Could yellowstone be used for a terrorist attack?

I wathched a documentary about yellowstone national park a while ago and basically it concluded with saying there could be an eruption tomorrow or it could be another 50,000 years, not much to get worked up about there then?
This made me think if it would be possible by the means of strategically placed exposives to trigger an artificial super-eruption, i know the caldera is huge but maybe if not regular explosives then small but powerful nuclear blasts could set it in motion.
I know yellowstone is the most fragile volcano that is cabable of such a powerful eruption and i would hope that if this is feasable then someone has recognised the fact and set in motion some contingency plans, remember that terrorists could possibly get there hands on multiple warheads!
The effects of such an eruption would guarantee the end of a US based world economy and as well as throwing north America into a waste land it would also wreak havoc in the rest of the world.

[edit on 4-4-2005 by ufo3]

[edit on 4-4-2005 by ufo3]

I'm no geologist, but I dont think thats possible with explosions on the surface. I belive the magma pool, or whatever you call it, is pretty deep under the surface.

speaking of yellowstone................on discovery channel i THINK (don't hold me to this) but i think next weekend they're debuting a show called SUPER VOLCANO..............and its about the yellowstone caldera and what if it blows.

now i could be combining 2 or 3 things here.........but i know for fact there is a movie or show coming called super volcano and its about yellowstone.

i'm THINKING its discovery channel and its next weekend. its NOT the same program that's on now though..........its a new one.

i'll go ck the discovery channel listings to see for sure.


as far as your original question..............i don't think so..........it would seem that if geologists COULD control an explosion then they would try to release the pressure periodically to avoid a huge catastrophic event like a super volcano..............so i don't think it would be possible to do something like you're discussing on a terrorist event...............

i know its possible to set off avalanches cause the ski patrols do it all the time...............in a controlled setting the potential weak snow pack is detonated to avoid any further avalanches...........

but setting off a volcano............i don't think so. but i ain't no expert!!


angie

ok i ckd discovery channel............i'm NOT a total loon!!

it premieres on sunday april 10th at 8pm(est).

so this should be really cool!!


angie

Originally posted by sephiroth
I'm no geologist, but I dont think thats possible with explosions on the surface. I belive the magma pool, or whatever you call it, is pretty deep under the surface.

A 5-10 kiloton small nuke at the surface could melt the crust down to the magma, its really not that deep. There is a pretty large 'dome" under one of the lakes.

as far as your original question..............i don't think so..........it would seem that if geologists COULD control an explosion then they would try to release the pressure periodically to avoid a huge catastrophic event like a super volcano..............so i don't think it would be possible to do something like you're discussing on a terrorist event...............

I think that could be for a different reason, imagine they try to let off a little pressure and ended up blowing the thing Maybe that is why they do not mess around with them, i mean they are very unstable and unpredictable to start with.

good point UFO................if you don't know what you're doing then for god's sake DON'T DO IT!!!

watch that program next week it should be good!



angie

This old ATSNN topic thread may be of some use to you, ufo3?
TA-ANALYSIS: 1,000 Days Of Terror: Expanded Analysis of the Caldera Black Wind of Death Theory

Or these references to 'Black Wind of Death':
Black Wind of Death





seekerof

[edit on 4-4-2005 by Seekerof]

We already had that show in the UK and it was rubbish!

But beyond that no terrorist with the sort of explosives necessary to crack open a huge chunck of rock is going to waste it on a plan that is not guaranteed to succeed.

Also by cracking a hole in the top now its possible that the gases contributing to the build up could be vented with out a continent squishing eruption, making it an even worse idea for terrorists.

Originally posted by Uncle Joe
We already had that show in the UK and it was rubbish!

But beyond that no terrorist with the sort of explosives necessary to crack open a huge chunck of rock is going to waste it on a plan that is not guaranteed to succeed.

Joe's hit the nail square on the head, here. It would take a huge amount of weaponry to even breach the dome and there's no guarantee you'd get any sort of reaction from the supervolcano at all. Yellowstone and other national parks are watched and they're full of tourists. Somebody toddling up to Old Faithful geyser with a suitcase is going to get stopped long before they get there.

I don't see them successfully hijacking a plane large enough to carry a bomb large enough to make a decent impact on the caldera (and the plane would have been shot down long before that ... no... it wouldn't cause an explosion elsewhere since those things have to be armed. They're not like grenades where you pull the pin and count to 10 and it goes BOOM!)

Originally posted by Uncle Joe
We already had that show in the UK and it was rubbish!

are you sure its the new show? course i'm not in the UK ..........and you guys might get stuff before we do.

that's a bummer. i was hoping this supervolcano show would be good. i saw the one that's on now.............but this super volcano was supposed to be better and more indepth.

bummer! uncle joe you ruined it for me!!


angie

Friad its the same show, it was a BBC/Discovery channel co production and we got it first. Theres some pretty CGI but i just dont like a 'dramadocumentary' cos the feel patronising and dont tell you as much about the events in question.

double bummer uncle j.

so its one of those things not necessarily a true thing w/facts to back up but a hypothetical thing like that film that hollywood produced a while back with tommy lee jones in it...............where the volcano was in LA.

great just great!