UW team explores large, restless volcanic field in Chile

University of Wisconsin ^ | 11/28/2014 | David Tenenbaum

[JimSEA]

If Brad Singer knew for sure what was happening three miles under an odd-shaped lake in the Andes, he might be less eager to spend a good part of his career investigating a volcanic field that has erupted 36 times during the last 25,000 years. As he leads a large scientific team exploring a region in the Andes called Laguna del Maule, Singer hopes the area remains quiet.

But the primary reason to expend so much effort on this area boils down to one fact: The rate of uplift is among the highest ever observed by satellite measurement for a volcano that is not actively erupting.

[JimSEA]

The size estimates for an eruption range from a Mount St. Helens type to one 100 times that size. This is based on the ash and magma of prior eruptions, the size of the uplift and underlying magma chamber and the fact that the magma is rhyolitic. ( lots of silica, gas and water)

[Red Badger]

The rate of uplift is among the highest ever observed by satellite measurement for a volcano that is not actively erupting.

Yet.................Mt. St. Helens will look like a warm spring day..............

[rellimpank]

—wow—for those hiding under the bed due to the Yellowstone uplift, this one may beat it—

[katana]

At roughly 3 miles by 6 in size this one is miniature compared with Yellowstone. Still, when (not if) it erupts the effects would be monstrous, especially for the southern hemisphere.