
I read that scientists said that the explosion will definitely happen before 2016. Since the end of March 2014, there has been an increase in seismic activity. In addition, local geysers have become noticeably more active. Large ungulates began to scatter from the territory of the national park. According to scientists, the force of the explosion of the Yellowstone volcano will be 2500 times stronger than the ejection of Etna 8 thousand years ago, when the resulting tsunami distorted the coast of three continents in a few hours. When Yellowstone explodes, its consequences will be possible. compare only with the explosion of a dozen atomic bombs at once. The earth's crust will rise several meters, and the soil will warm up to a temperature of +60 degrees. Pieces of earth rock will be thrown to a great height, and then they will cover a huge part of the earth. Then the atmosphere itself will change - the content of helium and hydrogen sulfide will increase. Within a few hours after the explosion of Yellowstone, an area of about 1000 km2 will completely burn out. We are talking about the northwest of the United States and a small part of Canada. More than 10 thousand sq. Km. will be buried under streams of hot mud, or as it is also called a pyroclastic wave, it will burn everything in its path with a powerful avalanche. It is she who is the most deadly during the eruption.
AS IT WILL BE
A few days before the explosion, the earth's crust above the supervolcano will rise by several tens, or even hundreds of meters. The soil will heat up to 60-70 ° C. The concentration of hydrogen sulfide and helium will sharply increase in the atmosphere.
The first to erupt is a volcanic ash cloud, which rises into the atmosphere to an altitude of 40-50 km. Then the ejection of lava will begin, pieces of which will be thrown to a great height. Falling, they will cover a gigantic territory. The explosion will be accompanied by a powerful earthquake and lava flows developing at a speed of several hundred kilometers per hour.
In the first hours of a new eruption in Yellowstone, an area within a radius of 1000 kilometers around the epicenter will be destroyed. Here, residents of almost the entire American Northwest (Seattle) and parts of Canada (Calgary, Vancouver) are in immediate danger.
On the territory of 10 thousand sq. kilometers will be raging streams of hot mud, the so-called. "Pyroclastic wave" This most deadly product of the eruption occurs when the pressure of the lava hitting high into the atmosphere weakens and part of the column falls on the surroundings in a huge avalanche, burning everything in its path. It will be impossible to survive in pyroclastic flows. At temperatures above 400 ° C, human bodies will simply boil, the flesh will separate from the bones.
Hot slurry will kill about 200 thousand people in the first minutes after the start of the eruption. In addition, a series of earthquakes and tsunamis, which will provoke an explosion, will bring huge losses. They will claim tens of millions of lives across the globe. This is provided that the North American continent does not go under water at all, like Atlantis. Then the ash cloud from the volcano will begin to spread in breadth. Within a day, the entire territory of the United States up to the Mississippi will be in the disaster zone. At the same time, volcanic ash is no less dangerous. The ash particles are so small that neither gauze bandages nor respirators can protect them from them. Once in the lungs, the ash mixes with mucus, hardens and turns into cement ...
As a result of ash falling, territories located thousands of kilometers from the volcano may be in mortal danger. When the layer of volcanic ash reaches 15 cm thick, the load on the roofs will become too great and buildings will begin to collapse. It is estimated that from 1 to 50 people in each home will die immediately or be seriously injured. This will become the main cause of death in areas bypassed by the pyroclastic wave around Yellowstone, where the ash layer will be no less than 60 cm.
The Yellowstone giant will provoke the eruption of several hundred ordinary volcanoes around the world. Other deaths will follow from poisoning. The eruption will continue for several days, but at the same time people and animals will continue to die due to suffocation and hydrogen sulfide poisoning. During this time, the air in the western United States will be poisoned so that a person can breathe in it for no more than 5-7 minutes.
Thousands of cubic kilometers of ash emitted into the atmosphere will cross the Atlantic and Pacific Ocean by air in 2-3 weeks, and a month later they will close the Sun all over the Earth.
