Supervolcano in US now active

I know any of you that watch Megadisaster specials have seen this one.
Yellowstone caldera is growing 3" per year...A bubble which may soon burst

news.nationalgeographic.com...

But the linked article says:

"There's no evidence of an imminent eruption or hydrothermal explosion," said Robert Smith, a geophysics professor at the University of Utah who co-authored the study.

I don't know.. there's been a lot of false alarms in regards to volcanic eruptions. Remember that whole scare about Gunung Kelud in Indonesia blowing up recently? The threat status has been downgraded as of yesterday.

posted on 9-11-2007 @ 00:54 single this post edit"quote"REPLY TO:

Ground said rising at Yellowstone Park

“Ground said rising at Yellowstone Park
Updated Thu. Nov. 8 2007 11:24 PM ET
The Associated Press

WASHINGTON -- Yellowstone National Park, once the site of a giant volcano, has begun swelling up, possibly because molten rock is accumulating beneath the surface, scientists report.
Smith and colleagues report in Friday's issue of the journal Science that the flow of the ancient Yellowstone crater has been moving upward almost 3 inches per year for the past three years.
That is more than three times faster than ever observed since such measurements began in 1923, the researchers said.
The volcano at Yellowstone produced massive eruptions 2 million, 1.3 million and 642,000 years ago, all larger than the 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens.”

Source

I know we've heard about this before. I was just thinking that the math doesn't add up in our favour.

2,000,000 -1,300,000 = 700,000
1,300,000 - 642,000 = 648,000
642,000 - 648,000 = - 6,000

Hmmm!


Mod edit: Added ex-tags and fixed link

[edit on 2007/11/9 by Hellmutt]

Here is another article on the Yellowstone caldera activity, it has a graphic interpretation of the activity if you are interested here is the description of the graphic.

Yellowstone rising: Volcano inflating with molten rock at record rate

This digital elevation map of Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks was overlaid with elevation change data (colors) from Global Positioning System receivers and satellite measurements. A University of Utah study of the data indicates the giant Yellowstone "supervolcano" is rising upward faster than ever observed. The red arrows pointing up represent uplift of the Yellowstone caldera, or volcanic crater, while the downward red arrows show sinking of the land near Norris Geyser Basin. The black arrows indicate lateral or horizontal ground movement. Credit: Adapted by Wu-Lung Chang, University of Utah, from E.V. Wingert in "Windows into the Earth," Smith and Siegel.

ATS members did a study on the region back in 2004 I believe, I am going to see if I can find it and post the link here for you to review.

I found it

To view the efforts of ATS members and their data to compare with this recent activity check out this thread:

The Yellowstone SuperCaldera Project


ed:bbcode, add link


[edit on 11/9/2007 by JacKatMtn]

Originally posted by palg1
I know we've heard about this before. I was just thinking that the math doesn't add up in our favour.

2,000,000 -1,300,000 = 700,000
1,300,000 - 642,000 = 648,000
642,000 - 648,000 = - 6,000
Hmmm!

Since when is two samples enough to extrapolate? And don't forget that just as Yellowstone can produce large eruptions that can devastate America, it can produce smaller eruptions too, such as St Helens size or just Lava flows.

Looking at the YVO website, it seems that the area has been quiet seismically for some time while this uplift has been occuring.
I think this paragraph sums it up best though:

Interestingly, the Yellowstone caldera has remained seismically quiet during the past three years of uplift. An earlier article on our website, Satellite Technologies Detect Uplift in the Yellowstone Caldera provides context on the techniques used to study these movements. The new activity, though more rapid than those previously measured at Yellowstone, is not unprecedented at large calderas around the globe. Given the absence of large earthquakes, earthquake swarms and anomalous behavior of Yellowstone's hydrothermal system (its geysers, mud pots and fumaroles), we find little indication that the volcano is moving towards an eruption. At this time, volcanic eruptions and hydrothermal explosions remain an unlikely possibility. Given the geologic history of the area, it is likely that the current period of uplift will cease, to be followed by another cycle of subsidence. When this might happen, though, is unknown.
Source YVO

And anyway there is a huge line of volcanoes which tracks the line of Yellowstone's hotspot across America from the Cascades area:


Not all of those volcanoes are "Supervolcanoes", in fact I think Yellowstone is the only one that is in that line. Though most are younger than Yellowstone itself, so it may be going away from Yellowstone, but continued activity means there is still likely a hotspot under Yellowstone. I suppose if the hotspot/magma plume Yellowstone rests upon is moving at the same rate as Yellowstone, or the American plate is quite slow/stationary then Yellowstone will be active for a long time.

There are also live seismic traces from all over Yellowstone National park too, and a dedicated map of quakes available as well:
Seismic traces

www.seis.utah.edu...

I made a thread a while back, I think it's linked in one of the sticky threads at the top with the larger (or more credible) Yellowstone threads www.abovetopsecret.com...

hmm BBCode is being stupid.

[edit on 9-11-2007 by apex]

[edit on 9-11-2007 by apex]

Mauna Loa on the Big Island was growing several centimeters a month, and rumbling constantly. They thought it was about to blow and cause major problems for Hilo. That was three or four years ago, and it hasn't gone off yet.

The uplift continues but the seismic activity is extremely quiet. That is very odd in my opinion. Why would this happen? Quakes are the result of rock fractures as magma moves. Once the work is done the quakes stop. Perhaps the magma can move freely now. Do harmonic tremors get tallied as quakes?

my opinion, i think it will be like the St Helens eruption, sudden expansion of the caldera causing catastrophic disaster.

i dont think this will happen any time soon however (by soon i mean within 20-30 years) but when it does it will be something i think that humanity should consider a beautiful event. of cause millions will die, but put it in a different perspective: we will, as a species, probably never witness such an event again, ever.



because it is so big, i dont think that the caldera will explode any time soon with its current expansion rate. unless, such as the St Helens, it expands super rapid with tremendous pressure build-ups.

It's not gonna blow any time soon.
It is hufin & puffin like it's always done.
Living in Cody an explotion in Yellowstone would be bad news for us

I hope it doesn't go boom tomorrow because me and some friends goin in tha park to set up some anaimal traps

The thing about Yellowstone is that we don't really know what the warning signs are for an eruption. We only know the warning signs for a traditional cone shaped volcano. We've seen them erupt. We know what to expect. But I don't believe we've ever experienced the eruption of a caldera type system on any level. Maybe the uplift is as high as it is going to get. Maybe the geothermal features are as active as they are ever going to get. Maybe we need another 50 feet of uplift. Until we see one erupt we can only guess. I do think it is wrong however to assume a caldera system will have the same symptoms and run on the same time line as a cone shaped volcano.