Well, I was thinking of ways to prevent a major supervolcano eruption and I came up with an idea (I'm not sure if it would work, so any constructive critisicm is appreciated).
So, basically, the idea is to set off a (or a series of) controlled explosion(s) in the ground above the supervolcano magma chamber. An analogy that is useful is this:
Think of a shaken bottle of coca cola (i.e. the magma chamber ready to erupt at any minute), if a puncture is made in the side of the bottle then the coke will violently be released, most likely damaging the bottle and sending the substance large distances. Now think about a (relatively) settled bottle of coca cola (the magma chamber as it is now, most likely). If you puncture this bottle, then the coke will be released in a more controlled, slower and less violent way- sending the substance shorter distances.
So, I thought about this and applied it to a supervolcano magma chamber- and realised that by setting off controlled explosions at the surface of the magma chamber, pressure could be eased off slowly and preventing a major eruption for a long period of time. Also, any magma or possible ash release could be controlled as it would be moving slower due to the controlled release of any matter- i.e. barriers and artificial levees could be constructed in order to prevent magma flow in certain directions.
So, what do you think?
There are a few risks that I can think of- for example: an unexpected full-scale eruption caused by the explosions!