Volcano is on the rise at Yellowstone park

[IndianaGreen]

Volcano is on the rise at Yellowstone park

Uplift reported, creating new cracks in crust and reviving geysers

By Bjorn Carey

Updated: 2:01 p.m. ET March 1, 2006

Forces brewing deep beneath Yellowstone National Park could be making one of the largest volcanoes on Earth even bigger, a new study reveals.

In the past decade, part of the volcano has risen nearly 5 inches (12 centimeters), most likely due to a backup of flowing molten rock miles below the planet's crust.

While the rise may not be noticeable to the casual hiker, the activity may have cracked the crust in the park's famous Norris Geyser Basin, leading to the formation of new fumaroles — holes that vent smoke and gas — and the reawakening of some of the area's geysers, including Steamboat, the largest geyser in the world.

Yellowstone last erupted about 640,000 years ago, spewing 240 cubic miles (1,000 cubic kilometers) of material. Despite the newly discovered activity, researchers don't expect it to erupt any time soon. Eventually, however, it could explode again as a super-volcano that would destroy life for hundreds of miles around and coat the entire country in ash.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11622376/

One edit, please note the alarm in TheHandpuppet's puppet thread of a few days ago about the increased number of earthquakes at Yellowstone. Are these harmonic tremors indicating the movement of magma?

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=228x18127

[malmapus]

1. As long as nobody in the administration says "we never expected...

Yellowstone to blow," we're all ok.

But yeah, I've always been interested in the geothermic activity of Yellowstone. Very cool seeing the planet in action.

[CrazyOrangeCat]

4. Yeah, what an amazing place!

I got to see it the winter after the big fire.

Beautiful, wild . . . the geyser basin under four feet of snow was awe-inspiring.

-35 degrees at night, and the steam from the geysers coated the trees in an otherworldy frosting.

Should go back before the repukes sell it off :(

[Dora]

2. Huh.

"This is probably an ongoing feature in Yellowstone. We've only been able to study it like this for 10 years, so we're still not sure what's normal and what's not," Wicks said. "But there's no evidence yet to suspect an eruption."

Okay, but what I want to know is, what evidence do they have that suggests there will NOT be an eruption?

[Teaser]

6. Huh?

What would that kind of negative knowledge look like?

This recent evidence doesn't suggest there will be an eruption.

We KNOW there will be an eruption in the indeterminate future, or as close to know as possible...unless the hotspot beneath yellowstone disappears or moves or whatnot.

[savemefromdumbya]

24. They said Monserrat wouldn't erupt - it did

I had a bad feeling when I was in the crater of the volcano of Monserrat West Indies. That was 1976 - it blew in the 90s

[Warpy]

3. Handpuppet's site was up near the Canadian border

and Yellowstone is in Wyoming.

The site Handpuppet referred to is likely artifact of some description, and hasn't appeared as seismic activity at the USGS site.

However, there is always a low level of seismicity in and around the Yellowstone caldera, with rising and then lowering of the basin as lava beneath the crust seems to flow back and forth.

The problem is that we really don't know that much about the supervolcanoes, not having had the equipment around for the last few eruptions. We can only hope that they give the same sort of warning with increased and regular harmonic quakes before they blow that ordinary volcanoes do. We just don't know.

In any case, neither the uplift of one area of the caldera nor the present level of seismicity are out of the ordinary for Yellowstone. It's done all this before. However, it has erupted regularaly in the past, and it's now nearly 40,000 years overdue for an eruption.

[megatherium]

7. The last supervolcano eruption was 70,000 years ago, in Indonesia, I think

So you're right, we don't really know what to look for. But these events don't happen at neatly-spaced intervals of time. Yellowstone might be overdue, but this means an eruption is likely within the next 100,000 years.. Barring ominous signs, there's no reason to suppose the event is more likely this year than 50,000 years from now. And as you say, the uplift isn't an unusual event. Not yet at least.

[theHandpuppet]

11. Huh? I think you are mistaken

Here is the seismicity map for Yellowstone, with the earthquake swarm obvious. This was not something that occurred near the Canadian border but IN YELLOWSTONE itself. http://www.seis.utah.edu/HTML/YPEvents7Days.html

Another map: http://www.seis.utah.edu/req2webdir/recenteqs/index.html

[theHandpuppet]

13. And yet another map (with links)

http://www.seis.utah.edu/catalog/catalog.shtml

The earthquake swarm to which I was referring was IN YELLOWSTONE. I actually know the difference between Wyoming and Canada.

[havocmom]

15. LOL good one

Maybe we need a DU map page? ;)

[havocmom]

14. NASA just installed a state of the art GPS monitor station on a ranch

almost 300 miles from Yellowstone as part of the system to track the sleeping monster.

There is evidence all over eastern Montana of past big blows. The guys who put the new monitor up told landowner that he happens to be at the edge of the plate they are watching. Said that edge doesn't seem to move and they wanna know if it starts.

