If you were lucky 74,000 years ago, you would have survived Toba superruption, one of the biggest catastrophic events that the Earth has seen over the last 2.5 million years.
Although the volcano is in present -day Indonesia, living organisms around the world have been influenced. As an archaeologist specialized in the study of past volcanic eruptions, I often think about how incredible that people survived this disappearance level event, which was more than 10,000 times larger than 1980. St. Helens Mountain eruption.
Toba’s superfabrication threw 672 cubic miles (2,800 km³) volcanic ash to the stratosphere, making a giant crater, about 1000 football fields (62 x 18 miles or 100 x 30 km). This eruption would make a black sky blocking most of the sun’s light, which can lead to global cooling for many years. Closer to the volcano, acid rain would be contaminated with water supply and thick ash layers would be blouse and vegetation.
With all these odds stacked Homo sapiens As a species, how did we survive to combine history today?
Survival in ashes
Human populations living close to Toba volcano were probably completely destroyed. The question of people in other parts of the world was the question that scientists are still investigating.
The hypothesis of Toba’s disaster for many years was one famous school of thinking. It suggests that Toba’s superiority caused a global cooling event that lasted up to six years. Its effect, based on the hypothesis, forced the size of the human population to strike less than 10,000 individuals living on Earth.
This scenario is confirmed by the genetic evidence found today in the genomes of living people. Our DNA shows that modern people are spreading in separate regions about 100,000 years ago, and then soon after what scientists call a genetic barrier: an event, such as a natural disaster or an outbreak of illness, which causes a major decrease in population. These disasters drastically reduce genetic diversity in the group.
Whether this obvious decrease in the size of the human population is due to Toba superrup or whether any other factor is highly discussed. As scientists collect more data from climate, environment and archaeological records, we can begin to understand what conditions were the most important in the survival of people.
How to investigate the effect of super -use
To combine what happened 74,000 years ago, scientists have one direct line of evidence they can use: rock and ash, discarded from the volcanic eruption itself. This material is called Tefra. Scientists can trace the layers of Tefra through the landscape both visually and chemically.
Volcanic glass tin, taken with a microscope that uses electrons instead of light. The glass here is very small-50-60 microns, about the diameter of the human hair-and looks light in color. It seems to contain holes formed from the air bubbles during the eruption. Jayde N. Hirniak
Microscopic volcanic glass, called cryptophra, travels the farthest, making it important to understand the true extent of eruption. Since the cryptephra is not visible to the naked eye, it can be really difficult to identify. Researchers, such as me, carefully separated small glass cloths, sifting through dirt and using a micromanipulator – a tool that can pick up and move microscopic grains. This process can feel like finding a needle in a haystack and can take months on one website.
Each volcanic eruption has a unique chemistry that scientists can use to determine which eruption has a certain example of volcanic substance. For example, Tephra may contain more iron from one eruption compared to Tefra from another eruption. With this knowledge, we can begin to understand how big the eruptions of the past were and what they directly influenced.
When I work outdoors, I am looking for a cryptophros that settled in archaeological places – places with traces of past human activities such as tools, art or even buried remains. I collect examples from the excavated areas of the area and return them to the laboratory to pull the microscopic volcanic glass out of the dirt. Then I chemically analyze the glass to find out the volcanic fingerprint.
Cryptofra examples of authors in an archaeological place. Samples are collected in a continuous column along the exposed stratigraphic part. Jayde N. Hirniak
But even if I find that a certain example of an archaeological place is from Toba’s superrup, what does it reveal about whether people have survived the explosion?
When we set a layer of tefra or cryptophra, the next step is to take a close look at what is preserved in the archaeological post before and after this eruption. In some cases, people change their behavior after eruption, such as using new stone tool technology or eating something else. Sometimes people even give up the site without leaving a trace of human activity after a catastrophic event.
However, when investigating volcanic sediment, only one piece of puzzle fills in archaeological locations. Environment and climate records retain information on how local vegetation or global temperature has changed during the eruption. This information helps scientists understand why people have made changes.
What does archaeological evidence reveal?
Given the size and intensity of Toba superrup, it almost seems inevitable that people around the world are extremely affected. However, most archaeological sites tell the story of resistance.
In places like South Africa, people not only survived this catastrophic event, but also flourished. In an archaeological place, 5-6 Pinnacle Point, evidence of cryptophros from Toba shows that people took place before, during and after the eruption. In fact, human activity increased and new technological innovations soon appeared, showing people’s applicability.
This magical result was not limited to South Africa. Similar evidence is also preserved in the archaeological location at the Shinfa-Metema 1 in the Ethiopian lowlands, where the cryptophra of Toba was in layers that also retain human activity.
The people who were here adapted to changes in the local environment, after seasonal rivers and fishing in small, shallow water holes in the long dry season. Around the time the superfabrication of Toba, the people of the region also applied the arrogen technology. This behavioral flexibility allowed people to survive intense dry conditions and other potential effects of Toba superrup.
Over the years, archaeologists have found similar results in many other places in Indonesia, India and China. When the evidence accumulates, people seem to have been able to survive and continue to be productive after Toba has blown off her pile. This shows that this eruption may not have been the main cause of the population, initially offered in the hypothesis of Toba disaster.
Although Toba may not help scientists understand what has been reduced to 10,000 people from ancient people’s populations, it helps us to understand how people have adapted to catastrophic events in the past and what it means for our future.
What can a future disaster mean?
Good news is that we are much more prepared now than people were 74,000 years ago, and even then they could adapt and find new solutions after devastating events. Today, programs such as USGS volcanic hazards and the global volcanism program focus on preparing for active volcanoes using a variety of methods. In fact, you can check what volcanoes are currently erupting at any time.
In addition to increased preparation, people are described by our adaptation to almost any condition, even cataclysmal events. While studying the impact of volcanic eruptions in an archaeological recording, we can better understand the conditions for the survival of people in the past and apply these lessons for the future.
This article has been published from a conversation, non -profit, independent news organizations that provide you with facts and reliable analysis to help you give meaning to our complex world. Wrote it: Jayde N. Hirniak, Arizona State University
Read more:
Jayde N. Hirniak received funding from the Hyde Foundation Foundation, the Institute of Human Origin, the American Society of Geological Society, the Society of Archaeological Sciences and the Caves Research Foundation related to this topic. This work also includes cooperation between Arizona State University and Nevada Las Vegas University.