"Eruption could result in the devastation of world agriculture, severe disruption of food supplies and mass starvation" SHAKY FAULTLINE RAISES THE THREAT OF A SUPER-VOLCANO Leigh Dayton, Science writer 01apr05 AS if earthquake-ravaged Indonesia doesn't have enough to worry about, now scientists warn that a Sumatran super-volcano might blow its top at any time. If it does, the blast will toss hundreds of thousands of cubic kilometres of rock and ash into the atmosphere, dwarfing the eruptions of Krakatoa, Mount St Helens, Pinatubo and any conventional volcanic explosion of the past tens of thousands of years. "These super-volcanoes are potentially the greatest hazard on Earth, the only greater threat being an asteroid impact from space," said Ray Cas, a vulcanologist with Monash University in Melbourne. Professor Cas said a "major tectonic event" could be enough to trigger a deadly super-volcanic eruption. The likelihood that the Toba - the largest super-volcano on Earth - will erupt has increased significantly due to geological stresses generated by the recent quakes. Worse, Toba sits directly atop the faultline running down the spine of Sumatra. That is where seismologists say a third quake might strike. Because of the increased risk, Professor Cas called for increased monitoring of Toba. "With enough precursor information and signals like gas releases, we (could) warn of a significant eruption in days, weeks or months," he said. Professor Cas's call follows a report early this month to the British Government's Natural Hazard Working Group by the Geological Society of London. The report called for increased awareness of the risks posed by super-volcanoes and development of mitigation strategies. Vulcanologist Stephen Self of Britain's Open University said a super-volcanic eruption might cover an entire continent with ash that could take decades to erode. "(Such an eruption) could result in the devastation of world agriculture, severe disruption of food supplies and mass starvation," he told the online journal LiveScience. Professor Cas said super-volcanoes tended to erupt in 2000-year cycles. The Toba super-volcano last erupted 73,000 years ago. http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/printpage/0,5942,12717924,00.html ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Take a look at donorschoose.org, an excellent charitable web site for anyone who cares about public education! http://us.click.yahoo.com/_OLuKD/8WnJAA/cUmLAA/TySplB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> -------------------------- Want to discuss this topic? Head on over to our discussion list, [EMAIL PROTECTED] -------------------------- Brooks Isoldi, editor [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.intellnet.org Post message: [email protected] Subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. OSINT, as a part of The Intelligence Network, is making it available without profit to OSINT YahooGroups members who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information in their efforts to advance the understanding of intelligence and law enforcement organizations, their activities, methods, techniques, human rights, civil liberties, social justice and other intelligence related issues, for non-profit research and educational purposes only. We believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use,' you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
