full title: Italian 'Super Volcano' May Threaten Millions: Scientists plan to drill deep below Romans' 'hell gateway'.
Sulfur emerges from the Phlegraean Fields, a zone similar to the Yellowstone caldera, but much more heavily populated.
Posted on 08/06/2012 7:54:17 PM PDT by SunkenCiv
A hidden "super volcano" near Pompeii threatens an eruption that could make Vesuvius look like a picnic, scientists warn. The Phlegraean Fields zone of intense seismic activity -- which the ancient Romans believed was the gateway to hell -- could doom millions of people in the Naples area if it erupts, Reuters reports. Scientists plan to drill more than two miles below its surface to monitor any signs of a pending eruption in the huge chamber of molten rock, but some experts fear that the drilling itself could trigger an earthquake or eruption.
Areas like the Phlegraean fields "can give rise to the only eruptions that can have global catastrophic effects comparable to major meteorite impacts" like the one that wiped out the dinosaurs, says the chief of the drilling project. The drilling, he says, will increase by up to 10,000 times "our ability to detect small episodes that are precursors of future eruptions." He considers those who fear the drilling "ill-informed," noting that projects seeking sources of thermal energy sent down dozens of less secure probes decades ago without incident.
(Excerpt) Read more at newser.com ...
Sulfur emerges from the Phlegraean Fields, a zone similar to the Yellowstone caldera, but much more heavily populated.
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| GGG managers are SunkenCiv, StayAt HomeMother & Ernest_at_the_Beach | |
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Pompeii Ping. |
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I hope they don’t hit a pocket of magma while drilling that deep - they may unplug it and set it off.
Ba-DOOM-Ba!
Doesn’t sound too bright to me, Drilling into the thing could set it off as opposed to the drilling giving them a warning before it goes off. If they do get the warning, how the hell do they expect to move Millions in a short enough time to save them.
Move Over, Pompeii [Nola buried between 1800 and 1750 B.C.]
Archaeology, Volume 55 Number 2 | March/April 2002 | Jarrett A. Lobell
Posted on 08/10/2004 10:03:10 AM PDT by SunkenCiv
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/chat/1188762/posts
Soooo is your local volcano still erupting?
Cool stuff, thanks SC. I’m sure you remember the Athens subway - every time they took a scoop of dirt they ran into a new find. Some very cool history over there.
It's Always Something. (IAS)
The evacuation would kill off half of ‘em.
The drill hole would seal itself unless the whole thing was ready to erupt anyway.
We’re all gonna die.
Maybe the Doctor will save them!
That’s an inside joke about a “Doctor Who” episode called “The Fires of Pompeii.”
“The drill hole would seal itself unless the whole thing was ready to erupt anyway.”
I have to believe that’s the case. The Italians are not idiots (I’ve worked with them) and I doubt they’ll do something that will take out one of their major cities.
Well, considering Pliny the Elder went over in a small boat to watch Vesuvius erupting and then lost his life doing so, maybe sometimes a guy thinks he knows what he is doing, but...
“Oh, I’ll be okay, I can watch it from over here:)”
How can it threaten without arms to wave dramatically?
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