NUCLEAR WINTER
Once Soviet scientists predicted that the most terrible consequence of a global nuclear conflict would be the so-called. "nuclear winter". The same thing will happen as a result of the explosion of a supervolcano.
First, the incessant acid rains will destroy all crops and crops, kill livestock, condemning the survivors to starvation. Two weeks after the sun disappears in dust clouds, the air temperature on the earth's surface will drop in various regions of the globe from -15 ° to -50 ° C and below. The average temperature on the Earth's surface will be about -25 ° C.
The “billionaire” countries - India and China - will be the hardest hit by hunger. Here, in the coming months after the explosion, up to 1.5 billion people will die. In total, in the first months of the cataclysm, every third inhabitant of the Earth will die.
Winter will last from 1.5 to 4 years. This is enough to permanently change the natural balance of the planet. Due to long frosts and lack of light, vegetation will die. Since plants are involved in the production of oxygen, it will become very difficult to breathe on the planet. The fauna of the Earth will die painfully from cold, hunger and epidemics. Humanity will have to move from the surface of the earth for at least 3-4 years ...
For the population of North America, the chances of survival are minimal. In general, the inhabitants of the Western Hemisphere will be almost completely destroyed. The central part of Eurasia has the greatest chances. Most people, according to scientists, will survive in Siberia and the eastern European part of Russia, located on earthquake-resistant platforms, remote from the epicenter of the explosion and protected from the tsunami.
Perhaps there is no such person who would not have heard about the volcano. Its giant caldera, which occupies a third of Yellowstone National Park, is the largest supervolcano in North America, and more recently it has also been the object of close attention of scientists and volcanologists. Yellowstone is a dormant supervolcano, but its activity has grown rapidly in recent years. Many researchers argue that it can happen already in 2015-2016, and its consequences will be catastrophic for the population of our entire planet.
Location: states of Idaho, Montana and Wyoming, USA
Height: 3142 m
Type: supervolcano
Number of eruptions: 3
Yellowstone structure and eruptions
Yellowstone is located above the so-called hot spot, characterized by prolonged volcanism. For a long time it was believed that under the "cover" of the caldera there is one huge magma bubble over 8000 m deep, but more recently scientists have discovered a much larger reservoir under the upper bubble, 4.4 times larger than the first. The recharge of the volcano is provided by a large plume (hot flow of the mantle with a temperature of 1600 ° C), part of which, closer to the surface, melts into magma and contributes to the appearance of geysers and gas outbursts.
Over the past 2.1 million years, Yellowstone volcano has erupted 3 times:
- The Huckleberry Ridge eruption 2.1 million years ago was a continental-scale disaster, during which more than 160 km³ of rocks were thrown out. The stones rose to a height of about 50 km, and volcanic ash covered a quarter of the continent.
- The eruption of the volcano "Mesa Falls" 1.3 million years ago, as a result of which 280 km³ of rocks were ejected.
- The eruption "Lava Creek" 640 thousand years ago, which formed a huge caldera with a circumference of about 150 km.
Yellowstone Tourism
Yellowstone Park is the first national park in the world, founded in March 1872. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and receives over 2 million tourists annually, attracted not only by the volcano's caldera, but also by the many canyons, caves and bodies of water. More than 1280 geysers can be seen in the park, including the Old Faithful geyser, which erupts every 63 minutes, and the Great Prismatic Spring, which shimmers with all the colors of the rainbow thanks to colorful algae and bacteria. Although the likelihood of a volcanic eruption is high enough, tourists continue to come to the park and enjoy its beauty.
Morning in Yellowstone 06/15/2015
Geyser Old Faithful
YELLOWSTONE DETECTION HISTORY
In 1870, a search expedition was sent to the central-northern parts of the United States to explore the territory of the state. At the end of August, the explorers approached Mount Washburn, and on August 29, several people climbed to its summit, but the first among them was Gustav Doan, a lieutenant in the American army. Looking from the mountain to the southern part, the military saw a huge depression among the Rocky Mountains, which was covered with forests.