Hmmm, there's a song in my head...
I don't know
I don't know
I don't know where I'm a gonna go
when the volcano blows

Lots more trees dying in Yellowstone. Too hot at the roots in some areas. Any word of bison die offs this winter? I haven't heard of any this time. There have been small groups of them die in the past if they happen to be in a ravine and gas vents up where they are.

[megatherium]

5. My recollection is that there could be steam explosions and other

relatively minor volcanic activity in Yellowstone in the not-too-distant future. A caldera-making "supervolcano eruption" will eventually happen, but on a 100,000-year time scale. That is, the odds of such a thing happening are about 1/100,000 per year or less. (My guess is that if such a thing were imminent, there would be all kinds of geologic warning signs. They say if you notice lots of geologists heading to Yellowstone, be worried. If all the geologists suddenly leave Yellowstone, freak out.)

[Gloria]

8. I checked the map on how far all this stuff would travel....

WHEW! I'm just out of reach down here in Las Crues, NM.....however,....we all know that Mother Nature can spoil the best of computer models!!!!! :(

[mcscajun]

10. Nothing to worry about. Much. Nothing we can do about it, anyway...

...despite the fact that if it blows big time...Nobody in North America will be "out of reach".

Super volcanoes will chill the world someday
And now the bad news: There's not much anyone can do about it.

"An area the size of North America can be devastated, and pronounced deterioration of global climate would be expected for a few years following the eruption," Self said. "They could result in the devastation of world agriculture, severe disruption of food supplies, and mass starvation. These effects could be sufficiently severe to threaten the fabric of civilization."

(snip)

The warning is not new. Geologists in the United States detailed a similar scenario in 2001, when they found evidence suggesting volcanic activity in Yellowstone National Park will eventually lead to a colossal eruption. Half the United States will be covered in ash up to 3 feet (1 meter) deep, according to a study published in the journal Earth and Planetary Science Letters.

(snip)

The eruption pumps dust and chemicals into the atmosphere for years, screening the Sun and cooling the planet. Earth is plunged into a perpetual winter, some models predict, causing many plant and animal species to disappear forever.

"The whole of a continent might be covered by ash, which might take many years — possibly decades — to erode away and for vegetation to recover," Sparks said.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7129908/

I remember watching a National Geographic program about two years ago, I think. It discussed the Yellowstone "supervolcano" scenario in detail, complete with CGI simulations of the impact locally, regionally and more. Pretty scary stuff, until you wrap it up with the incredibly long timeline in which it may happen, the odds of it happening tomorrow, and the fact that there isn't Thing ONE any of us can do about it now, or later.

So on this one, I reserve the right to do an Alfred E. Newman.
"What, ME Worry?"

[havocmom]

16. "Nothing to worry about"?!? easy for you to say

From NEW JERSEY!

[mcscajun]

17. If and when it blows, we're all gonna die. Just a matter of how quickly.

As for me, if there's a cataclysm, it's better to be as close to ground zero as possible. Less suffering that way.

I'll reserve my worrying energies for those things I can do something about.

[Ediacara]

20. This is a little extreme...

We'll know well ahead of time if an eruption is imminent, and hopefully most of the people in the sparsely populated surrounding states will have had months to get out of dodge... Ash would certainly be problematic, but how many people would it actually kill? Maybe 10,000 worldwide..

This is of course assuming that FEMA doesn't put a muzzle on the USGS, and that FEMA is actually semi-operational (in other words, no Brownie).

[spuddonna]

26. My understanding is that the big problem becomes the ash...

It's not necessarily the immediate volcanic eruption(s) that would be catastrophic (although they would be quite bad), it would be the after-effects of such a large scale injection of hot ash into the atmosphere. The last eruption of the Yellowstone caldera put so much ash in the air, it eventually circled the globe. The effect on fresh water sources and destruction of crops could be catastrophic.
Crops might even be affected overseas. Also, a period of intense global cooling would probably occur along the lines of a nuclear winter type of scenario.

Food prices might rise dramatically, there could be intense food shortages, loss of potable water sources and massive climate change... Yeah, I think that covers it...

What's that line from that lady on Atlantis? "We're all gonna die..." lol

Chances are Yellowstone is burping, a little gassy, and that's it... I'd be much more worried if I lived near Sumatra...

[Roon]

25. Denver won't be spared

Denver will be eliminated if this thing blows like it could!

[pansypoo53219]

9. well, living under georgie for this long

i will assume it will blow before 08'.

[IndianaGreen]

12. AP: Yellowstone Bulge May Cause Thermal Unrest

Yellowstone Bulge May Cause Thermal Unrest

BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) -- A newly discovered surface bulge in Yellowstone National Park may be responsible for some unexpected geothermal activity in recent years, according to a study by U.S. Geological Survey scientists.

The bulge, about 25 miles across, rose 5 inches from 1997 to 2003 and may have triggered some thermal unrest at Norris Geyser Basin, including a sudden rise in temperatures, new steam vents and the awakening of Steamboat geyser.

