Monstrous volcano with the power of thousands of hydrogen bombs was hiding underground

Researchers from the British Geological Survey and the University of Oslo have identified an ancient volcanic system beneath The Wash area on the east coast of England, which erupted with the force of thousands of hydrogen bombs about 454 million years ago. The discovery solves a geological mystery regarding the origin of a massive volcanic ash layer found in Scandinavia and Eastern Europe. The system is completely extinct and poses no danger.

Researchers from the British Geological Survey and the University of Oslo have identified an ancient volcanic system beneath The Wash area on the east coast of England. The eruption, which occurred about 454.4 million years ago, was compared in intensity to thousands of hydrogen bombs. The finding solves a long-standing geological mystery: the origin of the Kinnekulle tephra ash layer, found in Norway, Sweden, Poland, and Belarus. The researchers reanalyzed samples from boreholes in Norfolk and Lincolnshire and found tiny zircon crystals dated to an age matching the ash layer. Younger crystals, 453.7 million years old, may indicate another eruption shortly after, related to a caldera collapse. The British Geological Survey uses the term 'super-volcano,' though volcanologists note that its original size is difficult to determine due to hundreds of millions of years of erosion. The volcanic system is completely extinct and poses no danger today.