Dawn was interested in this area and in his diary he wrote the following: "I found a large depression, most likely a crater of a long extinct volcano, which has long been dormant." And in fact, the lieutenant turned out to be right - Yellowstone is really a volcano, and gigantic in size and at the same time he does not sleep, he is keenly awake and from time to time demonstrates his cool temper. Nowadays, in the territory of Yellowstone, hot water rises from the ground in the literal sense of the word, as well as clubs of various gases.
For several years, the territory was explored, and in 1872, on March 1, Yellowstone National Park was created here. Today it is a large biosphere reserve, it was also included in the UNESCO World Heritage List. Moreover, in those years for the United States, it was one of the very first national parks created by the state.
In total, the park covers a total area of 898 thousand hectares and is located immediately on the lands of three American states: Idaho, Montana and Wyoming.
YELLOWESTON NATIONAL PARK AND TOURISM IN THE PARK
Yellowstone National Park is an amazingly beautiful place, local coniferous forests, caves, canyons, beautiful waterfalls, rivers, lakes, geysers, all this is literally mesmerizing.
According to many tourists, the real pearl of the park is the lake of the same name, the peculiarity of which is its location. This is one of the highest mountain lakes in the world, as it is located at an altitude of 2135 meters above sea level.
Yellowstone Park has a special structure, as it is located on a plateau, and due to the presence of mountain ranges along the perimeter, a special microclimate is created here. Since through rather high mountains, on average 2500 meters above sea level, cold winds, and indeed winds in general, cannot roam much on the surface of the park.
The park itself is also located quite high - 2400 meters above sea level. The highest point in the park is Mount Eagle Peak, which is 3462 meters high. The plateau itself was formed by numerous and constant volcanic eruptions. Each eruption was accompanied by the release of lava, it collapsed over time, underwent erosion and a forest grew on its surface.
In addition to a beautiful lake, beautiful landscapes, there are a large number of hot geysers and springs in Yellowstone Park. Also here is the largest geyser called Excelsior. From time to time, steam and a column of boiling water rush up from the ground with great noise, and rises to about a height of hundreds of meters. Steam rises even higher, about 300 meters.
Moreover, the appearance of a water column and a column of boiling water occurs quite unexpectedly, and a sudden cessation of the release also occurs. Another geyser, the Old Faithful, is also very popular. It has its own peculiarity - the geyser is very punctual, every 65 minutes it throws a stream of hot water into the air, which rises to a height of 50 meters. At the Old Faithful, the eruption of water is quite long and takes five minutes, after which everything stops and resumes again after 65 minutes.
There is a wide variety of flora and fauna on the territory of Yellowstone Park. Here you can meet many representatives of the animal world: several species of bears, deer, moose, bison, lynx, wolves and many other four-legged animals roam the park.
In the numerous rivers and lakes of the park, there are about 20 species of fish, even some are rare. There are a very large number of representatives of the feathered world - there are about 300 species of birds in the park, most of them hatch their chicks in the warm season.
Therefore, it is not surprising that Yellowstone National Park attracts a huge number of tourists to its territory every year. Despite the fact that it is forbidden to hunt here, and in some periods there is a restriction on fishing, there is no end to those wishing to visit this place.
This is understandable, since the local infrastructure is literally "sharpened" for tourist flows. Tourists are offered various tours, varying in complexity, length of stay, mode of travel, etc.
The most popular is the tourist route, the duration of which is from three to 5 days. During all this time, tourists are offered to see various parts of the national park, introducing them at the same time to representatives of flora, fauna, natural attractions. Without fail, each tour includes a visit to all the main attractions of Yellowstone National Park, from the Mammoth Terraces to the supervolcano.
