28/08/2026
More information, including access to the corresponding scientific paper, on the recent research by BGS into The Wash 'supervolcano'.
Evidence of ancient supervolcano changes our understanding of England’s geological past 🌋
The origin of the Kinnekulle tephra, a huge volcanic ash layer spread across Norway, Sweden, the Baltic region, Belarus and Poland, has long been a mystery but new evidence may have uncovered the source of the ash.
Scientists at BGS and the University of Oslo have studied tiny crystals, smaller than the diameter of a human hair, extracted from boreholes 65 km apart in Lincolnshire and Norfolk. The analysis uncovered evidence of a 454 million year old supervolcano, now concealed beneath The Wash on the east coast of England.
The near‑identical ages suggest that ash from the eruption plume in what is now eastern England was blown across the Tornquist Sea, which separated England and Scandinavia, and settled on the sea floor of ancient Scandinavia. Further support for this hypothesis is provided by chemical analysis of apatite crystals in both the proposed source and the tephra.
Find out more about this research and access the associated paper on our website 👇
https://www.bgs.ac.uk/news/secrets-of-an-ancient-supervolcano-uncovered-that-change-our-understanding-of-englands-geological-past/
