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Blood of the Earth. Volcanoes and Traps That Changed the Face of the Planet

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It’s difficult to imagine that high mountains and plains covered with dense vegetation, river beds and exotic island with fertile soil have lots in common. A volcanic activity had been the cause of appearance of these natural attractions millions of years ago. The largest volcanoes in the world have been constantly spewing lava flows and changing geological formations. Huge seas were drained and mountain peaks rose up. Like many millions of years ago, the high volcanic activity persists in some regions of the planet. Volcanoes continue to change the face of the Earth. Igneous provinces disturb the local residents with high activity. Some geological formations have appeared millions of years ago, while age of others is only a few hundred years.

Santorini Volcano, Greece

Located on the Greek island of the same name, Santorini is one of the oldest and most powerful volcanoes of our planet. According to the researchers, it could cause the disappearance of the Minoan civilization. As scientists suggest, its most powerful eruption happened in the 17th century BC. The explosion, which took place during the eruption, was so strong that it could be compared with the one-time explosion of several hundred nuclear bombs.

Santorini Volcano, Greece It’s needless to say that such a destructive element led not only to breaking the landscape, but also to serious climate changes. The eruption of the Santorini volcano triggered a series of tsunamis. Clouds of ash and smoke were thrown to the air.  For a long time, the Earth was concealed from sunrays, so the global cooling has came. However, the main mystery of Santorini volcano is related to the destiny of the Minoan civilization, whose cultural center was the island of Santorini or Thera. Some researchers have speculated that the inhabitants of the island predicted the impending eruption and left the place timely. However, all the monuments of civilization located on the island were destroyed.

The volcano remains active. Its last eruption occurred in 1950. Santorini Volcano impresses with its size, the diameter of its crater reaches 1 680 meters, and height is 130 meter. Santorini Mountain disappeared as a result of the Minoan eruption. A large oval gulf formed instead. Now it's filled with waters of the Aegean Sea. Next - Ilopango Volcano

Ilopango Volcano, Salvador

Ilopango Volcano, Salvador The capital city of El Salvador is located near the famous Ilopango volcano. During the history it erupted twice. The first eruption, which occurred in the 5th century BC, was the most powerful and destructive. After the first destructive eruption, the whole territory of the western and central El Salvador was literally burned. It laid covered with a thick layer of ash. Complete article

Siberian Traps, Russia

Siberian Traps, Russia The Siberian Traps are one of the largest and most well-known magmatic provinces of the world. They appeared about 250 million years ago. Over the years of continuous eruptions, more than 5 million cubic meters of lava was thrown to earth surface. Lava covered a large piece of the ​​modern western Siberia with a total area of ​​about 2 million square km. Scientists believe that the outpouring of the Siberian Traps was the biggest volcanic eruption in the history of the planet. The disaster has been lasting for hundreds of thousands of years. Complete article

Changbaishan Volcano, China - North Korea

Changbaishan Volcano, China - North Korea The ancient Changbaishan volcano is situated on the border of China and North Korea. Its last major eruption occurred in the early 11th century. This eruption was so powerful that even residents of Japan living about 1 200 km away from the epicenter, have felt its effects. Today, the picturesque Tianchi Lake, which was formed in the caldera, reminds about the disaster. The diameter of the bowl is about 4.5 km and depth is 1 km. Complete article

Krakatoa Volcano, Indonesia

Krakatoa Volcano, Indonesia One of the main attractions of Indonesia is Krakatau volcano, which is reasonably considered among the most powerful and dangerous volcanoes in the world. Its last eruption began August 26, 1883, and lasted for several months. Explosions of incredible strength could be heard in several thousand kilometers. The eruption of Krakatau sparked one of the largest tsunamis in human history. Waves reached 40 meters of height. Complete article

Deccan Traps, India

Deccan Traps, India Indian Deccan Plateau is nothing but a large igneous province. The thick part of the basalt plateau covers about 2 000 meters in average. The total area of ​​the trap is up to 500 000 square meters. The Deccan Traps were formed over 600 million years ago. The majority of volcanic eruptions took place at the area of ​​modern Mumbai. Researchers believe that large-scale series of eruptions lasted about 30 000 years. Complete article

