The most dangerous volcano in the world: name, description, location and interesting facts

Today on the surface of the Earth there are about 600 active volcanoes and up to 1000 extinct ones. In addition, about 10 thousand are hidden under water. Most of them are located at the junctions of tectonic plates. About 100 volcanoes are concentrated around Indonesia, there are about 10 of them on the territory of the western American states, a cluster of volcanoes is also noted in the area of Japan, the Kuril Islands and Kamchatka. But all of them are nothing, in comparison with one megavolcano, which scientists fear most.

The most dangerous volcanoes

Any of the existing volcanoes, even the sleeper, represents any danger. To determine which of them is the most dangerous, no volcanologist or geomorphologist is taken, since it is impossible to accurately predict the time and strength of the eruption of any of them. For the title "the most dangerous in the world of volcano" simultaneously claim the Roman Vesuvius and Etna, the Mexican Popocatepetl, the Japanese Sakurajima, the Colombian Galeras, located in Congo Nyiragongo, Guatemala-Santa Maria, Hawaii-Manua-Loa and others.

If the danger of a volcano is assessed according to the alleged damage that it can cause, it would be reasonable to turn to a story describing what consequences the most dangerous volcanic eruptions in the world had brought in the past. For example, all the famous Vesuvius carried away in 79 AD. E. Up to 10 thousand lives and erased two large cities from the face of the Earth. The eruption of Krakatoa in 1883, which was 200,000 times stronger than the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima, echoed throughout the earth and took away the lives of 36,000 islanders.

The eruption in 1783 of a volcano called Lucky led to the destruction of a huge portion of livestock and food stocks, which caused 20% of the population of Iceland to die of hunger. The next year because of Lucky became lean in the whole of Europe. All this shows what large-scale consequences a volcanic eruption can cause for people .

Destructive Supervolcans

But did you know that all the biggest dangerous volcanoes in the world are nothing compared to the so-called super volcanoes, the eruption of each of which thousands of years ago brought truly disastrous consequences for the whole Earth and changed the climate on the planet? The eruptions of such volcanoes could have a force of 8 points, and an ash of at least 1000 m ³ in volume was emitted to a height of at least 25 km. This resulted in prolonged sulfur deposits, the absence of sunlight for many months, and the covering of huge layers of earth with huge layers of ash.

Supervolcans differ in that they have a crater instead of a crater at the site of the eruption. This circus basin with a relatively even bottom is formed as a result of the fact that after a series of violent explosions with the release of smoke, ash and magma, the upper part of the mountain collapses.

The most dangerous super-volcano

Scientists are aware of the existence of approximately 20 supervolcanoes. On the site of one of these frightening giants is today the Taupa lake in New Zealand, another super volcano is hidden under the Toba lake, located on the island of Sumatra. Examples of super volcanoes are also Long Valley in California, Wallis in New Mexico and Ira in Japan.

But the most dangerous volcano in the world is the most "matured" to the eruption of the superstock Yellowstone, located on the territory of the western American states. It is he who makes volcanologists and geomorphologists of the United States, and indeed the whole world, live in a state of growing fear, forcing to forget about all the most dangerous active volcanoes in the world.

The location and dimensions of Yellowstone

The Yellowstone caldera is located in the northwest of the USA, in the state of Wyoming. It was first noticed from a satellite in 1960. Caldera, whose dimensions are about 55 * 72 km, is part of the world-famous Yellowstone National Park. A third of almost 900,000 hectares of parkland is located in the volcano caldera.

Under the crater of Yellowstone is still a giant magma bubble with a depth of about 8,000 m. The temperature of the magma inside it is close to 1,000 ^° C. Due to this, a lot of hot springs are bubbling on the territory of Yellowstone Park, clouds of steam and gas mixtures rise from the cracks in the earth's crust.

Also there is a lot of geysers and mud boilers. The reason for this was a vertical stream of solid rock, 660 km wide, heated to 1600 ^° C. Under the park territory at a depth of 8-16 km there are two branches of this stream.

Yellowstone eruptions in the past

The first eruption of Yellowstone, which occurred, according to scientists, more than 2 million years ago, was the most massive disaster on Earth in the history of its existence. Then, according to the assumption of volcanologists, about 2.5 thousand km ³ of rock were thrown into the atmosphere, and the upper mark reached by these emissions was 50 km above the earth's surface.

The largest and most dangerous volcano in the world began a repeated eruption more than 1.2 million years ago. Then the amount of emissions was approximately 10 times less. The third eruption occurred 640 thousand years ago. It was then that the crater walls collapsed and the existing caldera formed.

Why today is to be afraid of the Yellowstone caldera

In the light of the latest changes in the territory of Yellowstone National Park, scientists are becoming increasingly clear which volcano is the most dangerous in the world. What is happening there? Scientists were alarmed by the following changes, which were particularly intensified in the 2000s:

• In the 6 years before 2013, the land covering the caldera climbed as much as 2 meters, while in the previous 20 years the rise was only 10 cm.
• From the ground, new hot geysers were hammered.
• The frequency and strength of earthquakes in the Yellowstone caldera region is increasing. Only in 2014, scientists recorded them about 2000.
• In some places, underground gases penetrate the earth through the layers of the earth.
• The water temperature in the rivers increased by several degrees.

These awesome news have aroused the public, and especially the inhabitants of the North American continent. Many scientists agree that the eruption of the supervolcan will occur in this century.

Consequences of an eruption for America

No wonder many volcanologists believe that the Yellowstone caldera is the most dangerous volcano in the world. They assume that the next eruption will be as powerful as the previous ones. Scientists equate it with the explosion of thousands of atomic bombs. This means that in a radius of 160 km around the epicenter, everything will be completely destroyed. In the "dead zone" will turn ash covered territory, stretching for 1600 km around.

The eruption of Yellowstone may entail the eruptions of other volcanoes and the formation of powerful tsunamis. For the United States, an emergency situation will occur, and martial law will be introduced. Various sources receive information that America is preparing for disaster: it builds shelters, produces more than a million plastic coffins, makes an evacuation plan, making contracts with countries on other continents. Recently, the United States prefers to keep silent about the true state of affairs on the Yellowstone caldera.

Yellowstone Caldera and the End of the World

The eruption of the caldera, located under the Yellowstone Park, will bring trouble not only to America. The picture that can unfold in this case looks sad for the whole world. The scientists calculated that if the ejection to a height of 50 km will last only two days, the "cloud of death" during this time will cover a territory twice that of the entire American continent.

In a week emissions will reach India and Australia. The sun's rays will drown in dense volcanic smoke and a long one and a half year (at least) winter will come to Earth. The average air temperature on the Earth will drop to -25 ⁰ C, and in some places it will reach -50 ^o C. People will perish under the debris falling from the sky from the burning lava, from cold, hunger, thirst and the inability to breathe. According to the assumptions, only one person out of a thousand will remain alive.

The eruption of the Yellowstone caldera is capable, if not to destroy life on earth completely, then fundamentally change the conditions for the existence of all living things. No one can say for sure whether this most volatile volcano in our world will start its eruption in our lifetime, but the existing fears are really justified.