YELLOWESTON VOLCANO
The Yellowstone supervolcano, or as it is also called the Yellowstone Caldera, refers to the entire name of the volcano located in the Yellowstone National Park. A feature of this volcano is that it is located in the very center of the tectonic plate, more precisely the North American one, which is not quite typical for volcanoes, because they like to be in the place where these tectonic plates are connected. To date, the volcano is very poorly researched and scientists have more questions than answers about it.
It is worth noting that the Yellowstone volcano has a not quite typical, traditional form for volcanoes. Firstly, it is very huge, and secondly, it completely lacks a cone, in fact, it is such a volcano, on the contrary. And this is due to the fact that its upper part sagged below the ground level of the local territory. After the failure, a large depression was formed, which in the circle of scientists is also called the caldera. This word has Spanish roots and translated into Russian the Spanish word Caldera means cauldron.
The Yellowstone volcano throughout its territory has a thinned earth's crust. Under a small layer of this very crust is a huge amount of hot magma. The dimensions of this supervolcano are amazing - the diameter of the caldera is within 60 kilometers.
Recent studies by scientists have shown that representatives of science before that were a little mistaken in the real size of the volcano and its potential danger. In fact, both the area and the volume of incandescent magma inside the Yellowstone volcano must be multiplied at least two and a half times.
SCENARIO OF YELLOWSTONE Eruption AND ITS CONSEQUENCES
In fact, Yellowstone is practically a dormant volcano, for more than one hundred thousand years it has not shown serious signs of life. Despite this, there is a large volume of magma under the thin earth's crust, which boils, moves and wants to escape. As a result of regular research and observation of the park, it became known that its entire territory rises by several centimeters from year to year. This is indisputable proof that the volcano lives some kind of life of its own and it is gradually increasing.
Since the Yellowstone volcano does not have a well-known crater, as well as mountains, hot lava is injected almost over the entire surface area of the volcano. It is for this reason that there is an increased geothermal activity; it is in the territory of Yellowstone Park that half of all geysers and geothermal sources of the Earth are located.
Recent research by scientists led them to the conclusion that the supervolcano erupts almost every 600 thousand years. At the same time, the last time the eruption took place a long time ago - 640 thousand years ago. That is, the Yellowstone volcano is in a rather long hibernation and every year the likelihood that it will wake up increases, but unfortunately no one knows when this will happen.
Moreover, this can be provoked by a large earthquake, which will cause a break in the earth's crust and ... 38 thousand cubic meters of hot steam will burst out, and after it huge reserves of lava. Scientists predict that if this happens, then there will be nothing alive around Yellowstone within a radius of one thousand kilometers.
So what will be the scenario for the development of the eruption of one of the largest supervolcanoes on Earth?
One scenario has already been played in the past. Then, 640 thousand years ago, the Yellowstone volcano exploded, in one instant a huge volume of the earth and everything that was on it rose up into the sky for several kilometers. In just a few minutes, the entire territory of the supervolcano was completely destroyed, only a huge caldera remained at the site of the explosion - 48 by 72 kilometers.
At the time of the explosion, the volcano managed to lift into the sky about a thousand cubic kilometers of dust, singing and stones, for comparison, the eruption of St. Helens in 1980 is a thousand times smaller. But then in the early 80s from the eruption there were 57 victims.
As a result of the explosion of Yellowstone 640 thousand years ago, a lot of dust and ash was formed, which covered everything around for thousands of kilometers. It should be noted that this was not the most powerful eruption, the most powerful eruption occurred 2 million years ago and it was twice as powerful.
The scenario for the development of the Yellowstone eruption in our time may look as follows. First, gases and water vapor will be released from a crack in the earth's crust, after which it will be the turn of hot magma, which will spread throughout the park.
Within a few minutes after the explosion, according to analysts, 90 thousand people will die at once. Further, within a radius of one and a half thousand kilometers from Yellowstone, literally in a day, up to three meters of hot ash will fall out. It is this ash that will cause the death of a large number of people and all living things, it will literally bury all milestones.
