Scientists identify ancient supervolcano beneath The Wash
Scientists have identified an extinct supervolcano beneath The Wash by reanalyzing rock samples collected about 80 years ago from North Creake and Claxby and examining tiny zircon crystals with advanced dating. The structure was at least 40 miles across and produced two closely timed super Plinian eruptions about 454.4 and 453.7 million years ago, launching hundreds of cubic kilometres of crust into the stratosphere and spreading ash to modern Sweden, Norway, Poland and Belarus. The British Geological Survey says the volcano is extinct and poses no future risk, and researchers say the result helps refine the UK geological record and resource management.
A supervolcano under The Wash erupted about 454 million years ago
Context
Pandemic restrictions prevented new fieldwork, so scientists used stored rock samples. They applied modern zircon dating to those samples and linked ash across northern Europe. Researchers may apply these methods to other stored samples to…
The full analysis
19 dimensions on this story — world impact, market read, and what happens next.
- Full ContextLocked
- Affected SectorsLocked
- Stock ImpactLocked
- Economic IndicatorLocked
- Investor RelevanceLocked
- Professional RelevanceLocked
- Watch PointsLocked
- Probability of ChangeLocked
- Prerequisite KnowledgeLocked
- Follow-up QuestionsLocked
- Pros & ConsLocked