new super volcano south america

A broad swath of the Altiplano plateau in southwest Bolivia is inflating like a giant balloon, presumably as magma builds up deep underground. This aggressive rise hints that a new supervolcano could be awakening in South America, geologists say, and so they are keen to learn more about the underlying cause.

BLOG: Supervolcano Trigger Found

So far, they know the inflation is surprisingly fast: the center of the patch has risen 7.9 inches (20 centimeters) in the past 20 years. What is more, the uplift extends about 43 miles (70 kilometers) across -- similar in size to the caldera that formed in the wake of the latest eruption of the Yellowstone supervolcano, which blanketed half of the U.S. in ash 640,000 years ago