The findings are part of a paper set to be published Thursday in the journal Nature.

Charles Wicks, one of the USGS scientists who worked on the study, said much of what happens beneath the park's surface remains a mystery, but more is being learned about the Yellowstone caldera, the huge bowl-shaped collapsed volcano in the middle of the park that last erupted 640,000 years ago.

Geologists discovered the dome on the northern rim of the caldera several years ago, and Wicks and others used satellite images and other tools to track its swelling.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/Y/YELLOWSTONE_VOLCANO?SITE=FLTAM&SECTION=HOME

[HeeBGBz]

18. Is this normal?

Latest reading from Yellowstone Denny Creek seismographs.



http://www.seis.utah.edu/helicorder/heli/yellowstone/index.html

Soda Butte readings look the same way.

[Quakerfriend]

19. I'm not trying to be funny, and this is not very scientific but,

did you know that a psychic predicted that there would be a major volcanic erruption in Yellowstone this year (2006)??

I will try to find the link.

[On the Road]

21. The Psychic Probably Discovered the Discovery Channel(?) Show

on a possible mammoth volcano eruption in Yellowstone in the near future. The same thing that's causing these phenomena.

[file83]

23. I hope your psychic is full of crap - because if he/she isn't then we are

SCREWED.

[file83]

22. What about this= "18 earthquakes over 4.4 in under 24 hours"

This subject is being brought up in this thread:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=364&topic_id=621440&mesg_id=621440

I hope Mother Earth isn't ready to pop her top.

[newyawker99]

27. I saw a TV program about this last week. The

predictions of what might happen if
it does erupt were frightening.

:scared:

[frogmarch]

28. Ashfall

Excerpt from the Ashfall Fossil Beds (Orchard, NE) website:

About 12 million years ago, a volcano in southwest Idaho spread a blanket of ash over a very large area. One or two feet of this powdered glass covered the flat savannah-like grasslands of northeastern Nebraska.

Most of the animals that lived here survived the actual ashfall, but as they continued to graze on the ash covered grasses, their lungs began to fill up with the abrasive powder. Soon their lungs became severely damaged and they began to die.

The smaller animals died first (smaller lung capacities) and finally, after perhaps three to five weeks, the last of the rhinos perished.Their bodies were quickly covered by the blowing and drifting ash.

Undisturbed except by an occasional scavenging meat-eater, the skeletons of these animals are preserved in their death positions, complete with evidence of their last meals in their mouths and stomachs and their last steps preserved in the sandstone below.

http://ashfall.unl.edu/ashfallstory.html

The website explains that the ash came from a volcano in Idaho. The caldera is called the Bruneau-Jarbidge Eruptive Center. To see its proximity to Yellowstone, here's a page with a map.

http://www.usu.edu/geo/shervais/Research%20Summaries/Research1_SRP.html

I estimate the as-the-crow-flies distance between this extinct volcano in Idaho and Ashfall Fossil Beds in Nebraska to be about 700 miles. I wonder how much farther significant amounts of the ash traveled, and in what directions. During the 1980 Mount St. Helens erpution, noticeable ashfall didnt extend much farther than Spokane, which is about 250 miles from Mount St. Helens. Ashfall in Spokane measured around two-tenths of an inch. *Ashfall covering the fossils at the Nebraska site measured up to ten feet.

It sounds as if the Yellowstone eruption is going to be the mother of all volcanic eruptions...well, a doozy anyway. Yikes. I think I'll move to New Mexico.

*Edit: At the Ashfall Fossil Beds website, I found this photo and accompanying info:



An aerial view of a portion of the Ashfall Fossil Beds site. This photo was taken during the Park's development and shows a series of 6-meter sampling grids layed out on the newly-exposed surface of the ash bed. The overburden (sand and sandstone) and the upper 3 to 5 feet of volcanic ash have been removed, leaving the fossils safely buried under another 5 feet of ash. The Rhino Barn (not yet built when this photo was taken) now covers the area at the bottom of the picture. Exploration has indicated that this is a very small portion of the actual bone-bed. Much work remains to be done here, and many more exciting discoveries will be made in the future, perhaps even while you are watching!

[SpiralHawk]

29. How some traditional elders responded

And will respond again if they feel it necessary.

You might wish to just scroll down the page to view the images of the Medicine Wheel.

http://www.chiron-communications.com/communique%209-2.html

"While dwelling amid the high mountains along the North American Continental Divide, Bennie LeBeau of the Eastern Shoshone tribe experienced a torrent of dreams and visions, especially in 1999. The visions directed him to set in motion the plans for a massive Medicine Wheel Ceremony.

"Over the last year (2003-2004) Bennie has become aware of many sharply distressing changes in both land and animals at Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming. These changes are becoming even more ominous right now, he says, and they have prodded him into direct action to bring his visions alive.

(snip)