New findings date Los Chocoyos supereruption to 79,500 years ago, and show Earth bounced back within decades

An international team of Earth and life scientists, hydrologists, chemists, and physicists, has found evidence showing that the Los Chocoyos supereruption occurred approximately 79,500 years ago and that the planet bounced back from its chilling effects within decades.

In their paper published in the journal Communications Earth & Environment, the group describes how they studied ice core samples obtained from places in Greenland and Antarctica to learn more about the global impact of the ancient volcanic eruption.

Prior evidence has shown that a massive eruption occurred in what is now Guatemala’s Atitlán volcanic system tens of thousands of years ago, spewing ash far into the atmosphere. So much ash was emitted, it has been thought, that it led to an ice age. Today, the eruption is known as the Los Chocoyos supereruption.

The research team wanted to know more about the global impact of the eruption, so they ventured to Greenland and Antarctica to obtain ice cores that they knew would reveal atmospheric conditions at the time of the eruption, and in the years that came after.

In studying the layers of material in the ice cores, the researchers were able to calculate that the eruption had occurred approximately 79,500 years ago—that was when ash from the volcano reached the places where the ice cores came from. They also noted that the eruption had been catastrophic—the amount of ash emitted had caused global changes, such as cooling and loss of sunlight. But they also found that the ash cleared, allowing the planet to return to its former condition in just a couple of decades, which was not long enough to kick off an ice age.

The researchers claim that their work dramatically changes the understanding of what occurred during and after the Los Chocoyos supereruption and also calls into question theories that suggest future supereruptions could kick off a new ice age, possibly killing off the human race. The team plans to continue their research to look at the impacts of other supereruptors in the distant past to help to better predict the impact of future occurrences.

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