Scientists say New Zealand's Taupo volcano, one of the most dangerous supervolcanoes in the world, is still active.. This is evidenced by its caldera, the bottom of which is constantly rising and falling, reports The Guardian..

In the caldera of the volcano is the largest lake in New Zealand, Taupo. Its bottom is constantly rising and falling, which indicates the activity of the volcano. It has been active 25 times over the past 12,000 years.. The volcano is responsible for the largest explosive eruption in recent human history: the AD 232 eruption, when 120 cubic kilometers of pumice and ash were thrown into the atmosphere.

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In 1979, scientists launched an experimental project to monitor the level of the lake, which made it possible to track volcanic and tectonic shifts.. To do this, they installed stationary stations around the reservoir, hung water meters at 22 points, and also built a platform to measure the level of the lake.. As a result, he was able to record changes in the height of the lake up to eight millimeters..

According to study lead author Peter Otway, such a system should have indicated small changes associated with the movement of magma.. In addition, scientists wanted to capture the deformation due to tectonic stretching that caused the long swarm of earthquakes in 1922..

The first few years of observation showed no result.. But everything changed in 1983. Then a series of earthquakes occurred, and observations of the lake made it possible to fix the deformation that preceded them..

Further analysis showed that the earthquake swarm was associated with volcanic activity and not tectonic activity, as originally thought.. A set of data collected since then has indicated that magma movement and tectonic faults below the surface often cause the land above the volcano to rise and fall..

“In the lake, close to the reefs of Horomatanga, the volcano caused a rise of 160 mm, while north of the lake, tectonic faults caused a subsidence of 140 mm,” said Finnigan Illsley-Kemp, a research fellow in volcano geodynamics at the University of Victoria..

The observational program and seismic and satellite monitoring have confirmed that Taupo is still an active volcano with periods of occasional unrest as it slowly but steadily expands.. Scientists fear that at some point this could lead to an eruption, so they insist on further observations of the volcano..

However, Eleanor Mestel, a researcher at the University of Victoria, noted that the fact that one of the world's supervolcanoes is constantly swelling is not a cause for concern.. According to her, the eruption is likely to occur, but not in the near future..