- 2 hours ago
A volcano that has been dormant since the Stone Age has suddenly erupted, stunning scientists and sparking fresh research. Meanwhile, a 2022 eruption that flew under the radar has left experts questioning its unexpected intensity and effects.
Category
😹
FunTranscript
00:00These ominous rumbling sounds, the ground shaking under your feet, wait a minute, that's my tummy!
00:07Or it might be Washington State's Mount Adams waking up!
00:11It's the largest volcano in the state by both area and volume,
00:14and it's recently started to show signs of life after staying silent for thousands of years.
00:21Scientists have noticed an alarming uptick in seismic activity around the mountain.
00:25And since the last eruption here happened between 3,800 and 7,600 years ago,
00:31humanity was still in the Stone Age at that time.
00:34This sudden chattiness has scientists, let's say, curious.
00:38The U.S. Geological Survey has hurriedly installed temporary seismic stations around Mount Adams
00:43to keep an eye on the situation.
00:46At the same time, they reassure the public there's no need to panic.
00:50Mount Adams doesn't reach the height of the better-known Mount Rainier.
00:54And still, it covers a massive area, making it Washington's largest active volcano.
01:00Interestingly, records show that before September of this year,
01:04Mount Adams had experienced an average of just one small earthquake every two to three years since 1982.
01:10And then, the Cascades Volcano Observatory and the Pacific Northwest Seismic Network
01:16detected a staggering six earthquakes in just one month, September.
01:20These quakes were all rather tiny, with magnitudes ranging between 0.9 and 2 on the Richter scale.
01:28It means they were so weak you wouldn't feel them at the surface.
01:31Plus, satellite imagery confirmed there was no ground deformation in the area.
01:36Now, at the moment, the USGS keeps Mount Adams' alert level at green or normal.
01:42So, we shouldn't worry about the ground opening and swallowing towns and cities.
01:46But the most recent seismic blips have encouraged the agency to install additional equipment for more precise monitoring.
01:54Such an expanded network will help scientists notice even the smallest earthquakes,
01:59which will help them understand what's happening under Mount Adams.
02:02This extra equipment might also shed light on whether this recent activity is a signal of future eruptions or just
02:10a random anomaly.
02:11If Mount Adams eventually erupted, it would likely produce slow-moving lava flows rather than explosive eruptions like Mount St.
02:20Helens.
02:20After all, past eruptions have only led to lava flows that travel just a few miles from the volcano.
02:27So, that's not what we'd need to worry about.
02:29A much more dangerous thing would be lahars.
02:32These are mud flows that can happen when volcanic ash, rock, and melted ice mix during eruptions.
02:38Lahars have occurred near Mount Adams without even eruptions.
02:42Rock, weakened by hydrothermal processes at the volcano's summit, suddenly broke loose, creating fast-moving, destructive mud flows.
02:50Exactly for this reason, the USGS categorizes Mount Adams as a high-threat volcano.
02:57While it doesn't erupt frequently, it still poses serious risks to nearby settlements.
03:04Another volcano we should carefully watch is Kattla in Iceland.
03:08It's one of the country's most powerful and dangerous volcanoes.
03:12It last erupted over a century ago, in 1918.
03:15But if it erupts again, it could be 10 times as powerful as another Icelandic volcano whose name I can't
03:23pronounce.
03:23See?
03:24That one erupted in 2010, completely disrupting air travel all over Europe.
03:29An eruption of Kattla could release large amounts of sulfur dioxide, which could form sulfate aerosols in the atmosphere.
03:37Such aerosols reflect sunlight, which could even cause temporary global cooling.
03:42This phenomenon often followed catastrophic volcanic eruptions in the past.
03:47Although eruptions are common in Iceland, Kattla's ash cloud would likely shoot higher into the sky and cover larger areas
03:55of Europe than that other one did.
03:57It would ground flights and negatively affect economies.
04:01If Kattla erupted, it would also harm agriculture, water supplies, and air quality.
04:06In 2014, scientists noted that a large eruption could even cause a tsunami that might travel along Iceland's south coast
04:14and out to sea.
04:15But the potential impact of such a tsunami is still unclear.
04:19Kattla tends to erupt on a regular schedule every 40 to 80 years, which means that another eruption is statistically
04:27very likely soon.
