| UPDATED: 09:20, Thu, Mar 18, 2021
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Volcano eruptions happen almost once every four days across the entire world, with up to 80 usually record in any given year. But eruptions on Earth would look entirely different to those on other planets or asteroids, scientists have revealed, because not all planets are made entirely of rock.
The Yellowstone caldera was formed after three large erupts over the last three million years.
These were the Huckleberry Ridge eruption 2.1 million years ago, the Mesa Falls eruption 1.3 million years ago and the Lava Creek eruption approximately 630,000 years ago.
The volcano is located below Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming, US, and the area is constantly monitored by the United States Geological Survey for signs that another major event could occur.
Mr Oppenheimer went into great detail about the devastating impact supereruptions have and why this would prove disastrous for the US if the supervolcano erupted.
Mr Oppenheimer said: A supereruption is defined very roughly as an event that ejects hundreds or thousands of cubic kilometres of magma.
MOUNT Etna burst into life on February 16, shooting lava up to 700 metres into the sky. The volcano has continued to erupt, with the phenomenon seen from satellites in space.
Volcano super eruption warning: (Image: GETTY) Yellowstone does get a lot of popular attention, ever since the BBC did a docudrama on it 20 years ago. It even gave volcanologists the term supervolcano which we bandy about now. In terms of future threats, I think one of the lessons we have learnt over the last decade is that the next really big eruption is probably going to happen somewhere we weren t even looking.
Mr Oppenheimer then gave examples of volcanic eruptions that stunned the scientific community.
Volcano super eruption warning: Erta Ale volcano in Ethiopia (Image: GETTY)
Yellowstone volcano: Expert debunks theory of overdue eruption
Antarctic volcano: Earth s magnetic field is considered crucial to sustaining life on our planet (Image: Getty)
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This is best understood as the magnetic field resulting from a bar magnet centred within Earth and aligned along its rotational axis.
American Geophysical Union researchers led by Dr Hannah Asefaw have now presented proof the GAD approximation might not represent the paleomagnetic field’s over the past five million years as well as it represents its directions.
Clues to the direction and intensity of the paleomagnetic field at a given moment in Earth s history can be preserved in magnetic grains in rocks formed at that time.