Huaynaputina Volcano, Peru

Huaynaputina Volcano, Peru Huaynaputina volcano that became known worldwide due to violent eruptions in the early 17th century, is in Peru. The eruption of Huaynaputina is officially considered the strongest in the history of South America. Its effects spread to more than 100 km from the epicenter of volcanic explosions. The main consequence of the eruption became torrents that spread over 120 km and reached the Pacific Ocean. Complete article

Santa Maria Volcano, Guatemala

Santa Maria Volcano, Guatemala Early 18th century was also marked by a strong volcanic eruption. That year the disaster occurred in Guatemala. In 1902, the eruption of Santa Maria volcano happened there. It is considered one of the most violent eruptions of the 20th century. The incredibly powerful explosion occurred after 500 calm years. The diameter of the crater left after that is 1 500 meters. Complete article

Etendeka-Parana Traps, Brazil

Etendeka-Parana Traps, Brazil Parana-Etendeka province is incredibly amazing to explore. This igneous place is in Brazil. It was formed more than 130 million years ago. The area of ​​this province is more than one and a half million square kilometers, but scientists do not exclude that the lava spread area could be twice as much. Complete article

Vesuvius Volcano, Italy

Vesuvius Volcano, Italy One of the most dangerous volcanoes in the world is Mount Vesuvius located in Italy, in the immediate vicinity of Naples. More than three million people live close to it. In the case of another eruption, all of them may be in a great danger. The great eruption of Vesuvius was famous in ancient times. In 79 AD, the volcano destroyed two cities of Ancient Rome, Pompeii and Herculaneum. Complete article

Etna Volcano, Italy

Etna Volcano, Italy In Italy, there is one more powerful volcano, Etna. It has directly influenced on the formation of the modern reliefs. That’s is one of the main attractions of Sicily and one of the most active volcanoes in the world. The first violent eruption of Etna occurred in the 16th century BC. Researchers and historians officially recorded 150 violent eruptions of Mount Etna to these days. A number of less powerful eruptions can’t be calculated precisely. Complete article

Columbia River Traps, US

Columbia River Traps, US The United States also have a magmatic province that might be interesting to both professional researchers and ordinary travelers. One of the largest provinces is the Columbia River Traps, which was formed about 15 million years ago. It covers a huge area of ​​more than 163 000 square km. During the eruption, more than 174 000 cubic meters of lava came through  the cracks in the ground left on the surface. Complete article

Tambora Volcano, Indonesia

Tambora Volcano, Indonesia In Indonesia, on the island of Sumbawa, you can find Tambora volcano. Its eruption was one of the most violent in the 19th century. It happened in 1815. The event was of incredible scale. It’s considered that it could cause a serious climate change on the planet. According to rough estimates, about 24 cubic kilometers of lava were thrown out to earth surface during the eruption. Far more devastating consequences had the release of several million tons of sulfur dioxide. Its gases literally wrapped the Earth up and hid it from the sunlight. Complete article

Mount Pelee Volcano, France

Mount Pelee Volcano, France Caribbean is the seat of the majestic volcanoes. Here, on the island of Martinique, there is Mount Pelee. Its last major eruption occurred in 1902. Now, it’s considered one of the greatest catastrophes of the 20th century. Only by rough estimates, over 30 000 people were killed by the volcanic eruption. It’s noteworthy that at the beginning of the 20th century the local people were monitoring the volcano and knew about the eruption in advance. Many of them fled to the nearby town of Saint-Pierre to protect themselves from the devastating disaster. However, they could not even imagine what a disaster waited for them. Complete article

Sakurajima Volcano, Japan

Sakurajima Volcano, Japan One of the most dangerous volcanoes in the world is in Japan. Sakurajima volcano is constantly active since 1955. Researchers believe that its eruption may be the most extensive in the history. This disaster can begin at any time. One of the last eruptions happened in 2009. The volcano is located in the immediate vicinity of the city of Kagoshima, so its residents live in a permanent alert. Complete article
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