Several Alaskan islands appear to be part of the same submerged volcano

If the researchers' suspicions are correct, the newly discovered volcanic caldera would belong to the same category of volcanoes as the Yellowstone Caldera and other volcanoes that have had super-eruptions with dire global consequences.

 

 

 

A group of volcanic islands in Alaska's Aleutian chain appears to be part of a single, undiscovered giant volcano, according to findings presented at the AGU's Fall 2020 Meeting.

If the researchers' suspicions are correct, the newly discovered volcanic caldera would belong to the same category of volcanoes as the Yellowstone Caldera and other volcanoes that have had super-eruptions with dire global consequences.

The Four Mountain Islands in the central Aleutians are a compact group of six stratovolcanoes named Carlisle, Cleveland, Herbert, Kagamil, Tana, and Uliaga. Stratovolcanoes are what most people imagine when they think of a volcano: a steep conical mountain with a banner of clouds and ash billowing from the top. They can have powerful eruptions, like the one on Mount Saint Helena in 1980, but are dwarfed by much less frequent eruptions that form calderas.

Researchers from a variety of institutions and disciplines have been studying Mount Cleveland, the group's most active volcano, trying to understand the nature of the Four Mountain Islands. They have gathered multiple evidence showing that the islands could belong to an interconnected caldera.