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scientist have identified the largest volcanic eruption in register history — an explosion 7,300 years ago that release more than twice as much sway and ash tree as the previous platter - holding eruption of Indonesia’sMount Tambora in 1815 .
The earth - shattering blast , known as the Kikai - Akahoya eruption , occurred to the south of Japan ’s Kyushu island , where the Philippine architectonic plate slide beneath the Eurasiatic plate . The underwater Kikai vent is known to have produced three major bang in the last 140,000 long time , the a la mode of which was the Kikai - Akahoya outbreak , according to a field of study published online Feb. 1 in theJournal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research .
The Kikai-Akahoya eruption was an underwater blast, similar to the gigantic Tonga eruption of 2022 (pictured above).
While scientists already knew about the ancient volcanic blast , the Modern research has revealed its record scale and pinpoint it as the with child eruption of the current geological epoch . " The blast has been known for a foresightful metre , but these author are increasing our knowledge of it a lot,“Tim Druitt , a professor of volcanology at the University of Clermont Auvergne in France who review the work , told Live Science in an e-mail .
scientist had previously found it unmanageable to pin down the clap ’s sizing and what triggered it because of the inherent challenge in reach the underwater vent .
In the new study , researcher gathered seismic data to produce a detailed map of the Davy Jones’s locker around the volcano . The function reveal immense subaqueous deposit , which the team sampled by drilling into the seabed in several location with a remote - controlled robot and extracting sediment cores .
Related : Underwater Santorini vent outbreak 520,000 years ago was 15 times big than record - go bad Tonga outbreak
The sediment hauled to the surface discover a layer traverse 1,740 square miles ( 4,500 square kilometre ) that contained volcanic glass matching the piece of music and timing of the Kikai - Akahoya volcanic eruption . The glass and other volcanic junk come to around 17 cubic miles ( 71 cubic kilometers ) of stuff ejected into the sea by the eruption — almost double the estimates published inprevious inquiry .
The researchers mix these findings withexisting estimatesof volcanic rubble from the bam that was deposited on land . They found that the mega eruption kick out a full bulk of 80 to 110 cubic miles ( 332 to 457 three-dimensional km ) of material — enough to fill Lake Tahoe in the western U.S. twice over .
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The Modern estimate means the Kikai - Akahoya eruption is " probably the large extravasation of the Holocene , " the research worker wrote in the study . TheHolocene Epochis a geological period that began 12,000 to 11,500 years ago at the end of the last ice rink years and which we still live in today .
" Their conclusion that it is the large Holocene eruption is valid , " Druitt said . " The Minoan eruption of Santorini has also been advise asthe largest Holocene eruption , but is now eff not to be . "
The Kikai - Akahoya bang still pale in comparison to more ancient eruptions , such as thecataclysmic explosion of Sumatra ’s Toba supervolcano74,000 years ago , which pumped out an figure 1,200 cubic miles ( 5,000 cubic km ) of magma .
