A supervolcano is a volcano that has had an eruption with a volcanic explosivity index (VEI) of 8, the largest recorded value on the index. This means the volume of deposits for such an eruption is greater than 1,000 cubic kilometers.
A volcano is a rupture in the crust of a planetary-mass object, such as Earth, that allows hot lava, volcanic ash, and gases to escape from a magma chamber below the surface. The process that forms volcanoes is called volcanism.
Hekla, or Hecla, is an active stratovolcano in the south of Iceland with a height of 1,491 m (4,892 ft). Hekla is one of Iceland's most active volcanoes; over 20 eruptions have occurred in and around the volcano since the year 1210. During the Middle Ages, the Icelandic Norse called the volcano the "Gateway to Hell" and the idea spread over much of Europe.
Mount Tambora, or Tomboro, is an active stratovolcano in West Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia. Located on Sumbawa in the Lesser Sunda Islands, it was formed by the active subduction zones beneath it. Before 1815, its elevation reached more than 4,300 metres high, making it one of the tallest peaks in the Indonesian archipelago.
The Ring of Fire is a tectonic belt of volcanoes and earthquakes.
Iceland experiences frequent volcanic activity, due to its location both on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, a divergent tectonic plate boundary, and being over a hotspot. Nearly thirty volcanoes are known to have erupted in the Holocene epoch; these include Eldgjá, source of the largest lava eruption in human history. Some of the various eruptions of lava, gas and ash have been both destructive of property and deadly to life over the years, as well as disruptive to local and European air travel.
Cerro Negro is an active volcano in the Cordillera de los Maribios mountain range in Nicaragua, about 10 km (6.2 mi) from the village of Malpaisillo. It is a very new volcano, the youngest in Central America, having first appeared in April 1850. It consists of a gravelly basaltic cinder cone, which contrasts greatly with the surrounding verdant hillsides, and gives rise to its name, which means Black Hill. Cerro Negro has erupted frequently since its first eruption. One unusual aspect of several eruptions has been the emission of ash from the top of the cone, while lava erupts from fractures at the base.
Shishaldin Volcano, or Mount Shishaldin, is one of six active volcanoes on Unimak Island in eastern the Aleutian Islands of Alaska. It is the highest mountain peak of the Aleutian Islands, rising to a height of 9,373 ft above sea level. Shishaldin's magma supply is generated via flux melting above the Aleutian Trench, where the Pacific Plate subducts beneath the North American Plate. Due to its remote location and frequently inclement weather, the Alaska Volcano Observatory (AVO) monitors the volcano remotely via satellite and a seismic network deployed in 1997. Shishaldin is one of the most active volcanoes in the Aleutian Islands, with 40 confirmed eruptions in the last 11,700 years. Notably, Shishaldin produced a sub-Plinian eruption in 1999.
In volcanology, a Strombolian eruption is a type of volcanic eruption with relatively mild blasts, typically having a Volcanic Explosivity Index of 1 or 2. Strombolian eruptions consist of ejection of incandescent cinders, lapilli, and volcanic bombs, to altitudes of tens to a few hundreds of metres. The eruptions are small to medium in volume, with sporadic violence. This type of eruption is named for the Italian volcano Stromboli.
Kuwae was a landmass that existed in the vicinity of Tongoa and was destroyed by volcanic eruption in fifteenth century, probably through caldera subsidence. The exact location of the caldera is debated. A submarine caldera, now known as Kuwae caldera that is located between the Epi and Tongoa islands, is a potential candidate. Kuwae caldera cuts through the flank of the Tavani Ruru volcano on Epi and the northwestern end of Tongoa. Another potential candidate is a proposed caldera between Tongoa and Tongariki.
Lake Ilopango is a crater lake which fills an 8 by 11 km: 70.5 km2 (27.2 sq mi) volcanic caldera in central El Salvador, on the borders of the San Salvador, La Paz, and Cuscatlán departments. The caldera, which contains the second largest lake in the country and is immediately east of the capital city, San Salvador, has a scalloped 100 m (330 ft) to 500 m (1,600 ft) high rim. Any surplus drains via the Jiboa River to the Pacific Ocean. The local military airbase, Ilopango International Airport, has annual airshows where international pilots from all over the world fly over San Salvador City and Ilopango lake.
Bárðarbunga, is an active and productive stratovolcano located under Vatnajökull in Vatnajökull National Park which is Iceland's most extensive glacier. The second highest mountain in Iceland, 2,000 metres (6,600 ft) above sea level, Bárðarbunga is also part of the Bárðarbunga-Veiðivötn volcanic system that is approximately 190 kilometres (120 mi) long and 25 kilometres (16 mi) wide.
Christopher G. Newhall is a volcanologist, formerly with the U.S. Geological Survey and the Earth Observatory of SingaporeArchived 2011-11-30 at the Wayback Machine. He is the co-creator of the Volcanic explosivity index and specializes in volcanic prediction.
The Smithsonian Institution's Global Volcanism Program (GVP) documents Earth's volcanoes and their eruptive history during the Quaternary Period of Earth's geologic history, with particular emphasis on volcanic activity during the Holocene Epoch. The mission of the GVP is to document, understand, and disseminate information about global volcanic activity.
This timeline of volcanism on Earth includes a list of major volcanic eruptions of approximately at least magnitude 6 on the Volcanic explosivity index (VEI) or equivalent sulfur dioxide emission during the Quaternary period. Other volcanic eruptions are also listed.
The Tierra Blanca Joven eruption of Lake Ilopango was the largest volcanic eruption in El Salvador during historic times, and one of the largest volcanic events on Earth in the past 7,000 years, registering at 6 on the Volcanic explosivity index (VEI), and dating back to the mid 5th century A.D. The eruption produced between 37–82 km3 (8.9–19.7 cu mi) of ejecta. The date of the eruption has been constrained within 429–433 CE by identifying its signature volcanic ash in precision-dated ice cores sampled from Greenland, thus eliminating it as the cause of extreme weather events of 535–536.
The Cascade Volcanic Arc is a chain of volcanoes stretching from southern British Columbia down to northern California. Within the arc there is a variety of stratovolcanoes like Mount Rainier and broad shield volcanoes like Medicine Lake. But calderas are very rare in the Cascades, with very few forming over the 39 million year lifespan of the arc.