04:29That's why Kattla remains under close scientific observation.
04:35The Canary Islands' Cumbra Vieja erupted recently in 2021, reminding people of its destructive potential.
04:42The lava flow from this eruption was devastating.
04:46It covered whole neighborhoods and flowed into the ocean, destroying more than 3,000 homes.
04:52Thousands of people had to be evacuated.
04:54But the craziest thing?
04:55Even though the damage was significant, scientists believe it could have been far worse.
05:01A massive eruption of Cumbra Vieja could have caused the volcano's entire western flank to collapse into the Atlantic Ocean,
05:09triggering a mega tsunami.
05:11This hypothetical tsunami could have potentially created waves hundreds or even thousands of feet high.
05:17They could have flooded coastlines around the Atlantic Basin, including parts of the U.S. and Europe.
05:22Luckily, recent studies claim that a collapse of that scale is unlikely.
05:28But even though the chance of a mega tsunami is low, scientists still think it's wise to prepare for possible
05:34eruptions because there's a chance of extensive damage.
05:38The lava flows that occur at this volcano tend to be extensive and dangerous to both human life and the
05:44infrastructure on the island.
05:48If you decide to travel to Ecuador, you should be wary of Cotopaxi, one of the most active volcanoes in
05:55this country.
05:56It's been rumbling with minor eruptions since 2022.
06:00While these eruptions have been relatively small, Cotopaxi has a great potential for a major eruption.
06:06And it has scientists on high alert.
06:08If Cotopaxi erupted on a large scale, it could produce a massive ash cloud over 12 miles high, threatening the
06:16lives of around 200,000 people in the neighboring area.
06:20A serious danger is Cotopaxi's snow-capped summit.
06:24It would melt super rapidly in a major eruption.
06:27It could lead to destructive floods and landslides that would flow down the mountain and potentially reach populated areas.
06:34This combination of volcanic activity and glacial floods makes Cotopaxi a high-risk volcano.
06:41A powerful eruption could occur soon, or it could be years or even decades away.
06:47But monitoring efforts are in place to catch any warning signs.
06:53The next volcano we should watch out for is already infamous, Mount Vesuvius.
06:58Its catastrophic eruption in 79 CE destroyed the Roman cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum.
07:06Its last eruption occurred in 1944.
07:09But Vesuvius remains highly active and poses a great risk to nearby Naples, one of Italy's largest cities.
07:16A large eruption would threaten over 3 million people.
07:20Many of them live in the vicinity or even directly on the slopes of the volcano.
07:24If Vesuvius erupted, it would be an explosive event, with ash, rocks, and volcanic gas ejected at extremely high speeds.
07:34And even though such a destructive event isn't expected for a few hundred years,
07:39Vesuvius remains one of the world's most closely watched volcanoes.
07:43After all, it has a real potential to cause catastrophic damage in a densely populated area.
07:51Then, we have Popocatépetl, often called El Popo.
07:55It's one of North America's tallest active volcanoes, which lies about 40 miles from Mexico City.
08:02Exactly this proximity to a metropolitan area with a population of 22 million people
08:08makes Popocatépetl especially hazardous.
08:11A large eruption could send a massive ash cloud over Mexico City, causing widespread disruptions.
08:17Ash could clog the city's drainage systems, contaminate water supplies,
08:21and even cause power outages by short-circuiting electrical systems.
08:26Plus, lahars could rush down the volcano, reaching nearby towns.
08:31Popocatépetl has been showing near-constant seismic activity since the early 2000s,
08:36and smaller eruptions are pretty common here.
08:39In early 2024, there were 13 recorded minor eruptions, which alarmed nearby towns.
08:45At the same time, volcanologists consider such eruptions normal for Popocatépetl.
08:53While talking about super-dangerous volcanoes, we can't skip Yellowstone National Park.
08:59It houses one of the world's largest super-volcanoes.
09:02Its last massive eruption occurred about 640,000 years ago.
09:07But if this monster were to erupt today, the impact would be much more devastating for the entire planet.
09:14States closest to Yellowstone, including Montana, Idaho, and Wyoming, would be most affected,
09:20likely experiencing disastrous pyroclastic flows.
