A Volcano Odyssey - Full Documentary

[Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] at its creation the earth stored considerable amounts of energy beneath its crust since that time this excess heat has tried to escape this contained fourth is partly evacuated by incredible volcanic events called hot spots only now are we starting to understand them they occur when the mantle generates enormous plumes of hot material that rises towards the crust here volcanic activity can last several millions of years they can appear anywhere on earth and can create mountains Islands archipelagos even entire countries they change the global landscape they also have been major players in the evolution of life ever since it appeared on earth the gases ash and lava that emerge have caused the extinction of countless species to understand the power and impact that these hotspots can have we have to go back in time and trace the life of just one of them the latest one to have radically changed the face of the planet left its gigantic footprint in Northwest India this hot spot began by creating the mountains of Mahabaleshwar that rise above a very old story this large igneous province is 65 million years old the entire range was created from a single continuous series of eruptions these multiple layers of lava are stacked more than half a mile thick and extend over a surface area ten times the size of England eroded by time the sheer cliffs that surround the canyons have become open books to the past age one was written 65 million years ago although the vegetation of the time may have resembled our Woodlands the animal life was wildly different [Applause] dinosaurs and the other giant reptiles had already reigned supreme over the earth for 200 million years their dominance was total and on a pole the first mammals were unable to compete with these enormous creatures dinosaurs and other giant reptiles dominated all of the planets ecosystems they had become specialists each in its own field and in its own environment some had become so huge after so many years of dominance that they had to eat vast quantities of food every day back then resources seemed unlimited the earth resembled a Garden of Eden no outward sign were told their abrupt dramatic end [Music] a huge meteorite crashing into the sea off the coast of Mexico was long thought to be the only disaster responsible for the extinction of the dinosaurs the impact did indeed kill everything nearby but on its own this meteorite would not have wiped out the entire dinosaur population [Music] [Music] the flame survivors were in fact heading for a certain death for we know today that in this same period a second Cataclysm was about to rage on the other side of the planet [Music] sixty-five million years ago India was an enormous island that had just broken off from Africa it became a continent in its own right and began to drift north [Music] and that was when a major event was going to poison the atmosphere huge volumes of magma had just started to pierce the Earth's crust and spread over the surface the earth had opened up suddenly to free this excess energy the dinosaurs had finally met their match a hot spot it is difficult to envision such a stupendous event because no human being has ever witnessed a disaster of this scale imagine fountains of lava lined up for miles on end and terrible eruptions occurring one after another endlessly for probably millions of years India was split open and buried under thick layers of igneous rock black basaltic mountains rose high into the air in India yet it was the entire planet that was affected by the consequences of this tragedy the colossal amount of magma freed onto the ground from the hot spot released a deadly chemical cocktail into the atmosphere [Music] [Music] the eruptions lasted for so long that it is hard to know exactly how events evolved but we do know that the global climatic patterns were totally disrupted find volcanic material spread out from the ash plumes and into the great air streams they rapidly formed an opaque veil plunging the earth into an age of darkness [Music] over time the sulfurous gases reaching the upper atmosphere also had serious consequences scattered around the globe they absorbed and reflected sunlight for thousands of years the sky was tinted red by the sulphur which partially deprived our planet of most of its sunlight [Music] what's more the steam at carbon dioxide emitted from the volcanoes are greenhouse gases and once in the atmosphere they retain the sun's heat and increase the temperature so the Earth's climatic cycles were completely destabilized for several million years the seasons vanished replaced by periods of extreme drought alternating with endless devastating rain sulfur changed water drops into a lethal poison [Music] [Music] acid rain poured from the sky burning those that had managed to survive till then disaster piled upon disaster [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] together with the trillion ton meteorite the hotspot swept the world clean of the Giants debate may still be raging but the major role played by such an eruption cannot be denied [Music] the dinosaur episode was however just a start for the hot spot had only just been born it was going to continue to rage as an important page of history was being