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| Magma is building up beneath New Zealand |
Huge build-up of
magma beneath New Zealand could be almost as DEVASTATING as Yellowstone
A HUGE build-up of magma is lurking
beneath New Zealand which could one day explode causing widespread devastation
comparable with a potential Yellowstone eruption, scientists have discovered.
Experts
have revealed that enough magma to fill 80,000 Olympic-size swimming pools is
sitting beneath a small town to the South-East of Auckland.
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| Matata is southeast of Auckland |
Molten
lava beneath Matata – which has just 650 inhabitants – has been building up
since the 1950s.
Dr
Ian Hamling, from GNS Science and lead author of the study published in Science
Advances, said the discovery “was quite a big surprise”.
In
their study, they add that it is extremely unusual for magma to collect in an
area where there is no volcano.
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| The eruption would be comparable with Yellowstone |
The magma is at least six miles beneath the surface
of coastal town Matata, leaving scientists confident that it will not erupt for
hundreds and potentially thousands of years, but warned that it could be a
“significant” eruption when it does finally blow.
Dr Hamling continued: "When you compare it to
other places, like Yellowstone, we're smaller than that. But it's still pretty
significant.”
If Yellowstone were to erupt, it could leave
two-thirds of the USA immediately uninhabitable as the large spew of ash into
the atmosphere would block out sunlight and directly affecting life beneath it.
While it is not expected that this magma will cause
such devastation, the impact would still be difficult to cope with.
However, in the short run, Dr Hamling and his team
hope to use the newly discovered magma deposit to help predict earthquakes.
By using GPS data and satellite images, the team
were able to discover a 154 square mile patch of land which had risen by 16
inches since 1950 due to the presence of magma.
Furthermore, they believe that the build-up of
magma could be responsible for a spate of small earthquakes between 2003 and
2011 as the amount of magma suddenly increased during this time.
Related Posts:
http://www.express.co.uk/news/science/678395/magma-New-Zealand-DEVASTATING-as-Yellowstone?_ga=1.1162993.155560050.1464256228
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