Revealed, Mystery Key Impact Powerful Eruption of Mount Toba

Largest volcanic eruption on Earth in the past two million years occurred in Indonesia, precisely 74,000 years ago: Mount Toba.

New findings about the colossal eruption obtained the researchers from the Niels Bohr Institute. Researchers associate it with the massive eruption of global climate and its effect on early humans. The results are published in the scientific journal, Climate of the Past.

What happens when it is far more powerful than the eruption of the present, even compared to Tambora or Krakatau though. Amok Toba leaving crater measuring 50 kilometers, which is now a lake Toba.

Kala erupted, spewing Mount Toba 2500 cubic kilometers of lava. Equivalent of twice the volume of Mount Everest. 5,000 times more terrible eruption of Mount St Helens eruption. Helens in 1980 in the United States.

The cloud of volcanic ash and sulfuric acid sprayed into the atmosphere, trapped in Earth's stratosphere, from where it spread to the whole world, in the northern and southern hemisphere. Then down to earth in the form of acid rain.

"We now have trace of acid rain in the ice sheets in Greenland and Antarctica," said scientist Anders Svensson of the Centre for Ice and Climate, Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen. The findings prove that the alleged scientists Toba effects to both regions.

As quoted by LiveScience, ice cores provide ample evidence of how the Earth's climate changed drastically over the years after the eruption. Previously, there was a lot of speculation how large volcanic eruptions can influence climate. One of them, a giant cloud contains sulfur particles thrown into the stratosphere will act like a blanket, which protects the earth from solar radiation. Thus, this human planet could be colder.

The question is, how much and how long? Modelling done by the experts found that the massive eruption of the volcano could lower global temperatures by 10 degrees for several decades.

However, ice core expert found recently demonstrated that cooling the short and inconsistent across the world

"In the temperature curve from ice cores, we can find no global cooling caused by the eruption of Toba. Was cooling and massive fluctuations in global temperatures in the northern hemisphere. However, in the southern hemisphere it is warmer. Thus, global cooling only occurs within short, "says Anders Svensson.

The consequences for human

However, the eruption of Toba have major consequences for nature, the environment, and the people who live in Asia at that time, in which a layer of ash from the eruption was found.

The Toba eruption occurred at a defining moment in human history, around the time when our ancestors, Homo sapiens did a mass exodus, from Africa to Asia. The researchers believe it's true, when people lived as far as 2000 kilometers east of India influenced the eruption, which raged for weeks.

However, some archaeologists opposed the idea of ​​the fatal consequences of the eruption of Toba on the people living in Asia affected by the eruption. Speculation ranges from no effect at all on people's lives at that time to the alleged destruction of the population in a large area.
There was no way to confirm it, because, the material from that period too old for her age known carbon-14 method. Therefore, the Toba ash layer becomes an important reference.

"The new location is right Toba eruption on the ice core will put archaeological findings in the context of climate, which helps explain the critical period in human history."