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A supervolcano refers to a volcano that produces the largest and most voluminous kinds of eruptions on earth. The actual explosivity of these eruptions varies, but the sheer volume of extruded magma is immense enough to radically alter the landscape and severely impact global climate for years, with a cataclysmic effect on life. The term was originally coined by the producers of a BBC Popular Science programme in 2002 to refer to these types of eruptions. Though there is no well-defined minimum size for a "supervolcano", there are at least two types of volcanic eruption that have been identified as supervolcanoes. VEI-8 eruptions are mega-colossal events that extrude at least 1000 km³ of magma and pyroclastic material. Such an eruption erases virtually all life in radius of hundreds of kilometers from the site, and entire continental regions further out can be buried meters deep in ashAsh is: The solid residue left after something has burned, usually wood and plant material (such as tobacco). It consists mainly of carbonates and bicarbonates of metals in the original organic material the metals that primarily compose the ash of the ana. VEI-8 eruptions are so great as not to form mountainThis article is about the landform. For other meanings, see Mountain (disambiguation). Mount Cook, a mountain in New Zealand A mountain is a landform that extends above the surrounding terrain in a limited area. A mountain is generally much higher and stes, but instead circular calderaThis article is about volcanic calderas. Caldera Systems is also the former name of SCO Group. See also US Secretary of the Army Louis Caldera. A caldera is a volcanic crater which usually has a flat surface at the bottom, formed by a volcano collapsing is, resulting from the downward collapse of land at the eruption site to fill emptied space in the magma chamberA magma chamber is the chamber beneath a volcano where the magma is held before an eruption. beneath. The caldera can remain for millions of years after all volcanic activity at the site has died. VEI-8 volcanic events have included eruptions at:
- Mount AniakchakMount Aniakchak is a caldera located in the Aleutian Range of Alaska, United States. The area around the volcano is the Aniakchak National Monument and Preserve, maintained by the National Park Service. Aniakchak is an extant volcano at least ten lava flo, AlaskaOn January 3, 1959, Alaska was admitted to the United States as the 49th state. The population of the state is 626,932, as of 2000. The name "Alaska" is most likely derived from the Aleut word for "great country" or "mainland. The natives called it "Alyes, United States
- Aso, Kyushu, Japan
- Campi Flegrei, Campania, Italy
- Kikai Caldera, Ryukyu Islands, Japan
- Long Valley Caldera, California, United States
- Mount Mazama, Oregon, United States (now Crater Lake)
- Lake Taupo, North Island, New Zealand
- Lake Toba, Sumatra, Indonesia
- Valle Grande, New Mexico, United States
- Mount Warning, New South Wales, Australia
- Yellowstone Caldera, Wyoming, United States
Basaltic floods are unexplosive volcanic eruptions that extrude enormous quantities of basaltic lava flat and deep over large areas, even covering entire sections of continent. Though not explosive, the gases and dust released by such an eruption impact global climate as much as a VEI-8, hence a supervolcano. Prehistoric basaltic floods have been suspected as causes or contributors to mass extinctions in the past, including the ultra-massive Permian extinction and the more famous Cretaceous extinction that extinguished most of the dinosaurs. Basaltic flood events have included eruptions at:
The two largest basaltic flood events in historic time have been at Eldgjá and Lakagigar, both in Iceland. But neither of these had an impact great enough to be considered supervolcanic events.
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