Then a huge volume of volcanic ash will begin to spread over the Earth's territory, blocking any movement of air transport, since aircraft simply cannot fly in such a density of microparticles.
Also, during the eruption of a supervolcano, a lot of sulfuric volcanic gases will rise into the Earth's atmosphere and they will react with water vapor from the lower layers of the atmosphere. As a result, the entire planet will be enveloped in a kind of gas haze, which will entail changes in the climate. Firstly, because of this haze, less sunlight will begin to enter the earth's surface, and secondly, as a result of the receipt of less heat on the Earth, the average temperature will drop, and significantly - by 15-20 degrees.
Due to the lowering of the temperature regime on the planet, in many regions, part or all of the crop of cultivated plants will die, the crops will turn into huge fields of rotten plants that simply did not have time to ripen. It is for this reason that large food shortages can occur throughout the world.
Also, according to most scientists, states will be destroyed on almost the entire continent of North America - the United States and Canada will suffer the most.
True, there are more optimistic scenarios for the development of the scenario after the explosion of the supervolcano. Only a few hundred kilometers around Yellowstone will be significantly affected by them.
In the new millennium, the most terrible reports of disasters come from countries with high tectonic activity. Earthquakes cause huge destruction, provoke tsunamis that wash away entire cities:
- the tsunami in Japan in 2011 (16,000 casualties);
- earthquake in Nepal in 2015 (8,000 casualties);
- earthquake in Haiti in 2010 (100-500 thousand deaths);
- tsunami in 2004 in the Indian Ocean (according to confirmed data 184 thousand in 4 countries).
Volcanoes in the new century bring only minor inconveniences. Emissions of volcanic ash interrupt air traffic, cause discomfort associated with evacuation and an unpleasant smell of sulfur.
But this has not always been (and will be). In the past, the largest eruptions have caused much more serious consequences. Scientists believe that the longer a volcano sleeps, the stronger its next eruption will be. Today in the world there are 1,500 volcanoes up to 100 thousand years old. In the immediate vicinity of the fire-breathing mountains, 500 million people live. Each of them lives on a powder keg, because people have not learned how to accurately predict the time and place of a probable disaster.
The most terrible eruptions are associated not only with magma escaping from the depths in the form of lava, but also with explosions, fragments of scattering rock, changes in the relief; smoke and ash covering vast areas, carrying chemical compounds that are deadly to humans.
Consider 10 of the deadliest phenomena of the past, which led to a volcanic eruption.
Kelud (about 5,000 dead)
The active Indonesian volcano is located 90 kilometers from the second most populous city in the country - Surabaya, on the island of Java. The strongest of the officially recorded eruptions of Kelud is considered the disaster that killed more than 5,000 people in 1919. The peculiarity of the volcano is the lake located inside the crater. On May 19 of this year, boiling under the influence of magma, the reservoir brought down about 38 million cubic meters of water on the inhabitants of nearby villages. On the way, silt, mud, stones were mixed with water. The population suffered more from the mudflow than from the explosion and lava.
After the incident of 1919, the authorities took measures to reduce the area of the lake. The last eruption of the volcano is dated 2014. As a result, 2 people died.
Santa Maria (5,000 - 6,000 casualties)
Located in the central part of the American continent (in Guatemala), the volcano slept until the first eruption in the twentieth century for about 500 years. Having lulled the vigilance of the locals, they did not attach much importance to the earthquake that began in the fall of 1902. An explosion of the most terrible force, which sounded on October 24, destroyed one of the mountain slopes. In three days, 5,000 residents were killed by 5.5 thousand cubic meters of magma and exploding rocks. The plume of smoke and ash from the smoking mountain spread over 4,000 km to American San Francisco. Another 1000 residents were affected by epidemics provoked by the eruption.
