A study found super-volcanoes can blow up without warning or an instigator according to information in a study in Nature Geoscience Science Recorder reported Monday.
These include those under Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming The International Business Times reported.
"Our research has shown that the pressure is actually large enough for the Earth's crust to break," Sanchez-Valle said in the study The Times reported. "The magma penetrating into the cracks will eventually reach the Earth's surface, even in the absence of water or carbon dioxide bubbles in the magma." The team's findings are listed in the latest issue of the journal Nature Geoscience.
The scientists reached its findings via an X-ray beam at the European Synchroton Radiation Facility located in Grenoble, France Science Recorder reported. The team wanted to figure out how dense the volcano's magma was Science Recorder reported.
"Now we know you don't need any extra factor-a super-volcano can erupt due to its enormous size alone," Wim Malfait the main author behind the study said in a statement The Times reported. "Once you get enough melt, you can start an eruption just like that."
Scientists decreased the magma to 36000 atmospheres Science Recorder reported. The portion was also warmed up to 1700 degree Celsius. Researchers then looked at how the volcano's molten rock acted.
"Temperatures of up to 1700 degrees and pressures of up to 36,000 atmospheres can be reached inside the so-called Paris-Edinburgh press, where speck-sized rock samples are placed between the tips of two tungsten carbide anvils and then heated with a resistive furnace," Jean-Philippe Perrillat, a scientist and team member told The Times. "This special set-up was used to accurately determine the density of the liquid magma over a wide range of pressures and temperatures," Perrillat told The Times.
Over ten super-volcanoes exist on planet earth including Sumatra, Indonesia's Lake Toba, and New Zealand's Lake Taupo The Times reported.