turned new life was to rise from the ashes [Music] the creature is able to adapt to the cataclysms of the cretaceous period then had free rein to prosper the volcano scenario is irrefutable the destruction had caused generated a new start after the disappearance of the dinosaurs India continued to drift northwards while the hotspot remained fixed in the mantle it let the Earth's crust pass by overhead so as India moved closer to Asia the hotspot remained under the sea [Music] [Music] beneath the Indian Ocean it continued to transform the world and toy with life on earth two and a half miles under the surface where nothing seemed able to live the heat of the hot spot worked wonders lying beneath the deep sea plane down in darkness the invisible pocket of magma heated the Glacial waters and began to building communities of life no sunlight reaches this far down the pressure is pre mended and toxic chemicals burst from the boiling water but here sulphur fuels life bacteria developed in close proximity to burning vents able to survive in water at almost 600 degrees Fahrenheit deprived of the energy of light the bacteria transformed sulfur into edible organic matter thus becoming the first link in a new food chain the larvae and eggs of these deepwater organisms drifted in the great currents that swept along the bottom of the planet's oceans which is how they colonized these very remote oases they moved from one hydrothermal vent to another chance encounters meant that species landed in new clusters new gardens of Eden heated by the underground magma as extreme and improbable as it may seem an environment created by the hot spot was conducive to creating life these organisms are said to be species surviving from ancient geological times these underwater communities are only one stage in the hot spots Odyssey but they echo a much older story which unfolded long before the disappearance of the giant reptiles before the first dinosaurs before the first animals before the first drop of life underwater volcanoes already existed deep at the bottom of a primitive ocean at the time showers of meteorites were constantly introducing new matter into the sterile soup [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] although the earth was still barren fragments of celestial bodies provided a batch of new molecule that dispersed throughout the ocean the deep-lying volcanic chimneys probably acted as large underwater incubators a considerable energy they gave off probably was key to the combination of various elements that eventually engendered an unlikely molecule a self-replicating Marvel DNA [Music] [Music] and so life began emerging from the volcanic bellows this miraculous molecule launched the long process of evolution [Music] [Music] [Music] the first primitive organisms were able to thrive diversify and become more complex we all descend from this single molecule inherited from the same common ancestor [Music] [Music] bizarre creatures living in constant darkness near the hot spot can tell us part of the story [Music] they continually enact a universal play one in which nature constantly seeks novelty in order to adapt and the depths become the arena of an endless game of innovation [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] or 3 billion years life thrashed around in the water it underwent enormous changes surviving the ordeals of time finding new strategies and continuing down the long evolutionary road like its ancestors the young hotspot in the Indian Ocean supports swarming Citadel's of life whose fate is precarious for these oases rest upon the tip of a slumbering volcano the hotspot is still producing magma which tries to force its way out through the crust a volcanic process once again underway destroying an environment and building a new one it starts its long ascent to the surface the hotspot pierces the Earth's crust and unleashes its power nothing can stop it while the surface of the ocean is still two miles up the volcano spews out enough lava to create a first platform this becomes the foundation of an undersea mountain [Music] as it rises the volcano's mood shifts the closer it is to the surface the less pressure there is leading to a greater magnitude in the explosions [Music] it stains the water with sulfur when the erupting magma comes into direct contact with the body of water the very large contrast in temperature causes both the water and the magma to explode miles offshore the hot spot creates an island [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Music] once an island emerges from the water a new battle starts between land and sea the power of the waves collides against the ramparts of the volcano its foundation amplifies the swell and its roof can be wiped out by a single set of way the new Ireland can crumble and be dispersed in the ocean it can vanish several time drowned by storms before establishing a headland a pinnacle or a peninsula that can withstand the pounding of the sea yet the magma chamber supplying the hot spot seems inexhaustible that is its strength as long as the magma is there to feed the volcano the island will last and new virgin land will be available to pioneers rain wind and Sun will bring new energy and present new challenges to the first island moss and lichen survive on water and minerals that they