Yellowstone Supervolcano

Summary:

What's going on with it?

Yellowstone Supervolcano

Melissa (guest) 26 Jan 2011 04:21

I'm on my phone so I couldn't post a link to the article from NatGeo. Something about the ground is rising due to magma pocket? Are they worried this thing is going to blow? If it did, how far would the damage reach? Would it be localized or would it affect a lot of states?

Re: Yellowstone Supervolcano

Astrogeek 26 Jan 2011 04:25

No, they are not worried about an eruption anytime soon. This appears to be part of the normal processes that go on there continuously.

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"Do you ever think about things you do think about?" - Henry Drummond to Matthew Harrison Brady in Inherit the Wind

Nick (guest) 26 Jan 2011 04:30

This should put your mind at ease:

http://bigthink.com/ideas/26641

DieselHorseLAW 26 Jan 2011 04:46

Thanks for the link. Good read.

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“In all matters of opinion, our adversaries are insane.” - Oscar Wilde

emmylou 26 Jan 2011 04:48

I completely love everything to do with Yellowstone \o/

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Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow. The important thing is not to stop questioning.
Albert Einstein

RickardM 26 Jan 2011 16:14

Haha, now the Swedish equivalance to the register (Aftonbladet) publishes an article about an imminent eruption of Yellowstone. Pathetic is the only word that comes to mind.

Even IF Yellowstone were to erupt, haven't they concluded that the most likelly eruption is a smaller one? Like a "venting" sort of event?

But, if Yellowstone were to erupt in a full blown manner, would that mean the end of mankind as we know it? I've heard so many ideas on what the consequences would be, varying from Nuclear winter due to ash emmisions and even a global extinction event. Any ideas on what we could expect if Yellowstone were to erupt, from a purely hypothetical point of view that is?

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Facts are stubborn things.
- Ronald Reagan

Tomy2011 26 Jan 2011 16:27

I think that USA would become uninhabitable for a while (maybe a couple of years), Canada would become
uninhabitable too. The ash would cover the atmosphere, then Earth's temperature may decrease 2 or 4º.

But it can be different… I don't know.
However don't worry. It would be temporary and I don't think it will be soon.

Last edited on 26 Jan 2011 16:29 by Tomy2011 Show more

Astrogeek 26 Jan 2011 20:44

The caldera-forming eruptions in Yellowstone occurred within the last 2 million years or so. As such, they have occurred during times when "man" (in one form or another) inhabited the earth.

If we look at http://volcanoes.usgs.gov/images/pglossary/eruptionsize.php we see that the most recent "Supervolcano" eruption at Yellowstone was 640,000 years ago. But it was dwarfed by Toba, which was only 74,000 years ago.

From this we can safely conclude that it would not be "the end of mankind as we know it", nor would it necessarily cause a "global extinction event" (although some already stressed populations might succumb).

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"Do you ever think about things you do think about?" - Henry Drummond to Matthew Harrison Brady in Inherit the Wind