scientist have just uncovered one of the largest tsunami upshot in the geological record , and course , it start with an epic spattering . 73,000 years ago , the easterly wing of Cape Verde ’s Fogo volcano collapsed into the sea , kick up an 800 - foot wafture .
Think about that for a sec . That ’s two third base the height of the Empire State Building . If a mega - tsunami of that sizing struck a coastal city today , the consequences would be pretty apocalyptic . And such events are n’t outside the kingdom of theory .
“ Most of these fairly untried pelagic volcanoes — such as in the Azores and the Canary Islands and Hawaii — are incredibly high and steep , so the possible zip for a flop to chance again is there,”saidRicardo Ramalho , a co - author on a study describing the mega - tsunami that was published this week in Science Advances .
A researcher chiseling a sample of one of the monolithic Boulder found in Santiago Island ’s highlands . range of a function recognition : Ricardo Ramalho
grounds for the big splash came from Santiago Island in Cape Verde , where massive boulders and a trail of marine fossils prevarication strewn across a plateau as far as 2,000 animal foot inland and most 650 feet above sea stratum . The boulder are compose of marine tilt type that typically border the island ’s shoreline , and the only reasonable explanation for their inland location is that a jumbo wave lofted them up . According to the squad ’s calculations , a wave herculean enough to carry the largest boulder would have had to have been at least 800 feet high as it approached the coastline .
Using the density of helium-3 isotopes on the outside of the boulder , the researchers pinpointed the disaster to 73,000 eld ago .
Fogo stay one of the mankind ’s largest and most alive island vent . We can only hope its Clarence Day of shedding large chunks into the ocean are long over .
[ Read thefull scientific paperat Science Advances h / tColumbia Earth Institute News ]
Top image : geologist think that the eastern incline of Fogo volcano crashed into the ocean 73,000 class ago , leaving a jumbo scar . Image Credit : NASA
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