extract from lava flows [Music] [Music] volcanoes take and give what was once a force of destruction becomes food [Music] [Music] [Music] with the first wind-borne spores the island starts to fill out and welcomes its first visitor birds are the direct descendants of the dinosaurs no one can say how they're survived but their feathers surely help them to cope with climate changes and cataclysms in fact feathers are key to the survival and the dissemination of birds and even of plants besides providing insulation they gave birds a chance to reach safe havens some found shelter on volcanic islands carrying seeds in their plumage and cuts isolated for centuries remote islands create endemic species therefore most volcanic hotspots have become biodiversity hotspot each hotspot has its own food chain with the absence of predators some seabirds may lay their eggs directly on the ground colonies grow rapidly but generous volcano gives them lodging and food push towards the foundations of the volcano oceanic currents and their rich nutrients bring organic flotsam in the shallows such currents and sunlight fuel another thriving community some of the ocean Wanderers try to latch on to the recently cooled basalt and form colonies these limestone plates are the first corals colonies of genetically identical spineless animals each animal creates a skeleton of calcium carbonate thus over generations their colonies form a gigantic skeleton most of these animals rely on microalgae therefore on sunlight corals have been forming colonies for over 500 million years today some shelter over 4000 animal species most of them drifted around the open ocean before settling here the Sun is not the only energy source involved in building this marvelous complex another phenomenon makes it possible to go even further in a diversity that gravitates around the volcano or this coral reef is only a crown of thorns attached to the mountain there is a two-and-a-half mile void between the surface and the bottom the hotspot has transformed the underwater landscape the mountain it has built forms a wall that pushes upwelling currents along its slopes these currents are loaded with nutrients minerals and plankton same is around deep water chimneys they draw in larger predators the aptly named apex predators [Music] the island volcano has become a meeting place and a rallying point a magnet for many ocean water [Music] [Music] it welcomes castaways from distant shores but the welcoming party could turn lethal as it pierces the Earth's crust magma from the hotspot meets various rocks and melts them if these rocks are rich in silica and water the magma could be tremendously viscous therefore explosive these so called Strombolian eruptions named after the italian volcano Stromboli are of little volume however they can be very long-lasting and create havoc explosions are driven by the release of dissolved gases typically water but also carbon dioxide at regular intervals they throw ash cinder lapilli and lava bombs into the air and for miles around in one of the stranger twists of natural selection somewhere on these island is a creature which actually uses volcanoes to give life for this strange prehistoric like bird the mega pod the eruption is like a call to commune with the ashes these fat black chickens use the volcano as a natural incubator they have to be choosy for the temperature needs to stay around body heat so they check it not with the large feet for which they're named mega pod but with a gland in their throat each hen then places an enormous egg in the hole and pays it no more attention temperature permitting some of these birds simply place their eggs on top of the ash until the arrival of new predators [Music] [Music] [Music] these eggs are made up of 70% yolk over twice the proportion of yolk found in a domestic hens eggs to give the chick a good quick start [Music] such opportunistic reptiles already thrived among dinosaurs they have probably survived because they were able to adapt their diet to the existing resources magma from hot spots is generally very fluid and flows great distances from the vent therefore creating large islands named shield volcanoes for their broad shield like profile they grow so large that some of their slopes are protected from the devastating eruptions their soil is very rich in minerals enabling plants to thrive [Music] [Music] [Music] among trees the competition is fierce their vertical race for height and light creates a dense jungle [Music] one of the island settlers would play a key role in regenerating and maintaining this lush forest bats the only mammals able to colonize in Ireland these island hoppers usually transform their new homes as they digest the sieves of fruits they scatter them randomly in flight the spectacular evolutionary success of tropical flowering plants over the past 135 million years can be attributed to their reliance on animals rather than on the wind for pollination and seed dispersal as the volcano grows its lava opens new vents and cones and sculpts new galleries these offer a perfect habitat for cousins of the fruit bat lava flows carved out deep tunnels in the heart of the island the roofs of melted basalt bear witness to the heat that once existed here these networks of caves can stretch for miles a refuge for the underworld inhabitants