Yellowstone National Park is swelling. Literally. According to scientists at the University of Utah, the land is is puffing up about 2.8 inches per year.
Why?
Because much of the park sits on top of a giant, basin-like volcano called a caldera. And when the underground volcano gets restless, upward-moving, melted rock and rising heat push the land up.
Now, before you freak out and cancel your family vacation to Yellowstone, understand that the scientists are not saying that the volcano is about to erupt. Calderas can rise several feet without erupting, and there’s no indication that Yellowstone will blow its top any time soon.
But . . .
The caldera has erupted several times in the past: around 2 million years ago, 1.3 million years ago, and 600,000 years ago. Which means that the volcano seems to erupt roughly every 600,000 years or so. And it’s been about 600,000 years since it last erupted.
And when it does erupt, the explosion is massive. According to the forboding website armageddononline.org, the last major Yellowstone eruption covered most of the North Amercian continent with ash.
Finally, scientists are still learning about what makes calderas tick. What they do know is that the Yellowstone caldera is one of the world’s most active. We have it to thank for all those cool geysers, bubbling mud pools, and rotten-egg smelling sulfur springs that make Yellowstone such an amazing place.
So the Yellowstone caldera may erupt one day. And when it does the explosion could massively reshape that entire part of the continent. But until then, it’s providing scientists with a wealth of information about hydrothermal systems and volcanic activity.
And it’s a great tourist attraction.
Source: Discovery Channel News
This is one of those stories that makes us think about how different our human timescale is than Nature’s timescale …
Deborah
It is also very sobering knowing that this planet we live on may have a whole set of variables that we haven’t even begun to account for yet, let alone anticipate their effects on life. If the cladera that is Yellowstone park blows it will dramatically alter the worlds weather pattern in an instant. If you think human activity has caused serious changes in climatic conditions, remember it has taken all of our recorded history to get here(nearly 10,000 years) This thing would put out more CO2, Methane, oxides of sulfur, and ash in one hour than we have in the whole history of internal combustion engines. And an eruption could last for days, weeks or even years.
“Now, before you freak out and cancel your family vacation to Yellowstone, understand that the scientists are not saying that the volcano is about to erupt. Calderas can rise several feet without erupting, and there’s no indication that Yellowstone will blow its top any time soon.”
Might want to have a look at this chart. Note the third chart (vertical). It looks startling to me. Remember, scientists aren’t always correct.
http://www.uusatrg.utah.edu/Site_Info/scat_lkwy.gif
Well, then I HOPE those scientists know what they’re talking about. What’s not clear to me (and maybe not to the scientists yet, either) is whether it’s a certainty that the Yellowstone caldera will eventually explode. Or maybe calderas go extinct, like other types of volcanos are known to do. The Yellowstone caldera appears to be pretty active, though.
And I thought Old Faithful was a big explosion!
When I look at the mountains in the west, I realize that we humans are a puny group indeed. Our earth is larger and more durable than our speices. And, our earth is a little planet in a little solar system in a little galaxy. And that is from what little we have seen of the universe. A little humility is in order. Hubris is ill-conceived on the part of homo sapiens.