An Iranian volcano appears to have woken up -- 700,000 years after its last eruption [View all]
A volcano in southern Iran thought to have been extinct for some 710,000 years has stirred.
New research published Oct. 7 in the journal Geophysical Research Letters finds that an area of ground near the Taftan volcano's summit rose 3.5 inches (9 centimeters) over 10 months between July 2023 and May 2024. The uplift has not yet receded, suggesting a buildup of gas pressure below the volcano's surface.
The findings reveal the need for closer monitoring of the volcano, which hasn't been considered a risk to people before, said study senior author Pablo González, a volcanologist at the Institute of Natural Products and Agrobiology, a research center of the Spanish National Research Council (IPNA-CSIC). Volcanoes are considered extinct if they haven't erupted in the Holocone era, which started 11,700 years ago. Given its recent activity, González said, Taftan might be more accurately described as dormant.
"It has to release somehow in the future, either violently or more quietly," González told Live Science. There is no reason to fear an imminent eruption, he said, but the volcano should be more closely monitored.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/iranian-volcano-appears-woken-700-165013533.html
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