09:24These flows, which are made of a dangerous mix of lava, ash, and gases, can obliterate everything in their path.
09:31Large parts of the country would also be blanketed in volcanic ash, over 3 feet in some areas.
09:37On a global scale, an eruption at Yellowstone would send tons of ash and gases into the stratosphere,
09:44potentially blocking sunlight and causing global temperatures to drop for a few years.
09:50This would disrupt agriculture, collapse transportation systems, and create food shortages on a massive scale.
09:57Still, even though there's a popular myth that Yellowstone is overdue for an eruption,
10:02geologists clarify that this isn't true.
10:06Volcanoes don't follow precise timetables, and the activity at Yellowstone doesn't indicate an imminent eruption.
10:13So, yeah, that's good news.
10:16On January 14, 2022, residents of Anchorage, Alaska, heard a series of loud bangs.
10:23They didn't stop for a half an hour.
10:26As they found later, the source of the bangs was almost 6,000 miles away,
10:31in the Tongan Archipelago in the Southern Pacific Ocean.
10:41The Hunga Tonga underwater volcano abruptly woke up from its sound sleep.
10:47It last erupted at the end of December 2021, after several years of inactivity.
10:53Hunga Tonga sent a large plume of ash into the stratosphere that was seen in the capital city of Tonga,
11:0043 miles away from the volcano.
11:02In the following days, it was emitting steam and gas to the height of 7 miles.
11:08Plus, it was letting out ash that accumulated next to it
11:11and even made the island on which it was standing increase in size.
11:16Then it went back to sleep, and the officials even announced it was dormant.
11:21But just a couple of weeks later, it woke up again with a crazy force.
11:27It sent ash clouds 12 miles into the atmosphere.
11:30It blocked the sun in some places and rained down from the sky.
11:35The sound waves from the eruption traveled around the planet several times.
11:39People in Fiji heard a sound that reminded them of thunder.
11:43Some booms even reached Canada.
11:46Shock waves went around the Earth four times in Japan and Utah,
11:50and at least twice in Massachusetts.
11:53The eruption caused tens of thousands of lightning flashes.
11:56It also triggered a mega tsunami hundreds of feet high.
12:00It caused damage to buildings and infrastructure, such as underwater cables.
12:05The extreme waves traveled all the way to the California coast,
12:09and there was an unusually high tide along the Pacific coasts of Canada.
12:14Scientists studied seismic data to understand what caused such a massive eruption.
12:18Their research model showed that there was a big blast,
12:22likely because gas got trapped in rocks,
12:25like how a pressure cooker works when it's overcooked.
12:28This blast released a huge amount of energy,
12:31as much as five of the biggest underground nuclear tests.
12:35It all happened under a shallow part of the sea,
12:38where gas-filled rock was trapped.
12:45Now, normally, when a volcano erupts,
12:48the fumes cause a temporary cooling effect on the Earth's surface.
12:51But Hunga Tonga's eruption was different.
12:54It didn't produce many fumes,
12:56but released a massive amount of water vapor,
12:59equal to 60,000 Olympic swimming pools.
13:02The intense heat of the eruption turned vast amounts of seawater into steam,
13:07which then blasted high into the atmosphere.
13:09All that water vapor ended up in the stratosphere,
13:12a layer of the atmosphere that's too dry to form clouds or rain.
13:16Scientists don't have any observations of volcanic eruptions like Hunga Tonga
13:21to predict its long-term effects on our weather patterns.
13:24This is because the only way to measure stratospheric water vapor
13:28is with special satellites,
13:30which have only been around since 1979.
13:32And there hasn't been an eruption similar to Hunga Tonga in that time.
13:37In fact, the Tonga eruption is the most well-recorded blast of its kind in recent history.
13:42Scientists had lots of tools to study it,
13:45like satellites that took pictures from space
13:47and sensors that listened to the vibrations and movements in the Earth.
13:51There was a similar eruption in 1991 at a volcano in the Philippines.
13:56But back then, they didn't have as many advanced tools as they do now to study it closely.
14:03Experts from different countries looked at satellite data right after the Hunga Tonga eruption.
14:08They wanted to find out how long water vapor would stay in the stratosphere,
14:12where it would go,
14:13and, of course, what this would mean for the planet and for all of us.
