presents ice core research that revealed high concentrations of sulfuric
acid in a sample dating back 75,000 years.
reviews sea core research that indicated a 5° or 6° C drop in
ocean temperatures 75,000 years ago.
profiles a scientist who began receiving chemically similar ash samples
from sites separated by more than 6,500 kilometers.
follows that same scientist's efforts to learn more about the ash and
reports on his call to researchers worldwide for ash samples.
tracks the subsequent detective hunt to try to identify the volcano from
which the ash came.
notes that while one researcher sent in a matching sample from the shores
of Lake Toba on Sumatra, there was no clear volcano suspect in the vicinity
from which the sample was collected.
reveals that the volcano was determined to be underneath Lake Toba and
established to be so massive that it belongs to a new class of volcanoes known
as supervolcanoes.
recreates how magma may have accumulated for a million years in the
Earth's crust underneath the lake before it erupted billions of tons of ash
into the atmosphere and formed a caldera that later filled with lake water.
addresses the question of whether the volcanic eruption could have pushed
the planet towards an ice age.
presents a NASA computer simulation showing how a supervolcanic eruption
could activate planetary cooling.
speculates on what might happen if another supervolcanic eruption were to
occur and notes that scientists are seeking to understand the life cycle of
supervolcanoes to better predict the next eruption.
NOVA
details how a group of scientists—each pursuing his own
research—pieced together the puzzle of one of the greatest natural
disasters ever to occur on Earth.