Lucky (over 9,000 dead)
The most powerful known eruption of Icelandic volcanoes lasted 8 months. In July 1783, Lucky woke up completely unhappy. Lava from its vents flooded about 600 square kilometers of the island's territory. But the most dangerous consequences were the puffs of poisonous smoke, which could be observed even in China. Fluoride and sulfur dioxide killed all crops and most of the livestock on the island. Slow death from hunger and toxic gas overtook more than 9,000 (20% of the population) of the Icelandic population.
Other parts of the planet were also affected. The drop in air temperature in the Northern Hemisphere as a result of the catastrophe led to crop failure throughout the United States, Canada and parts of Eurasia.
Vesuvius (6,000 - 25,000 victims)
One of the most famous natural disasters happened in 79 AD. Vesuvius, according to various sources, killed from 6 to 25 thousand ancient Romans. For a long time, this catastrophe was considered a fiction and a hoax of Pliny the Younger. But in 1763, archaeological excavations finally convinced the world of the existence and death, under a layer of ash, of the ancient city of Pompeii. The smokescreen reached Egypt and Syria. It is reliably known that Vesuvius destroyed as many as three cities (also Stabia and Herculaneum).
The Russian artist Karl Bryullov, who was present at the excavations, was so impressed by the history of Pompeii that he dedicated the most famous of the paintings of Russian painting to the city. Vesuvius is still a great danger, it is not for nothing that our site has an article about the planet itself, in which special attention is paid to Vesuvius.
Unzen (15,000 dead)
No disaster rating is complete without the Land of the Rising Sun. The most powerful eruption in Japanese history took place in 1792. The Unzen volcano (in fact, it is a complex of four volcanic domes), located on the Shimabara Peninsula, is to blame for the death of 15 thousand inhabitants; it played the role of an intermediary. Erupting for several months, Unzen, gradually, as a result of tremors, displaced one of the flanks of the Mayu-Yama dome. Caused by the movement of the rock, a landslide buried 5 thousand inhabitants of the island of Kyushu. Large sacrifices were brought, provoked by Unzen, twenty-meter tsunami waves (10,000 dead).
Nevado del Ruiz (23,000 - 26,000 casualties)
Located in the Colombian Andes, the Ruiz stratovolcano is notorious for the lahars (a stream of mud from volcanic ash, rock and water) caused by its activity. The biggest convergence occurred in 1985 and is better known as the "Tragedy of Armero". Why did people remain in such a dangerous proximity to the volcano, after all, until the 85th year, lahars were the scourge of the region?
It's all about the fertile soils, generously fertilized with volcanic ash. The prerequisites for a future catastrophe became noticeable a year before the incident. A small mudflow dammed the local river, and magma came to the surface, but the evacuation never took place.
When a pillar of smoke rose from the crater on November 13, local authorities advised not to panic. But a small eruption led to the melting of the glacier. Three mud streams, the largest of which reached thirty meters wide, destroyed the city in a matter of hours (23 thousand dead and 3 thousand missing).
Montagne Pele (30,000-40,000 dead)
1902 brought another deadliest eruption in our ranking. The resort island of Martinique was hit by the awakened Mont Pele stratovolcano. And again the disorder of the authorities played a decisive role. Explosions in the crater that poured stones on the heads of the residents of Saint-Pierre; The volcanic mud and lava that destroyed the sugar factory on May 2 did not convince the local governor of the seriousness of the situation. He personally persuaded the workers who had escaped from the city to return.
And on May 8, there was an explosion. One of the schooners that entered the harbor decided in time to leave the port of Saint-Pierre. It was the captain of this ship ("Roddam") who informed the authorities about the tragedy. A powerful pyroclastic flow covered the city with great speed, and when it reached the water, it raised a wave that washed away most of the ships in the harbor. In 3 minutes, 28,000 residents either burned to death or died from gas poisoning. Many died later from their burns and wounds.
The local prison gave an amazing salvation. The criminal imprisoned in the dungeon passed both the flow of lava and the poisonous smoke.
