A super volcano is generally a large volcano having the capacity to create an eruption with major consequences on the ecosystem and global climate. The probability of a supervolcano eruption is frightening.    

When these volcanoes erupt, they spread huge smoke, lava and ash from the surface and into encircling cities and towns, resulting in severe pollution.

Volcanoes remain to be a fascinating subject for geologists to learn about as part of their research. Their difficult arrangements, considerable history (sometimes spanning millions of year’s), and other characteristics, often indicates to be a much-important portion of any curriculum.

A supervolcano is capable of generating a volcanic eruption with an ejecta volume of more than 1,000 km3. They are very difficult to spot. They are typically depressions in the ground. 

• Yellowstone Caldera

The Yellowstone Caldera is a volcanic caldera and supervolcano in Yellowstone National Park in the Western United States. It is also called the Yellowstone Supervolcano. The caldera and maximum of the park are situated in the northwest corner of Wyoming.

Volcanism at Yellowstone is somewhat recent, with calderas that were built during massive eruptions that rest over a hotspot under the Yellowstone Plateau.

The major super-eruptions happened 2.1 million, 1.3 million, and almost 630,000 years ago. These eruptions formed the Island Park Caldera, the Henry’s Fork Caldera, and Yellowstone calderas, respectively.

The Island Park Caldera supereruption was 2.1 million years ago, which generated the Huckleberry Ridge Tuff. It was the biggest and generated 2,500 times as much ash as the Mount St. Helens eruption of 1980.

• Vesuvius

Vesuvius volcano is located in the Gulf of Naples, Italy. Vesuvius’ particular eruptions are very volatile. The slopes of the volcano and the main area surrounding the volcano are very densely populated. The city of Naples is only about 20 km away from the volcano. 

Vesuvius has been silent since 1944. However, it is likely to erupt again, sooner or later. When it wakes up, it inclines to start a new eruptive cycle with a huge sub-Plinian or Plinian eruption. Mount Vesuvius sits on the tip of an extremely deep layer of magma that goes 154 miles deep into the earth. Thus, the next Mount Vesuvius eruption will occur very soon. 

• Lake Taupo

Lake Taupo is situated on New Zealand’s North Island is the caldera of a big rhyolitic supervolcano named the Taupo Volcano. The Taupo Volcano constitutes part of the Taupo Volcanic Zone, a region of volcanic activity that enlarges from Ruapehu in the South, through the Taupo and Rotorua regions, to White Island in the Bay of Plenty.

The largely significant event was during the late Pleistocene with VE=8, the Oruanui eruption around 26,500 years ago. It is one of the biggest eruptions in the history of New Zealand. It produced almost 430 km3 of pyroclastic fall deposits, 320 km3 of pyroclastic density current (PDC) deposits (mostly ignimbrite) and 420 km3 of primary intra caldera material.

• Kayla

Kayla, the most destructive volcano of Iceland, explodes when it erupts. It is set in Mýrdalsjokull glacier (which stands next to Eyjafjallajokull). It mainly erupts every 13-95 years. 

The Kayla exploded last in 1918. It was massive than the Eyjafjallajokull eruption of 2010. The southern coast of Iceland was expanded by 5 kilometers because of the laharic flood deposits. The floods that follow Katla’s huge eruptions are enormous. 

• Sakurajima

Sakurajima (also spelt Sakurashima) volcano in southern Kyushu is one of the few that exist in constant activity.

Sakurajima has formed nearly 13,000 years ago. Over the years, it erupted several times, most prominently in 1914.  In 1914, it almost poured out 10 billion tons of lava.

During the eruption of 1914, the lava flows connected it with the Osumi Peninsula. It is considered the most active volcano in Japan. Presently, the volcanic activity still proceeds, putting volcanic ash on the encompassing area.

• Garita Caldera

Garita Caldera is a huge super volcanic caldera in the San Juan volcanic field. It is located in the San Juan Mountains near the town of Creede in southwestern Colorado, United States. The explosion that created the La Garita Caldera is among the biggest known volcanic eruptions in this planet’s history.

The La Garita Caldera is amongst the number of calderas that was constructed during an enormous ignimbrite flare-up in Colorado, Utah and Nevada from 40–18 million years ago. It was the location of massive eruptions about 28.01±0.04 million years ago, during the Oligocene Epoch.

The scale of La Garita volcanism was the second biggest of the Cenozoic Era. 

• Öræfajökull

This volcano is under a glacier. Such was its effect that it was in the news a couple of months ago. Scientists are monitoring it closely since it appears it will explode very soon. It is Iceland’s biggest volcano. 

The glacier under which it lies encompasses the tallest peak of Iceland, which is 2,110 meters high. It also occupies a portion of Europe’s largest glacier, Vatnajökull. The volcano’s caldera had declined more than 20 meters! Öræfajökull isn’t a legal female name in Iceland.

• Lake Toba

Lake Toba is a vast caldera remnant of a supervolcano within the Toba caldera complex of North Sumatra. The complex consists of four overlapping volcanic craters that connect the Sumatran “volcanic front”. Encircling an area of 100 by 30 km, it is the earth’s largest Quaternary caldera. It is also the fourth and youngest caldera.

This last prominent eruption happened around 75,000±900 years ago. It had an estimated VEI= 8, bringing about the largest-known explosive volcanic eruption within the last 25 million years.

A total of 2,800 km3 of dense-rock equivalent pyroclastic material, recognized as the youngest Toba tuff, was expelled. After the eruption, a resurgent dome was built within the new caldera. It got filled with water to form Lake Toba.

Final words

Supervolcanoes erupt when magma in the mantle emerges into the crust but is incapable of breaking through it. The pressure that builds is large due to the rising magma pool until the crust is incapable to contain the pressure. This can happen at hotspots (for instance, Yellowstone Caldera).

Such a massive eruption of a supervolcano would have regional effects like falling ash and years to decade changes in global climate.