On Synchronous Supereruptions
The Youngest Toba Tuff (YTT) supereruption from Toba Caldera in Sumatra at ca. 74,000 years BP is the largest volcanic event recorded in the Pleistocene. Intriguingly, recent radioisotopic dating of the near antipodal Los Chocoyos (LCY) supereruption from the Atitlán caldera in Guatemala finds an id...
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:d352fe1c99d24c4687bdd1bfda93d563 2023-05-15T16:39:15+02:00 On Synchronous Supereruptions Alejandro Cisneros de León Tushar Mittal Shanaka L. de Silva Stephen Self Axel K. Schmitt Steffen Kutterolf 2022-04-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.3389/feart.2022.827252 https://doaj.org/article/d352fe1c99d24c4687bdd1bfda93d563 EN eng Frontiers Media S.A. https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/feart.2022.827252/full https://doaj.org/toc/2296-6463 2296-6463 doi:10.3389/feart.2022.827252 https://doaj.org/article/d352fe1c99d24c4687bdd1bfda93d563 Frontiers in Earth Science, Vol 10 (2022) Atitlán caldera Toba caldera Los Chocoyos Youngest Toba Tuff Antipode Science Q article 2022 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.3389/feart.2022.827252 2022-12-31T11:58:47Z The Youngest Toba Tuff (YTT) supereruption from Toba Caldera in Sumatra at ca. 74,000 years BP is the largest volcanic event recorded in the Pleistocene. Intriguingly, recent radioisotopic dating of the near antipodal Los Chocoyos (LCY) supereruption from the Atitlán caldera in Guatemala finds an identical age within uncertainties to that of YTT. This opens the question of whether these synchronous supereruptions may be a coincidence or could be a consequence of each other? Using the known eruptive record from the past 2 Myr, we find that the likelihood of having two near antipodal supereruptions (>1,000 km3 tephra volume) within centuries (<400 years), as suggested by volcanic proxies and annual counting layer chronology in the ice core records, is very small (0.086%), requiring a non-random cause and effect. Considering this analysis, we speculate that one potential physical mechanism that could explain the temporal relationship between these supereruptions is that seismic energy released during YTT eruption focused on the antipodal region, where concentrated stresses ultimately promoted the eruption of the perched LCY magma system (or vice versa). This supereruption “double-whammy” may thus be the more compelling source of the significant environmental impacts often attributed individually to the YTT supereruption. Improving the existing age information of YTT and LCY, and a better understanding of caldera collapse events will enable further testing of the hypothesis that synchronous supereruptions do not result by pure chance. Article in Journal/Newspaper ice core Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Frontiers in Earth Science 10 |
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Open Polar |
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Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
Atitlán caldera Toba caldera Los Chocoyos Youngest Toba Tuff Antipode Science Q |
spellingShingle |
Atitlán caldera Toba caldera Los Chocoyos Youngest Toba Tuff Antipode Science Q Alejandro Cisneros de León Tushar Mittal Shanaka L. de Silva Stephen Self Axel K. Schmitt Steffen Kutterolf On Synchronous Supereruptions |
topic_facet |
Atitlán caldera Toba caldera Los Chocoyos Youngest Toba Tuff Antipode Science Q |
description |
The Youngest Toba Tuff (YTT) supereruption from Toba Caldera in Sumatra at ca. 74,000 years BP is the largest volcanic event recorded in the Pleistocene. Intriguingly, recent radioisotopic dating of the near antipodal Los Chocoyos (LCY) supereruption from the Atitlán caldera in Guatemala finds an identical age within uncertainties to that of YTT. This opens the question of whether these synchronous supereruptions may be a coincidence or could be a consequence of each other? Using the known eruptive record from the past 2 Myr, we find that the likelihood of having two near antipodal supereruptions (>1,000 km3 tephra volume) within centuries (<400 years), as suggested by volcanic proxies and annual counting layer chronology in the ice core records, is very small (0.086%), requiring a non-random cause and effect. Considering this analysis, we speculate that one potential physical mechanism that could explain the temporal relationship between these supereruptions is that seismic energy released during YTT eruption focused on the antipodal region, where concentrated stresses ultimately promoted the eruption of the perched LCY magma system (or vice versa). This supereruption “double-whammy” may thus be the more compelling source of the significant environmental impacts often attributed individually to the YTT supereruption. Improving the existing age information of YTT and LCY, and a better understanding of caldera collapse events will enable further testing of the hypothesis that synchronous supereruptions do not result by pure chance. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Alejandro Cisneros de León Tushar Mittal Shanaka L. de Silva Stephen Self Axel K. Schmitt Steffen Kutterolf |
author_facet |
Alejandro Cisneros de León Tushar Mittal Shanaka L. de Silva Stephen Self Axel K. Schmitt Steffen Kutterolf |
author_sort |
Alejandro Cisneros de León |
title |
On Synchronous Supereruptions |
title_short |
On Synchronous Supereruptions |
title_full |
On Synchronous Supereruptions |
title_fullStr |
On Synchronous Supereruptions |
title_full_unstemmed |
On Synchronous Supereruptions |
title_sort |
on synchronous supereruptions |
publisher |
Frontiers Media S.A. |
publishDate |
2022 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.3389/feart.2022.827252 https://doaj.org/article/d352fe1c99d24c4687bdd1bfda93d563 |
genre |
ice core |
genre_facet |
ice core |
op_source |
Frontiers in Earth Science, Vol 10 (2022) |
op_relation |
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/feart.2022.827252/full https://doaj.org/toc/2296-6463 2296-6463 doi:10.3389/feart.2022.827252 https://doaj.org/article/d352fe1c99d24c4687bdd1bfda93d563 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.3389/feart.2022.827252 |
container_title |
Frontiers in Earth Science |
container_volume |
10 |
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1766029585369006080 |