Krakatoa (36,000 casualties)
The most famous volcanic eruptions are led by Krakatoa, which unleashed all its fury in 1883. The destructive power of the Indonesian volcano impressed contemporaries. And today the catastrophe of the late 19th century is included in all encyclopedias and reference books.
An explosion with a capacity of 200 megatons in TNT equivalent (10 thousand times more powerful than during the nuclear bombing of Hiroshima) destroyed the 800-meter mountain and the island on which it was located. The blast wave circled the globe more than 7 times. The sound from Krakatoa (possibly the loudest on the planet) was heard over 4000 km from the eruption site, in Australia and Sri Lanka.
86% of the dead (about 30 thousand people) suffered from a powerful tsunami caused by a raging fiery mountain. The rest were littered with debris from Krakatoa and volcanic debris. The eruption caused global climate change on the planet. The average annual temperature, due to the negative impact of the emitted smoke and ash, fell by more than 1 degree Celsius and recovered to its previous level only after 5 years. Large casualties were avoided due to the low density of the region.
Since 1950, a new volcano has erupted on the site of the old Krakatoa.
Tambora (50,000 - 92,000 dead)
The diameter of the crater of another Indonesian volcano (who lives on a powder keg) reaches 7,000 meters. This supervolcano (semi-official term for a volcano capable of causing global climate change) is one of 20 recognized by scientists as such.
The eruption began according to the usual scenario in such cases - with an explosion. But then an extraordinary event happened: the resulting huge fiery whirlwind swept away everything in its path. The elements of fire and wind destroyed a village 40 km from the volcano to the ground.
Like Krakatoa, Tambora destroyed not only the civilization around, but also itself. The tsunami that happened 5 days after the start of activity claimed the lives of 4.5 thousand residents. The plume of smoke blocked the sun for three days at 650 km within a radius of the volcano. Electric discharges over the volcano accompanied the entire period of the eruption, which lasted three months. It claimed the lives of 12 thousand people.
The crew of the ship, which arrived on the island with humanitarian aid, was horrified by the picture of destruction they saw: the mountain became equal to the plateau, the whole of Sumbawa was covered with debris and ash.
But the worst thing started later. As a result of the "nuclear winter" more than 50 thousand people died from hunger and epidemics. In the United States, the volcano's climate change triggered the June snow, and a typhoid epidemic broke out in Europe. Crop failure and famine have accompanied many places on the planet for three years.
Santorini (death of civilization)
The once large mountain and island near Greece, in the picture from space, appears in the form of a volcano crater, flooded with the waters of the Aegean Sea. It is impossible to establish, even approximately, the death toll from the eruption of 3.5 thousand years ago. It is only known for certain that as a result of the eruption of Santorini, the Minoan civilization was completely destroyed. According to various sources, the tsunami formed reached 15 to 100 meters in height, overcoming space at a speed of 200 km / h.
By the way, Santorini is on our list in the world.
There is an assumption that the volcano destroyed the legendary Atlantis, which is indirectly confirmed by many sources of the ancient civilizations of Greece and Egypt. Some Old Testament stories are also associated with the eruption.
And although these versions are still just legends, one should not forget that Pompeii, at one time, was also considered a hoax.
On August 24, 79, the most famous volcanic eruption in history occurred - the eruption of Vesuvius. The cities of Pompeii, Herculaneum and Stabia were buried under volcanic ash. Ash from Vesuvius reached Egypt and Syria. We decided to make a selection of several world famous volcanic eruptions.
1. One of the largest eruptions in modern history occurred on April 5-7, 1815 in Indonesia. On the island of Sumbawa, the Tambora volcano erupted. Mankind remembered this volcanic eruption because of the large number of victims. During the catastrophe itself and later, 92 thousand people died of hunger. Ash clouds from the Tambor eruption blocked the sun's rays for so long that it even led to a decrease in temperature over the area.
