A photo from open sources
A team of scientists discovered in the Philippine Sea an ancient supervolcano. It is possible that the caldera of this volcano may to be the largest on Earth.
Caldera differs from craters in huge sizes and It is mainly of volcanic origin. These are “circus” hollows having steep walls and a relatively flat bottom. IN mostly calderas are formed as a result of volcanic eruptions, or during the collapse of the upper part of the mountain into a magmatic cavity cameras.
Discovered in the Benham Rise area of the caldera called Apolaki is located at a depth of 5200-2500 meters and has a size of about 150 kilometers (for comparison, the diameter of the Yellowstone Caldera about 60 kilometers). The caldera consists of a layer of magmatic and 14 km of underwater rocks. The age of these layers is about 47.9 million years old.
Experts are sure that Apolaki arose as a result of active volcanic processes, after which there was an empty igneous camera. Researchers do not exclude that these processes were repeated in this area repeatedly. Scientists are currently studying the reasons by which the caldera was formed, and is it possible to repeat such future events.
According to scientists, the largest on Earth is considered the caldera on Sumatra Island (Indonesia). Its dimensions are approximately 1.8 thousand square kilometers.
Researchers previously reported that the Yellowstone Super Volcano gradually burns the trees around him.
Andrey Vetrov
Yellowstone Volcanoes
