-
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.