14:17The first big result of the eruption, at least partially,
14:21was a huge hole in the stratosphere that was hanging on for several months in 2023.
14:26By the time it appeared, the water vapor had reached the polar stratosphere over Antarctica.
14:32But Hunga Tonga ended up with just a minimal effect on global average temperatures,
14:37at least for now.
14:39Let's just hope it won't repeat the story of Mount Tambora volcano in present-day Indonesia.
14:44Over two centuries ago, in 1815, this bad guy interrupted and caused the year without a summer.
14:52In the following year, the winter was unusually cold and wet across Europe and North America.
14:57There were also some catastrophic tsunamis,
15:00destroying homes that took 10,000 lives and 80,000 more who fell ill in the aftermath.
15:07Now, you can't miss an event like Hunga Tonga or Tambora eruption,
15:10but some underwater volcanoes are discovered by accident.
15:14A passenger on a commercial flight looked out her window above the Pacific Ocean
15:19and saw a weirdly colored patch on the water.
15:22She thought it could be an oil slick or a floating pumice raft,
15:26which is a telltale sign of a recent volcanic eruption.
15:29She decided to send a photo of this scene to a geologist.
15:32And that's how scientists found one of the largest volcanoes in the world,
15:37Havre.
15:38It's hiding about 3,000 feet below the surface.
15:41In 2012, Havre had a massive eruption that lasted about 90 days.
15:47Hot lava poured out of 14 different vents around the volcano's semi-circle-shaped opening.
15:53Havre is just one of many volcanic systems covered by thousands of feet of water.
15:57These volcanoes are the most active on Earth and are part of a giant system called mid-ocean ridges
16:04that stretches around the world.
16:06This system produces about 75% of all the magma that comes out of Earth's volcanoes each year.
16:12It releases over half a cubic mile of lava.
16:15When the magma cools down, it forms the edges of new ocean plates,
16:19which are like giant puzzle pieces that make up the Earth's crust.
16:23A team of scientists studied material left on the ocean floor by volcanic eruptions from the Bronze Age.
16:30About 3,600 years ago, a volcano that was partly underwater in the southern Aegean Sea woke up with a
16:38bang.
16:39This eruption destroyed the island of Santorini and sent massive amounts of ash, rocks, and gases into the air.
16:46It left behind thick layers of ash and rock that settled in piles on the ocean floor.
16:51Scientists have been studying the ancient Santorini eruption for several years
16:56to figure out what happens during such massive ones.
16:59Their research helps explain how future volcanic eruptions could affect the weather on our planet.
17:05The study also helps scientists understand the strength of the eruptions,
17:09how high the eruption columns might go,
17:12and the sizes of the waves that form when all that ash and rock settles into terraces on the ocean
17:18floor.
17:19This information will help predict the dangers of future eruptions.
17:23Now, when a volcano erupts, the last place you want to be is inside it.
17:28But scientists did it for you.
17:31Well, kinda.
17:32They produced a smart new imaging technique that uses the best ideas from medical imaging and optical telescopes.
17:40Matrix imaging, that's what it's called, makes it easier to understand what's happening underground,
17:45even when there aren't many sensors available.
17:47These sensors, called geophones, detect and record the movement of seismic waves,
17:53which are vibrations that travel through the Earth.
17:56By studying these waves, scientists can learn about the distinct types of rocks
18:01and how they are arranged beneath the surface.
18:03The researchers test their method on a volcano in Guadalupe in the Caribbean Sea.
18:08There aren't so many geophones on this site,
18:11but the scientists combined the data from multiple geophones thanks to this new tech.
18:16They used a special trick called the memory effect to reverse the distortions that happen
18:21when seismic waves bounce off different underground materials
18:24and figure out what the original signals looked like.
18:28The researchers could clearly see the structure inside the volcano,
18:32down to a depth of about 6 miles,
18:34with incredibly detailed images in a resolution of over 300 feet.
18:39They found out that there are many layers of magma stored underground.
18:43These layers are connected to other deep parts of the Earth.
18:47Knowing about these layers and how they work
18:49could help scientists make better guesses about when a volcano might erupt.
18:54If they can do that, they might be able to warn people earlier
18:58and keep them safe from dangerous eruptions.
Comments