2. 27 thousand years ago, the Taupo volcano erupted in New Zealand. It remains the largest volcanic eruption in the last 70 thousand years. During it, about 530 km³ of magma was erupted from the mountain. After the eruption, a giant caldera was formed, which is now partially filled with Lake Taupo, one of the most beautiful tourist destinations in the world.
3. On August 27, 1883, the eruption of the Krakatoa volcano began between the islands of Java and Sumatra. This eruption is known for the largest volcanic explosion in history. The tsunami caused by this explosion covered 163 villages. At the same time, more than 36 thousand people died. The roar from the colossal force of the explosion could be heard by 8 percent of the world's population, and pieces of lava were thrown up to a height of 55 kilometers. Volcanic ash, which was blown away by the wind, fell 5 thousand kilometers from the eruption site in 10 days.
4. After the eruption of the Santorini volcano in Greece, the Cretan civilization perished. This happened around 1450 BC on the island of Fera. There is a version that Fera is Atlantis, which Plato described. According to another version, the pillar of fire that Moses saw is the eruption of Santorini, and the parted sea is a consequence of the immersion of the island of Fera in the water.
5. The Etna volcano in Sicily, according to some reports, has erupted more than 200 times. In one of them, in 1169, 15 thousand people died. Etna is still an active volcano that erupts about once every 150 years. But the Sicilians still continue to settle on the side of the mountain due to the fact that the frozen lava makes the soil fertile. During the eruption that took place in 1928, a miracle happened. Lava stopped right in front of the Catholic procession. A chapel was built on this site. In front of it, lava also stopped from the eruption, which occurred 30 years after construction.
6. In 1902, the Montagne Pele volcano erupted on the island of Martinique. On May 8, a cloud of red-hot lava, vapor and gases covered the city of Saint-Pierre. The city was destroyed in a few minutes. Of the 28 thousand inhabitants who were in the city, two survived, including Opost Siparis, who was sentenced to death. He was saved by the walls of the death row. The governor pardoned Siparis and he traveled around the world for a hundred and fifty years, talking about what had happened.
7. In ten minutes, the city of Armero in Colombia was destroyed after the eruption of the Nevado del Ruiz volcano on November 13, 1985. This city was located 50 kilometers from the eruption site. Of the 28 thousand inhabitants, only 7 thousand survived after the eruption. Many more people could have survived if they had obeyed the volcanologists who warned of the disaster. But no one believed the specialists that day, since their predictions turned out to be wrong several times.
8. On June 12, 1991, the volcano Pinatubo, which had been sleeping for 611 years, came to life in the Philippines. The crash killed 875 people. Also during the eruption, an air force base and a US naval base were destroyed. The eruption led to a decrease in temperature by 0.5 degrees Celsius and a reduction in the ozone layer, in particular to the formation of an ozone hole over Antarctica.
9. In 1912, on June 6, one of the largest eruptions of the 20th century took place. In Alaska, the Katmai volcano erupted. A column of ash from the eruption rose 20 kilometers. On the site of the crater from the volcano, a lake was formed - the main attraction of the Katmai National Park.
10 ... The eruption of the Icelandic volcano Eyjafjallayekul in 2010. Dense clouds of volcanic ash enveloped parts of the Icelandic countryside, and an invisible plume of sand and dust covered Europe, clearing the skies of planes and forcing hundreds of thousands of people to rush to search for hotel rooms, train tickets and hire taxis.
11 ... Klyuchevskaya Sopka, Russia. This volcano has erupted about 20 times. In 1994, another eruption began, when a powerful eruptive column loaded with ash rose from the summit crater to an absolute height of 12-13 km. Fountains of hot bombs soared 2-2.5 km above the crater, the maximum size of the debris reached 1.5-2 m in diameter. A thick dark plume, laden with volcanic products, extended to the southeast. Powerful mud streams passed along the already worked out channels for 25-30 km and reached the river. Kamchatka
