Is Germany’s West Eifel volcanic field awakening?

Totenmaar volcanic lake near Daun at the Eifel, Germany
Photo credit: Dan Hammer

Totenmaar ("Dead Sea") is one of three lakes located side by side. All three lakes are inactive volcanoes and are about 10,000-12,000 years old. Totenmaar measures about 525 x 375 meters (1722 x 1230 ft) and is 51 meters (167 ft) deep.

The lake looks so benign!
Who would have guessed how deep it is, or how potentially dangerous?

15 Feb 11 – KOBLENZ, Germany - Beneath the calm waters of Germany’s famous Laacher See lake lies a potential killer that could devastate a good portion of Europe, says this article on The Extinction Protocol.

"Today the region near Koblenz was shaken by a swarm of 7 earthquakes beginning with a 4.5 magnitude quake which erupted at a depth of 6 km."

We think this is an indication, the article warns, that Germany's super-volcano is awakening.

"Across the planet, the giant dormant volcanoes, one by one, are being stirred from their long and ancient slumber. Earth is on the precipice of major geological change."

"The last time the Laacher See super-volcano erupted 12,000 years ago, it deposited ash across much of Europe. On July 30, 2010, a 5.6 earthquake struck the region and that likely signaled an awakening of the giant sleeping caldera."

"Scientists believe that a new eruption could happen at any time."

http://theextinctionprotocol.wordpress.com/2011/02/15/is-germanys-super-volcano-awakening- we-think-so/
Thanks to Stephanie Relfe for this link

Is this something to worry about?

I don't think seven earthquakes signal an imminent eruption.

With that said, however, I do mention Germany's West Eifel volcanic fields in Not by Fire but by Ice (p. 200), because their eruption coincided with the onset of the abrupt Younger Dryas glaciation.

Scientists consider any relationship between the Younger Dryas and the eruption as purely speculative because eruptions of the size of the Laacher See usually cause only short-term global cooling.

However, if you put several such eruptions together - well, then you could have a problem.

And that was the case at the beginning of the Younger Dryas, when the Gothenburg magnetic reversal took place. That time period saw worldwide volcanism, said the renowned climatologist H. H. Lamb.

Most people probably don't think of Germany as being volcanically active, but the area does indeed contain ash cones, lava domes, and explosion craters.

Laacher See (Laach Lake in English) is a caldera lake and a potentially active volcano near the cities of Koblenz and Bonn, says this article in Wikipedia. Like the nearby 'Wehrer Kessel' volcano and Rieden volcano, the Laacher See volcano is part of the East Eifel volcanic field in the Eifel mountains.

During the Laacher See eruption, an estimated six cubic km (about 1.5 cu miles) of magma erupted, along with 16 cubic km (about 4 cu miles) of tephra. This massive eruption was thus larger than the colossal 1991 eruption of Mount Pinatubo in the Philippines, which spewed out some 10 cubic km (about 2.4 cu miles) of tephra.

Ash from the eruption can be found in the North Sea and throughout central Europe.

Although it has been quiet since the climactic eruption, says this science blog (below), "the caldera should still be considered potentially active as CO2 seeps exist in some parts of the lake, suggesting that there is still magma degassing under the lake. In fact, the CO2 can be a hazard, supposedly killing some Medieval monks in their sleep."

This blog contains some impressive photos:
http://scienceblogs.com/eruptions/2010/02/
laacher_see_the_caldera_in_the.php

THE NEXT ICE AGE - NOW!