would thrive in total darkness [Music] a key element in the regeneration of the forest is the sheer number of these bats they usually gather each evening in one of the largest underground chamber mysteriously they all circle counterclockwise this math gathering is simply their collective dinner-bell [Music] [Music] on the menu flowers and their nectar more than 300 species of tropical plants rely on bats for pollination [Music] [Music] with the help of bats birds and wind plants are able to climb up the slopes of the volcano even if the island created by a hot spot is immense the forest could grow with it right up to the summit [Music] the oceanic I altitude humidity helps the forest grow stronger and the hot spots island is finally crowned by a tropical humid jungle but such volcanic islands lack enough time to produce sufficient organic soil to absorb all this water the rain that falls on the summit streams over volcanic rock it penetrates the cracks and flows down the slopes the water cycle on a volcanic island is both short and destructive it constantly erodes the land and shapes new landscapes [Music] [Applause] [Music] when it falls upon a young island water although a source of life is a two-edged sword each rainfall acts like a scalpel that cuts deep into the rock tropical storms open deep swaths in the heart of the island [Music] water gives and takes it feeds plants but destroys their support terraces over the ocean are swept away and things come full circle the lava that once built an island is now washed back into the sea [Music] old cradles are shaped by water and time but also by gravity when igneous rocks stopped filling the underground magma chamber of a volcano the floor collapses under its own weight and creates a gigantic cauldron called a caldera the geological life of the island is a rapid succession of full and empty chambers therefore its land is now a veritable maze of peaks vents and canyons today this geologically active Island as a name reunion it is only three million years old yet it already reaches nearly 10,000 feet above sea level it's the highest peak in the Indian Ocean its foundations on the ocean seabed are 13,000 feet deep which makes it a twenty-three thousand foot mountain it is still fuelled by its hot spot its youngest crater is called the petal dura Funes with it the island keeps on changing and growing reunion island is the latest addition to a family of volcanoes after appearing in India the hot spot gave birth to a ribbon of underwater mountains and new islands that stretched for almost 4,000 miles in the Indian Ocean the hot spot punctured the Earth's crust like a blowtorch leading some evidence in its wake [Music] before réunion emerged from the waves there was the island of Mauritius which is five million years older the father we go north the further we venture back in time the Chagos islands were created 45 million years ago still farther north from the Chagos another huge archipelago extended almost to the coast of India the Maldives these were some of the first islands built by the hotspot they used to look like Mauritius or Reunion Island today they have been reduced to low-lying atolls where did the typical hotspot islands go what happened to the ash and black basalt what became of the plants and animals that lived on these isolated oases they all sank once the hot spot no longer supplies it's volcano with magma the island gets eaten away by the elements the mountain collapses under its own weight like a sand castle it crumbles and disappears under the waves this is the future that awaits islands created by a hotspot ephemeral earthly paradise is destined to be swallowed up by the sea only the coral reef remains near the surface building on its own limestone base the corals hard skeleton grows and piles up in order to remain in contact with the vital energy of the Sun thus in the Maldive islands are constantly eroding and constantly being formed some islands may disappear when the currents change others may appear beginning as sand banks topside winds turn sand into dunes the white sand of dead coral replaces the black sand of the volcano the sunken island then becomes a new paradise for the ultimate ocean Wanderers [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] even the island of réunion is not eternal the oceanic plate continues drifting and the hot spot will soon focus on a new island without its magmatic fuel reunion is doomed storms and their pounding waves will inevitably erode and sink it how much time does it have left ten twenty maybe fifty million years on the scale of human lives even of many generations reunions disappearance seems far off a geological time scale is an abstract notion for us so when the first sailors discovered the hotspot Islands they considered them lands of bounty the first settlers mentioned thousands of parrots and parakeets millions of land tortoises and whole colonies of pink flamingos they also described species that existed nowhere else the hotspot had created islands so far from the rest of the world that its isolation changed its inhabitants the colonizing species adapted to the food available and to the lack of predators they specialized until they became unique so when humans entered their world it immediately caused a profound imbalance in this remote ecosystem