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The Earth's surface is shaking; long cracks split the ground open; lava rivers are rapidly
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flowing down the slopes; explosions sound more and more often; rocks and other debris
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are flying into the air; the sky is darkened by the clouds of ash.
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Nah, it's not a plot of a new disaster movie!
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It's just geologists who decided to drill into a super-volcano.
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But before I tell you about all this drilling, let me introduce you to super-volcanoes that
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can produce super-eruptions!
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And when they do, they blow more than 240 cubic miles of ash, molten rock, and hot gases
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up into the air.
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In other words, four super-eruptions could fill the Grand Canyon to the brim!
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Super-volcanoes get formed when gigantic volumes of scorching hot magma are trying to escape
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from deep underground.
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It rises close to the surface but can't break through the Earth's crust.
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That's why at a depth of only several miles, there gathers a huge pressurized pool of bubbling
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magma.
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The pressure keeps growing because more and more of it is trying to get to the surface.
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Until - bang! - a super-eruption occurs!
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The most recent super-eruption took place in New Zealand.
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Well, when I say "recent," I mean around 26,500 years ago.
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That's when a super-volcano beneath the surface of Lake Taupo blew more than 300 cubic miles
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of ash and pumice into the air.
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Imagine 500,000 Great Pyramids of Giza flying up at the same time — that's how incredibly
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powerful that eruption was!
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But the most exciting and confusing thing about the eruption was that the Taupo volcano
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didn't simply explode like many others.
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Everything was going as usual at first: more than 200 square miles of magma had built up
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under the surface, and the pressure was getting higher and higher.
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But after the rock cracked, and the first portion of lava rushed out of the crater,
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something went wrong, and the super-volcano took a break!
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Only several months later, the disastrous explosion shook the ground, and thousands
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of tons of lava, rocks, and ash erupted high into the atmosphere.
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The unusual pattern of Taupo still confuses scientists to no end.
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But the age of super-volcanoes isn't over.
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The most infamous of them all is probably the one in Yellowstone National Park.
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This giant is responsible for at least three ginormous eruptions and who knows how many
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smaller ones!
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If this monster erupted anywhere as strong as it did 2.1 million years ago, it would
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spit out more than 600 cubic miles of red-hot stuff!
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You can probably picture it more vividly if I tell you that this volume is the same as
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65,000,000 Capitol Rotundas in Washington, D.C. crammed together.
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That’s a lot of politicians!
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Anyway, scientists are sure that Yellowstone doesn't present any danger these days: for
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an eruption to happen, magma inside has to be at least 50% molten.
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With Yellowstone, this number is just 5 to 15 %.
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But of course, Yellowstone isn't the only super-volcano on our planet.
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New Zealand's Taupo you already know about, Japan's Aira Caldera, California's Long Valley,
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Indonesia's Toba — any of them can one day entertain us with a super-eruption!
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There are also several so-called super-volcanoes that haven't lived up to this name yet because
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they've never produced anything like a super-eruption.
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For example, in 1883, Indonesian volcano Krakatoa started to erupt.
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The power of it tore the volcano's walls open, and cold seawater rushed into its molten insides.
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The difference in temperatures made the volcano explode with a deafening boom which was clearly
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heard 3,000 miles away in Australia!
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It earned the blast the title of the loudest sound in history.
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But even though the consequences of the eruption were truly disastrous, it still wasn't powerful
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enough to be called a super-eruption.
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By the way, if you've ever seen a volcanic eruption, tell me all about that in the comments
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below!
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We’d lava hear all about it!
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ha
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Anyway, what devastates scientists the most is how little they know about super-volcanoes.
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Because those aren't just some overgrown fire mountains — no, they are way more complicated
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than that.
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Appearing so deep underground and extending for hundreds of miles, super-volcanoes don't
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follow the ways of all others.
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Experts are still unsure about the processes that trigger them, especially since super-eruptions
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(thankfully) don't take place more often than every 50,000 years or so.
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That's one of the reasons why some experts want to drill into a super-volcano.
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It would allow them to collect samples and examine geothermal energy that's rising from
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the heart of a volcano.
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It could help to understand "if" or "when and how" a super-volcano might burst.
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It's not the only reason why drilling into one may be a good idea.
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Another daring project includes making a 6-mile-deep hole that would reach the belly of a super-volcano
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and pump down cold pressurized water.
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It's supposed to nail two birds with one stone: cool the volcano down and produce green energy!
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By the way, don’t throw stones at birds.
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It’s not nice.
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Anyway, see for yourself: when the water got back from the drill hole, its temperature
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would be around 662°F.
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If there was a geothermal plant built anywhere near that place, the water could be used to
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generate loads of electric power.
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The whole process would be very simple, that's why such electric power would cost only $0.10
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per kWh.
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What's more, thanks to this technology, engineers would slowly but surely extract the heat from
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the volcano, minimizing the risk of a super-eruption.
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Sounds great but is it indeed?
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Even though the idea of drilling a hole in a super-volcano seems to have its own benefits,
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many physicists, geologists, and even politicians have their doubts.
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Let's say, you don't drill too deep into the volcano — just deep enough to get some materials
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to examine.
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It's supposed to be safe since you just need some rock samples, and you aren't going to
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tamper with the insides of this nature-made cauldron with magma.
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But what's happening in reality is you getting inside a cage with sleeping lions and trying
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to steal their food.
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I mean you can get away with this crazy fit.
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Or one of the lions can wake up...
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The same will be going on with a super-volcano.
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It's true that if you keep drilling at the surface, you won't do any harm.
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But once you go a bit deeper or hit a hypothermal pocket, get ready for a calamity.
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It will release gases that are very likely to cause a series of super-powerful explosions.
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In the worst-case scenario, it may even trigger a full-blown volcano eruption!
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And you already know what the results of such an event can be: from fountains of lava and
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avalanches of molten rocks to climate changes all over the globe!
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But what if you decided to drill even deeper in an attempt to cool the volcano down or
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to release the pressure inside and prevent the thing from blowing?
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It would be even riskier!
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For example, you drill and drill and accidentally hit a magma chamber!
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Then, while trying to cool down the volcano with water, you make the top of the magma
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chamber way more fragile than it used to be.
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It results in the whole structure being ready to collapse at any moment.
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Or your drilling may lead to the release of toxic gases that tend to accumulate at the
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top of the magma reservoir.
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And at the moment you let these gases out by mistake, you'd better be wearing a full
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face breathing mask!
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Of course, you could avoid such dramatic consequences if you decided to drill somewhere away from
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the center of the super-volcano.
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But once again, these fellows are super-unpredictable, and nobody can figure out their patterns with
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iron-clad certainty.
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That's why the drilling isn't going to happen until its necessity starts to overweigh all
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the risks.
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Let sleeping dogs lie, you know?
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In 2006, the world's largest mud volcano Lusi in Indonesia erupted, sending tons of boiling
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water, gas, and mud in the air.
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More than 30,000 people had to leave their homes and relocate.
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And the volcano still isn't done with spewing out mud!
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Some experts claimed that the reason for the disaster was nearby oil drilling that could
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provoke the eruption.
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On the other hand, the trigger could be an earthquake that happened 175 miles away.
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You never know with volcanoes .
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Hey, if you learned something new today, then give the video a like and share it with a
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friend!
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And here are some other videos I think you'll enjoy.
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Just click to the left or right, and stay on the Bright Side of life!