What is a super volcano?

Answer 1

A super volcano is one of the newest categories of volcano to scientists. The term has not truly been accepted and used for ten years yet. A super volcano itself is a style of volcano that must meet certain criteria. The criteria is still being specifically debated, however there are a few things that they have generally agreed on as of today. The criteria is based on the V.E.I. (Volcano Explosivity Index) scale. Super volcanoes have the potential to produce eruptions up to V.E.I. 8 which is an eruption that puts out more than 1,000 Km3 in a single event. The other major classification is that the magma chamber must be able to hold atleast this much magma in an eruptable capacity. There are not many volcanoes that can meet this criteria, and there has been no super volcanic eruption in historical times. The debate of how much destruction a super volcano would produce is not very well understood. The most studied super volcano in the world is the Yellowstone Super Caldera complex. There are a few other super volcanoes located around the world, for example Toba which is believed to be the location of the most recent super eruption 70,000 years before present.
A supervolcano or super volcanic eruption is a volcanic eruption with ejecta greater than 1,000 cubic kilometers (240 cubic miles), which is substantially larger than any volcanic event in historic times.[1] Supervolcanoes can occur when magma in the Earth rises into the crust from a hotspot but is unable to break through the crust. Pressure builds in a large and growing magma pool until the crust is unable to contain the pressure. They can also form at convergent plate boundaries (for example, Toba). Supervolcanoes are relatively new to science.

The Discovery Channel has documented seven known supervolcanoes:[2] the Yellowstone, Long Valley, and Valles Calderas in the United States; Lake Toba, North Sumatra, Indonesia; Taupo Volcano, North Island, New Zealand; Aira Caldera, Kagoshima Prefecture, Kyūshū, Japan; and the Siberian Traps, Russia. Although there are only a handful of supervolcanoes, super volcanic eruptions typically cover huge areas with lava and volcanic ash and cause a long-lasting change to weather (such as the triggering of a small ice age) sufficient to threaten the extinction of species.