that had been slowly evolving for several million years [Music] humans as omnivorous mammals quickly understood that this volcanic soil was rich and fertile the minerals deposited over time were an incomparable fertilizer for crops and grazing land in certain places European colonizers even managed to recreate scenery that was familiar to them after the disappearance of giant reptiles the Cenozoic era also known as the age of mammals commenced freed from the pressure of giant predators mammals were quick to take advantage of the available space and blossomed of these mammals humans have been the most successful [Music] we are the lucky heirs of that first hotspot which appeared in India we are planet Earth's new apex predators [Music] [Applause] [Music] these days the hot spot beneath Reunion Island is no longer truly dangerous [Music] but piton dela for NASA's eruptions do not directly threaten human supremacy but as mankind extends its web humans find themselves at the mercy of other hotspots that are bubbling beneath the earth's crust reunion is not the only one [Music] [Music] the surface of our planet is scarred with the signatures of other hotspots which ages ago triggered events of mass extinctions on several occasions parts of the life on Earth have been wiped out the cards reshuffled and new foundations laid [Music] the creation of a new hot spot in Siberia for example is thought to have destroyed over 90% of the Earth's species some 250 million years ago others have created the island chains of Hawaii the Galapagos the Canaries and Cape Verde and they all caused chaos on earth [Music] what about us will we have to endure another one of these huge volcanic events Iceland has recently been a reminder the destructive power of the earth Iceland is an unusual hotspot and located on the divide between two major ocean plates there are frequent eruptions in Iceland with the AFV achaya co2 volcano awakened the world's fears a world that suddenly appeared fragile this volcano with its unpronounceable name threw ash plumes into the sky right in the middle of one of the world's busiest air traffic corridors for six days it cut off air traffic between Europe and North America planes were grounded tens of thousands of people were stranded this paralysis affected every stock market in the world the tourist industry lost more than a billion euro flowers vegetables and fish left rotting in African warehouses had to be destroyed sporting events had to be postponed for lack of participants major world leaders had to cancel their trips scientists who read the story recorded in ancient rocks know that the Icelandic hotspot had disrupted our very climate a little over two centuries ago the earth opened a 19-mile fissure that created the locky chain [Music] the eruption lasted eight months killing most of Iceland's cattle and 20% of its population it is the worst natural disaster to have occurred in the country in living memory as in the times of the dinosaur the impact of the locky eruption went far beyond Iceland's borders gas ash and acid fog polluted the atmosphere over all of Europe in the months after the eruption Great Britain Holland Germany and France all registered excessively high mortality rates [Music] for several years the seasons were disturbed frost could last for weeks at a time massive hail storms obliterated crops it was such an important event that some historians have linked it to the rides that led to the French Revolution the famine that hit Europe only increased the anger already rumbling through the countryside the Icelandic hotspot was surely not the only thing responsible but the coincidence is astounding again a hotspot triggers a major change humanity fearing the worst for its hegemony is now probing our planet in anticipation of possible disasters humans are currently placing sensors on several volcanoes but with only existing technology it is likely that many dangerous volcanoes will continue to go unmonitored hotspots have become priority points of observation strategic locations to set up scientific instruments these machines are able to record the Earth's slightest vibration to look into the depths of the movement of magma to measure from a distance the temperatures and gas is emitted hot spots are photographed filmed and measured every day eruptions like that of Iceland's locky are expected every thousand years the next one will probably seriously disturb the planetary balance but will be unlikely to lead to a massive extinction of life on Earth what mankind has understood from the past and by reading ancient rocks is that magma plumes are ejected from the Earth's mantle every 30 million years or so when the plumes giant head breaks through the surface a hotspot is born and can change the course of evolution the rest of its life consists by comparison of only small eruptions so it is the next birth of a hot spot that could truly Menace mankind's future the event will happen inevitably but scientific tools will give us a chance to predict the arrival of the next hot spot a thousand years prior to its eruption where will we be

Channel: Best Documentary

Views: 345,080

Rating: 4.4510832 out of 5

Keywords: film, documentary, volcano, dinosaurs, atmosphere, science

Id: tagg8Hxion0

Length: 80min 33sec (4833 seconds)

Published: Wed Feb 14 2018