December 08, 2020

Anna Murray 

At the annual Fall Meeting 2020 of the American Geophysical Union on December 7, John A. Power, a geophysicist of Volcano Hazards Program at the US Geological Survey, presented his astonishing finding at Alaska Volcano Observatory of an enormous supervolcano beneath Alask’s Aleutian islands. It represents a new discovery in earth science similar to the scale of Yellowstone's gigantic supervolcano.

According to Power’s new study, geological data reveals a giant undersea crater, created when the supervolcano exploded before, links at least 4 existing volcanoes undersea in the Aleutian Islands. Geological data indicate the possibility of existing a caldera 20 kilometers across. The existing volcanoes’ peaks are arranged in a ring. Moreover, bathymetric seafloor mapping from the 1950s reveals arc-shaped ridges along with a 130-meter-deep concavity inside the ring. Satellites' gravity data also echo the formation of other calderas. In addition, analysis of volcanic gases including sulfur dioxide, and patterns of microearthquakes point out the existence of a caldera.

Scientists are warning in case the supervolcano erupts in the unknown future, it can lead to catastrophic disaster and definitely ruin the whole world’s civilizations. The discovery of such a supervolcano, though not yet confirmed officially, has attracted worldwide attention to its existence and the convincing evidence presented by John Power.

Photo:Webshot.