England's hidden supervolcano discovered beneath The Wash

Geologists have identified a massive, ancient volcanic complex buried beneath The Wash on England’s east coast. The discovery provides a source for the Kinnekulle tephra, a colossal ash layer that blanketed parts of Scandinavia, the Baltics, Belarus, and Poland during the Late Ordovician period.

Researchers from the British Geological Survey and the University of Oslo used zircon crystals recovered from boreholes in Lincolnshire and Norfolk to date the activity. By measuring the decay of uranium into lead within these crystals, scientists determined the eruption occurred approximately 454 million years ago. This precise dating matches the age of the ash layers found in the Oslo Region.

The eruption is estimated to have blasted tens to hundreds of cubic miles of material into the stratosphere, with a force comparable to thousands of hydrogen bombs. While the discovery solves a long-standing geological puzzle, scientists note that the volcanic system is long extinct and poses no modern eruptive threat.