Quote:
Originally Posted by Kal
Dormant.....hmmm, how much material is it capable of spewing out if it decides to become active again?
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Don't know under Taupo, but under Yellowstone, the magma chamber covers about 25000km^3. If that filled right up with potentially eruptive melt, then emptied itself...you can figure out what the damage would be.
The caldera would end up several thousand feet deep and 120km across, probably closer to a mile deep.
However, that scenario is unlikely to happen, simply because the magma chamber isn't completely hollow or molten. No magma chamber really is, especially large ones like that. But if the chamber did completely melt and filled with the right type of magma (sticky and highly gaseous), then we'd be in real trouble.