Supercritical water

[LadyPakal]

I thought this was interesting -

http://environment.newscientist.com/article/dn14456

'At over 3 kilometres beneath the surface, sitting atop what could be a huge bubble of magma, it's the hottest water ever found on Earth. The fluid is in a "supercritical" state that has never before been seen in nature.'

[0000]

I thought this was interesting -

http://environment.newscientist.com/article/dn14456

'At over 3 kilometres beneath the surface, sitting atop what could be a huge bubble of magma, it's the hottest water ever found on Earth. The fluid is in a "supercritical" state that has never before been seen in nature.'

An absolutely fascinating read there LP and I've now got several questions for Shetland Coastie *looks towards the volcanic thread*

[Guest Shetland Coastie]

Fascinating read and for me its the possibility of the large volume of magma that interests me in particular. Actually it seems to tie in with what other researchers have found on land at places like Lazufre and Uturuncu in South America. There they have found similar magmatic intrusions forming large sized caldera-type structures akin to those at Yellowstone and Long Valley. Yet again this formation seems to have occurred very rapidly and seems to have been triggered by eartquake activity (scientists believe the caldera formation at Lazufre was triggered by the Mag 8.1 Antofagasta quake in Chile in 1995.)

What has taken folk by surprise is the rapidity at which large volumes of magma can intrude into areas where there is a possibility of it erupting. One wonders if this how volcanic 'hotspots' are born (such as the one which feeds the volcanic activity of the Hawaiian islands currently erupting through Kilaeua or the one that sits underneath Reunion Island erupting through the Piton de la Fournaise volcano). Incidentally, the hotspot below Piton de la Fournaise is enormous and was believed to have been responsible for a mind-bogglingly large effusion of lava known as the Deccan Traps.

[0000]

Fascinating read and for me its the possibility of the large volume of magma that interests me in particular. Actually it seems to tie in with what other researchers have found on land at places like Lazufre and Uturuncu in South America. There they have found similar magmatic intrusions forming large sized caldera-type structures akin to those at Yellowstone and Long Valley. Yet again this formation seems to have occurred very rapidly and seems to have been triggered by eartquake activity (scientists believe the caldera formation at Lazufre was triggered by the Mag 8.1 Antofagasta quake in Chile in 1995.)

What has taken folk by surprise is the rapidity at which large volumes of magma can intrude into areas where there is a possibility of it erupting. One wonders if this how volcanic 'hotspots' are born (such as the one which feeds the volcanic activity of the Hawaiian islands currently erupting through Kilaeua or the one that sits underneath Reunion Island erupting through the Piton de la Fournaise volcano). Incidentally, the hotspot below Piton de la Fournaise is enormous and was believed to have been responsible for a mind-bogglingly large effusion of lava known as the Deccan Traps.

Thanks Bob, pre-emptive strike answering all my questions there(and a couple I hadn't thought of :lol: )