YELLOWSTONE SUPERVOLCANO STILL HOLDS SECRETS

YELLOWSTONE: DANGEROUS BEAUTY

An eruption as seen in the photo above is something that we hope to never see at Yellowstone National Park. It would change life as we know it for a very long time. As tourists walk among the hissing steam vents, many do not even realize they are literally standing atop one of the planet's gigantic supervolcanos. The area is so enormous, that scientists really had no idea of the true size, but now a research group, using seismic technology to scan this behemoth, have made a stunning discovery. Yellowstone's magma chambers are far greater than previously thought, say scientists from the University of Utah. Under those tourist's feet, is enough hot rock to fill the Grand Canyon nearly 14 times over.

 Scientists from the University of Utah created the first three-dimensional depiction of the geothermal structure under Yellowstone. Yellowstone's heat source reaches down 440 to 1,800 miles beneath Earth's surface -- and may come from its molten core. It is responsible for fueling the newly discovered reservoir that lies on top of it. The magma chamber lies on top of the reservoir -- and draws magma from it. It is a three to nine miles under the surface of the Earth and is what fuels the geysers and thermal features of the park. It alone has a volume 2.5 times that of the Grand Canyon. But those great magma expanses do not mean that the two hellish hollows could overflow the Grand Canyon with molten rock.

 

When Yellowstone erupts (yes I said WHEN, as it has in the past and will again someday), it will probably will change the world. Temperatures would drop, animals would die, crops would die. No going to the store for a gallon of milk. The consequences would be dire indeed. Most people just so not realize the enormity of what this would mean. Of course this is a worst case scenario, but it has happened before and it will happen again. This question is, when? So far, scientists just don't know.

The explosions in Yellowstone's past have left deep scars, and you nay be familiar with one -- the Yellowstone Caldera, which takes up much of the park and is lined by mountains. The caldera is a volcanic crater left behind when 240 cubic miles of debris ruptured out of the Earth and into the air during volcanic discharge some 630,000 years ago, USGS says. Long before that, 2 million years ago, volcanic activity blew 600 cubic miles of Yellowstone debris into the air. Those were the two largest eruptions in North America in a few million years, the USGS said, and they each buried in ash more than a third of what is now the continental U.S. "If another large caldera-forming eruption were to occur at Yellowstone, its effects would be worldwide," the USGS says. It would drastically shift the world's climate.

 

When scientists are asked publicly about the changes happening at Yellowstone, or if there are signs it may erupt soon...the answer is usually the same. They say that currently, they see nothing to indicate and imminent eruption. But the general public has taken a great interest in Yellowstone. People watch the live webcams and see things which seem concerning. Many are concerned about the magma intrusion seen on the seismographs. All we can do is watch, prepare for the worst, and hope for the best. Check back here for more on the strange things the public has been seeing on the live cams....follow up story on that coming soon. Meanwhile, here are some time lapse views from the live cam (you can see more on my youtube channel ...justclick on the videos below, then click on my name)

 https://youtu.be/BH2WOaUBhsg

 

https://youtu.be/JlkUqtI-m5Q