A supervolcano in Utah? It's 30 times larger than Yellowstone

Yellowstone's famous caldera, which last went off more than 640,000 years ago, can lay claim as North America's most well-known supervolcano. But it isn't the continent's largest — a more ancient one found near the small southwestern Utah town of Enterprise, was about 30 times bigger. Aspects of the geological landscape that Southern Utah is famous for – Pine Mountain, Veyo volcano and lava flows – come from volcanic activity in the area, all stemming from the supervolcano "Wah Wah Springs." But Wah Wah Springs week-long explosion happened a long time ago. Like 30 million years ago. Should you be concerned about supervolcanoes and volcanic activity in this part of the United States? Wah Wah Springs released 30 times more ash and debris than the infamous Yellowstone explosion though, Smith said. Compared to more recent volcanic events, it was 5,000 times larger than the eruption at Mount St. Helen's in 1980. Brigham Young University researchers found out about Wah Wah Springs only in 2013. Erosion can make supervolcanoes hard to find, but by discovering and measuring lava flows in the region, researchers were able to map out Wah Wah Springs on the border of Utah and Nevada, near Enterprise...MORE