According to a new research, huge “megabeds” from ancient supervolcano eruptions are hiding at the bottom of the Mediterranean Sea.
- Their discovery points to a cycle of catastrophic events that appear to hit the region every 10,000 to 15,000 years.
- The researchers found the beds in the western Marsili Basin, an area at the bottom of the Tyrrhenian Sea that surrounds the Marsili Seamount, a large undersea volcano.
- Megabeds are huge submarine deposits that form in marine basins as a result of catastrophic events like volcanic eruptions.
- The oldest megabed formed after a huge eruption from Campi Flegrei 39,000 years ago — one of the biggest known eruptions on Earth.
- The same eruption may also have created the second bed, as the layer between the two is just 3.2 feet (1 m) — indicating a relatively short interval between the two events.
