The magma chamber that lies beneath Yellowstone National Park is what remains from an initial volcanic eruption of 2.1 million years ago that was 2,500 times more powerful than the Mt. St. Helens eruption, and may have been the largest, most violent volcanic eruption in the history of the earth.
Enough ash and volcanic debris--roughly 600 cubic miles of material--exploded from the eruptions to cover the entire western half of the United States with about a four-foot deep layer of ash.
Explosions of this magnitude "happen about every 600,000 years at Yellowstone," says Chuck Wicks of the U.S. Geological Survey, who has studied the possibilities. "And it's been about 620,000 years since the last super explosive eruption there."
That's comforting.
Now the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory reports that Yellowstone is rumbling again. Since Sunday, there have been 901 measured earthquakes in the park. The largest has been of magnitude 3.8.
"The swarm earthquakes are likely the result of slip on pre-existing faults rather than underground movement of magma," reported the United States Geological Survey on Thursday. "Currently there is no indication of premonitory volcanic or hydrothermal activity."
Two of the strongest earthquakes were measured on Wednesday night with eight of the earthquakes measuring 3.0 or more. While the vast majority of the earthquakes have been too small to feel, people in and around the park have reported feeling a few of them. The earthquakes have centered near the northwest edge of the Yellowstone Caldera.
The USGS believes there is nothing to indicate any serious cause for concern. Earthquake swarms have been quite common in the area since the time of the last major eruption.
Maybe that's just the earth letting us know she's still pretty awesome. However, it's still OK to visit Yellowstone. No major eruptions are predicted, and the likelihood of an eruption in any given century is is minuscule, since such events are measured in tens of thousands or even millions of years apart.
It ain't if, but, when!
ReplyDeleteOh go ahead and visit Yellowstone. If she blows, what better way to go? You wouldn't want to live here afterwards anyway.
ReplyDeleteWe're going for a week, beginning Feb 1. We'll let you know if we feel anything besides wonder.
ReplyDeleteNo one can predict anything,If they could predict the Haiti earthquake they would have
ReplyDeleteAnonymous
ReplyDeleteIt's amazing how scientist can state that something was found to be several million years old and in this case erupted 2.1 million years ago when the world was created 7,000 yrs ago and destroyed by flood 6,000 years ago, making it impossible for anything to be over 6,000 years old. Where do they get their statistics? Man has no knowledge of anything happening millions of years ago.
We did visit this gorges park 5 years ago and I still remember the never see nowhere something like this Park
ReplyDeleteA must for thavelers
"We did visit this gorges park..." Were there any bridges over the gorges?
ReplyDeleteI am very interested to find out where the data for the earth being 7,000 years old came from.
ReplyDeleteIf the earth were actually only 7000 years old, that means that the system that geologists use to prospect for oil and minearals, design the foundations for major buildings and bridges, as well as many other things; is invalid. Saying the earth was created only 7000 years ago is a willful denial of reality, know as a a "false belief system".
ReplyDeleteAnonymous,
ReplyDeleteYou MUST be reading the Bible to come up with that silly statement about the earth being 7000 years old. You probably think the earth is still flat too! You bible thumpers are a pain!
Folks, if you are going to post a comment, please, please use spell check or a dictionary. The spelling in many of these comments is so bad that it makes it difficult to understand what you are trying to say.
ReplyDelete