Scientists have reported a new discovery exposed by the ongoing water level crisis in Lake Mead in the United States of America.

Record-low water levels in Lake Mead in Nevada and Arizona have exposed volcanic ash from eruptions 12 million years ago as far away as Idaho, Wyoming and Colorado. The discovery may help investigators better understand future ashfall risks, researchers at the University of Nevada-Las Vegas said in a recent study.

Lake Mead is receding to dangerously low levels, and many shocking things have surfaced since the water levels started dropping during the summer mega-drought. Things like old boats, sunken warships, and even human remains. Now, researchers have found rocks laced with volcanic ash from 12 million years ago.

As Lake Mead's water level continues to drop, scientists at UNLV have discovered sedimentary rock laced with volcanic ash that hasn't been visible since the 30s.

Lake Mead’s falling water level has exposed several shocking things in recent months – previously sunken boats, old war ships and human remains. Now scientists are reporting a new discovery on Lake Mead’s dry bed: rocks laced with volcanic ash that rained down on southern Nevada during explosive eruptions roughly 12 million years ago.

Ramping up renewable energy products will require a range of critical metals. One of these elements, tellurium, is gaining in popularity for use in photovoltaics, or solar panels. As global demand for solar panels continues to increase, so is the need for critical metals like tellurium, notes the Geological Society of America.

Ramping up renewable energy products will require a range of critical metals. One of these elements, tellurium, is gaining in popularity for use in photovoltaics, or solar panels. As global demand for solar panels continues to increase, so is the need for critical metals like tellurium.

Not only have Lake Mead’s dwindling water levels exposed human remains and old relics but now decades-old sedimentary rocks containing volcanic ash are being seen at the lake, according to a recent UNLV study.

Boats and bodies aren’t the only things revealing secrets at Lake Mead. Newly-exposed rock at Lake Mead has revealed that the Las Vegas Valley could be impacted by volcanic ash from neighboring states.

Not only have Lake Mead’s dwindling water levels exposed human remains and old relics but now decades-old sedimentary rocks containing volcanic ash are being seen at the lake, according to a recent UNLV study.

As the climate crisis continues to affect the American West, sunken boats and human remains aren’t the only surprises to be revealed by record-low water levels at Lake Mead. Sedimentary rocks that hadn’t been seen since the 1930s are now exposed along the constantly changing shoreline, and a UNLV study of the deposits has discovered that many of these rocks also contain ash from volcanoes as far away as Idaho, Wyoming, and California that rained down on Southern Nevada as many as 12 million years ago.

Lake Mead's receding water levels are now revealing ancient volcanic eruptions from millions of years ago.