A scientist from the University of Utah has support that two continent - sized “ thermochemical piles ” are slowly converging at the bottom of Earth ’s mantle about 1,800 mile ( 2,900 km ) beneath the Pacific Ocean . This process , says geologist Michael Thorne , could finally result to a cataclysmic outbreak that could “ cause very monolithic destruction on Earth . ” But do n’t panic quite yet . His inquiry suggests that this super - volcano - in - the - qualification may not erupt for another 100 to 200 million eld .
The new study , which is set for issue in this calendar month ’s issue of Earth and Planetary Science Letters , evoke that the hit of the two gobs is creating a massive reservoir of partly molten rock’n’roll that could finally extend to one of two unlike kinds of super - clap in the far hereafter .
The first scenario is a “ hotspot plume , ” the kind of large musical scale geological issue that occur about 2 million years ago at Wyoming’sYellowstone caldera — an bang that incubate North America in blanket of volcanic ash .

https://gizmodo.com/further-evidence-that-the-yellowstone-megavolcano-could-5940099
The 2nd possibility is a flood lamp basalt eruption — a more drawn-out event similar to what find in India’sDeccan Trapsabout 65 million class ago . In this scenario , a large and volatile volcanic region spews lava to the surface over an prolonged menses of time — uninterrupted eruptions that can last thousands of years , resulting in prominent igneous provinces . A similar thing happened in the Pacific Northwest ’s Columbia River region about 17 million years ago .
Needless to say , these eruptions are extremely disruptive to ecosystem , and may be tied to some extinction events ; ash tree and volcanic flatulence make life unmanageable for organisms ( include massive die - offs in the oceans triggered by oxygen loss ) .

And now , Thorne says a similar thing could happen again , but this prison term in the South Pacific near the Samoan region .
He reached this conclusion after look into two massive muckle that were discovered in the 1990s . Initially , geologists assumed that these continent - sized regions were stable . But Thorne ’s high - declaration seismic images showed they are in fact colliding — and that they ’re gradually creating a “ spongy blob ” of partly liquified rock that ’s raise to the size of Florida .
The two piles , which take a breather on the boundary between the core and the mantle , are locate underneath the Pacific Ocean and under Africa ( we ’re talking really deep under Africa ) . Each of them are approximately 3,000 international mile ( 4,830 km ) across .

“ We call it a blob of part liquefied material , ” said Thorne when speaking to NPR . “ I mean it ’s adult … this one that we found is an gild of magnitude , maybe 10 time turgid , than any of the ones we ’ve note before . ”
The effect is like two rock piles that are being squished together , “ squeezing this huge liquefied blob at the midsection of it like some form of balloon , and it is going on right on underneath us . ”
And indeed , Thorne ’s subsequent electronic computer pretence helped him determine the chassis and size of it of the two hatful , while also demonstrating the theoretic potential for the region to actuate a massive plume eruption . It ’s by no means guaranteed , but if it were to come about , it would take place no to begin with than 100 million class from now .

As for Thorne ’s confirmation of home base activity , he used information extracted from over 50 earthquakes which occurred deeply below the Earth ’s surface , and by analyzing changes in undulation pattern in the rock where the core meets the curtain .
The study was conduct along with Allen McNamara and Edward Garnero of Arizona State University , and Gunnar Jahnke and Heiner Igel of the University of Munich . The National Science Foundation fund the enquiry .
The studycan be readatEarth and Planetary Science Letters .

Supplementary generator : University of UtahandNPR .
Top imagevia . national images : National Science Foundation , University of Utah .
GeologySciencevolcanos

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