Skip to main content

Forget Fireworks-The Biggest Volcanoes on Earth!

You’re absolutely right. We should all be very afraid that a large meteorite is headed on a collision course with Earth and will cause catastrophic damage not just to the blue planet, but to the human race as we know it.  Aren’t you glad you pulled all of your money out of the bank back in December 1999? You were one of the lucky few to suffer the inconvenient and non-existent effects of the Y2K crisis!
volcano magma/lava
Photo By C. Heliker (US Geological Survey) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

Well, at least you’re paying attention to what’s going on around you.  You probably already know that at any point in time there are around 20 volcanoes erupting at any point in time, including those safely buried at the depths of our oceans shifting the plates of our Earth around. 
For eons volcanoes have been a natural source of obsession for us little people around the globe; in spiritual offerings, as a photographers fanatical and fatal subject, for scientists, mountain climbers and especially adrenaline junkies. The unpredictable and explosive nature of volcanoes perhaps remind us of certain aspects of ourselves, hence a red face (magma) when one is about to blow (erupt) their lid.

The 1997 movie “Dante’s Peak” described a dormant volcano coming back to life, and this year’s 3-D epic “Pompeii” which chronicles the Mount Vesuvius eruption of 79 AD (it’s last eruption was actually in 1944during World War II) proves that we are all still infatuated and intimidated by these prehistoric mountainous and gaseous beasts.
By Sm313 at en.wikipedia [Public domain], from Wikimedia Commons


Most people can name a few volcanoes or have been lucky enough to get close or even climb one (including myself); Mount Saint Helens, Mt. Etna, Mauno Loa, Mt. Fugi, see-you’ve heard of all of those! Yet it’s actually surprising that many people have never heard of any of the volcanoes that make the “Biggest Volcanoes on Earth” top ten list. Starting with the tallest to smallest, test your knowledge and see if you’ve heard of, can pronounce, or already knew where geographically the Biggest Volcanoes on Earth are. 


Unofficially (and not numerically listed) leading the list of is the 2013 discovery of what is believed to be the worlds largest volcano called Tamu Mastif.  There’s no need to worry about this hidden sleeper, since even the very tippy top of the inactive volcano is buried 6,500 feet beneath the ocean. Located approximately 1,000 miles off the Japanese coastline in an area of the Pacific known as Shatsky Rise.

Parque Nacional Llullaillaco, NASA
Photo by NASA from Earths Observatory

1.Nevado Ojos del Salado 22,595 ft/6887m location: Chile/Argentina

Also part of this range is #3 Tipas 21,850 ft/6,660 m Argentina Cerro Cazadero 


Photo By Gerhard Haubold (Own work) GFDL or CC-BY-SA-3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

2. Llullailaco 22,110 6,729 m location: Argentina/Chile

Llullaillaco is a stratovolcano on top of an older stratovolcano. NASA reports that the last know eruption based on historical archives occurred in 1877 By far the best known archaeological site on this list after the amazing discovery in 1999 of three mummified children were unearthed. Due to the particularly dry and arid climate of the Atacama Desert where Llullailaco looms, and the high altitude of 6,739 meters (22,109 feet) the mummies and artifacts found buried with them were distinctly frozen in time and are considered the best mummified remains ever discovered. The pristine preserved remains of the children indicate that they were likely all Incan children. 


3. Incahuasi 21,722 ft/6,621 m location: Argentina/Chile

Photo By ch images (originally posted to Flickr as [1]) [CC-BY-2.0], via Wikimedia Commons-Icahuasi

4. Nevado Sajama 21,463 ft/6,542 m location: Bolivia (highest peak in Bolivia)

Photo By Canopus24 (Own work) [GFDL ) or CC-BY-SA-3.0-2.5-2.0-1.0], via Wikimedia Commons-Nevado Sajama

5. Cerro El Condor 21,430ft/6,532 m location:Argentina

Photo  by USGS-Cerro el Condor

6. Coropuna 20,922 ft/6,377 m location: Peru

Photo By Alexson Scheppa Peisino(AlexSP) (Own work) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons-Coropuna

