Ancient supervolcano found in England and Assyrian crystal lens discovered

Geologists have identified evidence of an ancient supervolcano located beneath eastern England. By analyzing zircon crystals found in boreholes from Lincolnshire and Norfolk, researchers traced a massive layer of volcanic ash to an eruption approximately 454.4 million years ago. The British Geological Survey described the event as a highly explosive ‘super-Plinian’ eruption, which ejected hundreds of cubic kilometers of rock into the stratosphere. The source of the eruption is believed to have been a massive volcanic system in the area of present-day Wash.

In a separate archaeological discovery, a 2,700-year-old rock crystal lens has been identified in the ancient Assyrian city of Nimrud, located in present-day Iraq. Found in 1849, the crystal features one flat side and one convex side, allowing it to function as a magnifying lens. While historians debate whether the artifact was part of a more complex optical instrument used for astronomical observation, it currently resides in the British Museum as an ‘oval rock crystal inlays’.