Catastrophic Supervolcanoes That Could Wipe-out Mankind ~ John Savino

Authors Marie D. Jones & John Savino (who are father & daughter) discussed the history of catastrophic supervolcanoes, and the possible locations where they could occur again. Supervolcanoes are associated with certain calderas around the planet, and when they erupt, the amount of material they spew far surpasses a regular volcano. The study of these massive volcanoes is relatively new, said Salvino, who noted that Cambridge Univ. has found 42 occurrences of them in the last 38 million years. There is a possibility that ones not yet identified could suddenly erupt.

Jones spoke about the Toba supervolcano which erupted 74,000 years ago in Sumatra. The massive amounts of ash brought about an ice age, and nearly made extinct the human/Neanderthal population of about 100,000. Ash, which contains small shards of glass, causes suffocation and internal bleeding, she explained. The remaining population, heavily reduced in numbers, was forced to rapidly differentiate in order to survive, she suggested.

If the Yellowstone caldera erupted (as it did 640,000 years ago) the ash fall would extend all the way to the East Coast, agriculture in the Midwest would be destroyed, transportation would be halted, and up to 2/3 of the population could die, Salvino outlined. Another supervolcano in the U.S. is in Long Valley, CA-- it last erupted some 760,000 years ago, but could be triggered to blow by a giant quake in Southern California, he warned.

Biography:

Dr. John Savino received a Masters Degree in Physics (1964) and Doctor of Philosophy Degree in Geophysics (1971) from Columbia University, New York, New York. Graduate and postgraduate work in seismology performed at Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, part of Columbia University. Fields of study included plate tectonics and earthquake prediction and discrimination between earthquakes and underground explosions. From 1991 to the present he's been working on the potential seismic and volcanic hazards associated with the underground high-level waste repository planned for Yucca Mountain, Nevada, located about 90 miles north of Las Vegas.

Biography:

Marie Jones has been involved with the paranormal in one way or another for most of her life, which led to a fascination with quantum physics and the writing of her new book, "PSIENCE: How New Discoveries in Quantum Physics and New Science May Explain the Existence of Paranormal Phenomena." Marie is also a New Thought/Metaphysics minister and spiritual counselor. She holds a Master's Degree in Metaphysical Studies and has also studied Wicca, goddess traditions, mythology and comparative religion. She worked as a field investigator for MUFON (Mutual UFO Network) in Los Angeles and San Diego in the 1980s and 1990s.

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A supervolcano is a volcano capable of producing a volcanic eruption with an ejecta volume greater than 1,000 km3 (240 cu mi). This is thousands of times larger than most historic volcanic eruptions.[1] Supervolcanoes can occur when magma in the Earth rises into the crust from a hotspot but is unable to break through the crust. Pressure builds in a large and growing magma pool until the crust is unable to contain the pressure. They can also form at convergent plate boundaries (for example, Toba) and continental hotspot locations (for example, Yellowstone).

Although there are only a handful of Quaternary supervolcanoes, supervolcanic eruptions typically cover huge areas with lava and volcanic ash and cause a long-lasting change to weather (such as the triggering of a small ice age) sufficient to threaten species with extinction.

Media Portrayal
Satellite image of Lake Toba, the site of a VEI-8 eruption ~75,000 years ago
Volcano, lake, and caldera locations in the Taupo Volcanic Zone

In 2005, a two-part television docudrama called Supervolcano aired on BBC One, the Discovery Channel, and other television networks worldwide.

Nova featured an episode "Mystery of the Megavolcano" in September 2006 examining such eruptions in the last 100,000 years.

In 2006, the Sci Fi Channel aired the documentary Countdown to Doomsday which featured a segment called "Supervolcano". The same year, ABC News aired the documentary Last Days on Earth, which featured a segment called "Supervolcano".

In the episode "Humanity" of Young Justice, the team must relieve the pressure of the Yellowstone Caldera supervolcano caused by Red Volcano before an eruption with the potential for mass extinction takes place.

In 2009, the apocalypse-themed film 2012 featured the eruption of a massive supervolcano inside Yellowstone National Park, a result of the Earth's core heating up. This made the entirety of Southern USA uninhabitable.