Topic: Mega volcanos

[IAF Lyrkiller]

Are they for real? Yes they are. Will they erupt? who knows.

If one erupts it could end civilization as we know it.

And the scary part is that we have one in our very own backyard here in the States.

And where is it?

If you get it right you get a prize. 

[Brush Wolf]

Yellowstone.

[Capt Jeff]

That was a great show on Discovery.

Discovery and Discovery Science channels have some damn nice shows like survivorman and deadliest catch, not to mention the dinosaurs, "tsunami hits west coast" and the "Super solar storm" specials.

[IAF Lyrkiller]

Yellowstone.

you are correct sir

As for a prize, dont have one for you yet

can you name the location of the others?

[Dracho]

Supervolcano is a relatively new term, and it's not clearly defined.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Super_volcano

Large igneous provinces
Main article: Large igneous province
A large igneous province (LIP) is an extensive region of basalts on a continental scale, resulting from flood basalt eruptions. When created, these regions often occupy several million km² and have volumes on the order of 1 million km³. In most cases, the majority of this is laid down over an extended but geologically sudden period of less than 1 million years.

[edit]
Massive eruptions
Eruptions with a Volcanic Explosivity Index of 8 (VEI-8) are mega-colossal events that extrude at least 1000 km³ of magma and pyroclastic material. Such an eruption would erase virtually all life within a radius of hundreds of kilometers from the site, and entire continental regions further out can be buried meters deep in ash. VEI-8 eruptions are so powerful that they form circular calderas rather than mountains because the downward collapse of land at the eruption site fills emptied space in the magma chamber beneath. The caldera can remain for millions of years after all volcanic activity at the site has ceased.

[edit]
Known eruptions
VEI-8 volcanic events have included eruptions at the following locations. Estimates of the volume of erupted material are given in parentheses.

Lake Taupo, North Island, New Zealand - 26,500 years ago (1,170 km³)
Lake Toba, Sumatra, Indonesia - 75,000 years ago (2,800 km³)
Yellowstone Caldera, Wyoming, United States - 2.2 million years ago (2,500 km³) and 640,000 years ago (1,000 km³)
La Garita Caldera, Colorado, United States - 27 million years ago (5,000 km³)
The Lake Toba eruption plunged the Earth into a volcanic winter, eradicating 60% of the human population, and was responsible for the formation of sulfuric acid in the atmosphere and the Millennial Ice Age.

Many other supermassive eruptions have also occurred in the geological past. Those listed below measured 6-7 on the VEI scale. Most of these were larger than Tambora's eruption in 1815, which was the largest eruption in recorded history.

Aira Caldera, Kyūshū, Japan - 22,000 years ago (110 km³)
Aso, Kyūshū, Japan - four large explosive eruptions between 300,000 to 80,000 years ago (Total volume 600 km³)
Campi Flegrei, Campania, Italy - 35,000 years ago (80 km³)
Kikai Caldera, Ryūkyū Islands, Japan - 6,300 years ago (150 km³ (bulk volume))
Lake Taupo, North Island, New Zealand - 181 AD (100 km³)
Long Valley Caldera, California, United States - 760,000 years ago (600 km³)
Valle Grande, New Mexico, United States - 1.12 million years ago (~600 km³)
Bruneau-Jarbidge, Idaho, United States - 10-12 million years ago (>250 km³) (responsible for the Ashfall Fossil Beds 1,600 km to the east[1])

[IAF Lyrkiller]

Of course, Dracho

Nothing is clearly defined. We all kinow that.

[Fedman NCC-3758]

While Mount Rainier isn't a super volcano, it is due.

I visited the Mount St Helen's area two years after that eruption.

The devastation was incredible.

[IAF Lyrkiller]

I have visited inactive and active in Iceland and in New Mexico.

Iceland more so. As it is on the Mid-Atlantic ridge.

[Commander Maxillius]

the funny part is that on the program I saw on the Discovery channel, they were all like "And Yellowstone is due for another eruption, it could be any day" in the narrator's best doom voice.

Seriously, if it goes up every 600,000 years, and it last went off 600,000 years ago, that's as precise as they can get, so it could be tomorrow, it could be in 10,000 years.  No one knows.  Either way, it would be an extiction-level event so there's no point in getting worked up about it.