Volcano that Existed 134 Million Years Ago is Discovered in Southern Brazil!
Evidence indicates that there was a volcano over the Brazilian territory 134 million years ago! The volcano was able to launch lava jets more than 1 km high.
Volcanic activity consists of the eruption of molten rock from the interior of the Earth, the magma, into the atmosphere. When it reaches the surface this boiling material is called lava, and in the process, volcanoes are formed, most of them conical in shape.
Recently, researchers from the Geological Survey of Brazil found rare millennial rocks that made it possible to discover a volcano that existed in Paraná 134 million years ago!
The millennial rocks, called pyroclastic, were in a mine region in Marilândia do Sul, located north of the state of Paraná. The geological structure was named Tapalam.
According to geologist Marcell Leonard Besser, from the Geological Survey of Brazil, the discovery of the rocks, formed from the magma of the volcano, reveals important information about the history of the planet. It is believed that the volcano was capable of launching lava jets more than a kilometer high, a distance greater than three stacked Eiffel towers. To give you an idea, a volcano erupted on the Reykjanes peninsula in Iceland and the jets reached 400 meters in height.
But how did the researchers find out the height of the jets? They came to the conclusion of the height of the Tapalam jets from the shape that the "shaves" of lava that solidified. Through the format it is possible to find out how the eruption was and make a reconstruction of the volcano and also the type of volcanic glass! Some, for example, are like a twisted cloth, others are like gym dumbbells, others have the shape of drops tears, and others have the shape of hair, thin and so tiny that they can be taken by the wind.
In dry magmatic fragmentation eruptions, slower cooling rates usually result in the formation of tachylite, a microlite-rich glass, while in phreatomagmatic eruptions sideromelane is more common, a characteristic of clean and quickly solidified volcanic glass.
Can the volcano become active again?
The localized rocks had never been found in the region, known in the scientific environment of the geological province Paraná-Etendeka, which comprises the south-central part of Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay. The formation of these areas that we know today was influenced by the eruptions of Tapalam.
But should the population be worried about the possibility of the volcano becoming active again? Besser guarantees that any activity of the volcano is unlikely, in no area of Brazil there are volcanoes that can go back into activity, with no chance of it happening!
According to the projections, the area where the volcano was was created during the existence of the Pangea, when all the continents of the planet still formed only a single continent.
Pyroclastic rocks are formed from explosions of volcanic vapor. Pyroclastic comes from the Greek, "piro" is fire and "clastic" is broken as if they were pieces.These pyroclastic rocks were found in a mine in South Marilândia that produces gravel for civil construction, however, the rock is not suitable for mining. In other words, making a construction with pyroclastic rock is not a good option, because it will not work, soon everything will fall.
In addition, the existence of Tapalam, a first pyroclastic deposit within the Paraná-Etendeka geological province, offers valuable information about volcanic history and the geodynamic processes associated with these extensive and high-volume eruptions that shaped the Earth's past. From this study it is possible to know the geology of Brazil, knowing where the ores and underground drinking water are, and thus, to develop strategies of economic exploitation and preservation.
News reference:
Besser, M.L. ; Licht, O.A.B. ; Vasconcellos, E.M.G. Well-preserved fallout basaltic tuff in central Paraná-Etendeka Large Igneous Province: pyroclastic evidence of high fire-fountain eruptions. Bulletin of Volcanology, v. 86, n. 6, 2024.