The Numbers
The largest
volcano
on Earth spans
120,000
square miles.
PHOTOGRAPHY BY JEFFREY COOLIDGE/GETTY
Though it nearly matches
New Mexico in area, the
geologic giant known as
Tamu Plateau can be easy to
overlook. That's because
it's inactive-and located
underwater, 1,000 miles east
of Japan. Evidence suggests
that its most recent spurt
of activity took place about
145 million years ago
and consisted of massive
eruptions, says Dr. William
Sager, a professor at the
University of Houston who
published a 2013 article
about the vast volcano in
Nature Geoscience journal.
Sager says Tamu Plateau
formed relatively swiftly:
"We're thinking 1 to 2 million
years as opposed to tens
of millions-that's short to
a geologist." Speedy: It's
in the eye of the beholder.
AUGUST 2014 SPIRIT
47
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Spirit Magazine - August 2014