7. Parinacota 20,827ft/6,348m location: Boliva/Chile

Photo By Nilsf (Own work) [CC-BY-SA-3.0], via Wikimedia Commons-Parinacota

8. Ampato 20,630ft/6,288m location : Peru

Photo USGS, Public Domain, Pahoeoe_fountain_sharpen.jpg

9. Chimborazo 20,561ft/6,267m location: Ecuador 

Photo Philippe Lavoie [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons-Chimborazo

10. Pular 20,449ft/6,233m location Chile

Photo John [CC-BY-SA-2.0 ], via Wikimedia Commons
Sarychev Peak, June 12, 2009 Matua Island

Now that you've made it around the world in 11 volcanoes (and through this article), congratulations! You can proudly challenge anyone who tells you that they already know the Biggest Volcano on Earth, the truth is -they are likely wrong and will chose the most familiar one (and that is easiest to pronounce). 

Did you know?

There are at least 1,500 "active" volcanoes on Earth, According to the USGS (not counting the ones beneath the ocean), and of those only 500 have erupted in all time (since we can trace back historically). The area known as the "Ring of Fire" is the site of the most active and violent volcanic activity on our serene blue planet.  




Forget Fireworks-The Biggest Volcanoes on Earth!
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

10 Types of Water & More..

10 Types of Water and More Diluted Truths Water you talkin’ about? Water is of course one of the most basic of life substances on planet Earth. It is the tell tale "sign of life" that astronomers seek evidence of beyond our blue planet. While the significance of water is common knowledge you may be surprised to learn that many people don’t know what 'distilled water' is, or the difference between hard and soft water even. Don't you think we should all know the elementary basics about water? Not just for our own survival but also to debunk or sink all of the diluted truths that are not so crystal clear or don't hold water. 10 Types of Water 1.De-ionized De-ionized water is not exactly ion free , as one may assume. The process of de-ionizing by physicists is called "ion exchanging", whereby the water is passed through a specific resin to eliminate “most anions and cations”. Those are then replaced by combinations of Hydrogen and Oxygen that ...
Post a Comment
Read more

One of a kind of...

I do not have a problem with being unique, or should I say not being unique. I mean, I suspect beyond a hunch that I am exactly like many people-most people even-but not all people in more than a handful of ways. I like the uniqueness of others. I am not unique though. I am like many people that are as just different as I am. “I think there’s just one kind of folks. Folks.” Harper Lee Americans love sugar, we even coat our fondest words with it. And fat, we love to chew our fat too. It seems most of us will eat whatever is placed in front of us. I lived in Texas briefly and many, many men (and a few women) called me ‘Sugar’ or ‘Hon’ or ‘Doll’, I only took personal offense with ‘Sugar’ and actually adopted the habit of saying ‘Hon’. Not many people say ‘Hon’ in California, I guess that’s different. Californians don’t actually say ‘DUDE’, not all Californians are actors, athletes, hippies or hobos although we do have these citizens. Most Californians say, ‘it’s all good’ or ‘no wor...
Post a Comment
Read more

You can’t handle social media

The internet was supposed to make us smarter. Google thinks that’s one of Alphabets main jobs, or they advertise themselves as Information Providers anyway. It’s not working. We are either getting righteously naive or socially inept, or both.  Way back in the early 2000’s, at the peak of my world wide connected optimism about this new democratic, humanitarian, freedom of information age, I taught my toddler how to ‘surf’ and ‘use a mouse’-now that terminology even dates him. On a positive note, he actually did turn out to be really smart. That may be because the chicken came before Google or if you asked the nurses at the hippie hospital he was born in, they would say it was the breastfeeding-but I have proof that’s not it. And that is just it-yes, I said it’s not it, but it is. The amount of misinformation that lingers and spreads, the lies that are let live-it’s not any better with the internet-or smart phones. Proof? Ok, my daughter. As though needed more to be said, still, ...
Post a Comment
Read more