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Overdue Supervolcanoes 'May Erupt Soon'
Sky News ^ | January 30, 2005

Posted on 01/30/2005 8:41:42 PM PST by HAL9000

SUPERVOLCANOES WARNING

Slumbering supervolcanoes powerful enough to wipe out much of the planet may awaken much sooner than it had previously been thought.

Experts believed it would take hundreds of thousands of years for reservoirs of molton rock, or magma, beneath a supervolcano to build for an eruption.

But a new study indicates the time between super-eruptions can actually be tens of thousands of years - and many are already long overdue.

A blast from a supervolcano would be strong enough cause mass extinction and change the world's climate.

The findings, published in the Journal of Petrology, are bad news for anyone living in the centre of the US.

An overdue monster supervolcano is hidden underneath one of the country's premier holiday spots - Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming.

The last blast there, which occurred more than 600,000 years ago, covered half the US - around 3,000sq miles - with volcanic ash.

Researchers in New Zealand analysed zircon crystals, which grow within volcanic magma, to calculate how long build up takes before eruptions.

Their answer was no more than 40,000 years - a relatively short time in geological terms.

Supervolcanoes are estimated to carry a force thousands of times that of a normal explosion.

They spew thousands of cubic yards of ash, dust and poisonous sulphur dioxide into the atmosphere and create a giant crater, or caldera.

Recent measurements indicate that over the past century the earth above the Yellowstone magma chamber has risen almost 19 inches. Scientists say this is telling evidence of pressure building below.



TOPICS: News/Current Events; US: Wyoming
KEYWORDS: callingartbell; climatechange; ele; environment; eruption; geology; history; supervolcano; supervolcanoes; volcano; volcanoes; vulcanology; wearetoast; weredoomed; yellowstone
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To: Lokibob

Volcanic Eruptions - The Volcanic Explosivity Index

Category Category Description

0 Non-Explosive (Hawaiian)
Plume: < 100 m/Volume: > 1000 m3

1 Gentle (Hawaiian - Strombolian)
Plume: 100 - 1000 m/Volume: >10,000 m3

2 Explosive (Strombolian - Vulcanian)
Plume: 1 - 5 km/Volume: > 1,000,000 m3

3 Severe (Vulcanian)
Plume: 3 - 15 km/Volume: > 10,000,000 m3

4 Cataclysmic (Vulcanian - Plinian)
Plume: 10 - 25 km/Volume: > 100,000,000 m3

5 Paroxysmal (Plinian)
Plume: >25 km/Volume: > 1 km3

6 Colossal (Plinian - Ultraplinian)
Plume: > 25 km/Volume: > 10 km3

7 No Adjectival Description
Plume: > 25 km/Volume: > 100 km3

8 No Adjectival Description
Plume: > 25 km/Volume: > 1,000 km3


101 posted on 01/30/2005 9:48:20 PM PST by Kirkwood (Liberals gave the world "Rock the Vote." George W Bush gave the world "Iraq: The vote!")
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To: HAL9000

Enough already! First it was the population explosion causing worldwide famine by the 1980s, then asteroids and comets hitting us, rampant global warming, new deadly tropical diseases, tsunamis wiping out the East Coast, and now volcanoes? What happened to the ice age and the immiment threat from nuclear power stations? Don't we have enough to worry about with Hillary Clinto still on the loose?


102 posted on 01/30/2005 9:58:03 PM PST by Winston7000 (Near Chicago)
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To: THEUPMAN
According to Tom Beardenthere was a mag 5.0 earthquake under the yellowstone caldera a year ago, caused by a scaler inferometer beam weapon(as mentioned by DefSec William Cohen)leased by the yakuza(japanese mafia)from the russians(this was NOT reported in the press). This EM beam weapon is also being used to modify our weather(some 20 different countries are currently having a WAR with these weapons in weather modification).
103 posted on 01/30/2005 10:01:50 PM PST by timer
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To: Echo Talon

No - darn it - the closest one is Mt. St. Helens in Oregon - I think - and then it would only be a problem to CA if the winds were in the right direction. Otherwise, the winds from the west would blow the ash to the east instead of to the south.


104 posted on 01/30/2005 10:02:31 PM PST by CyberAnt (Where are the dem supporters? - try the trash cans in back of the abortion clinics.)
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To: RipSawyer

More importantly, did the article mention if there was more than one eruption that they know about?


105 posted on 01/30/2005 10:06:41 PM PST by coconutt2000 (NO MORE PEACE FOR OIL!!! DOWN WITH TYRANTS, TERRORISTS, AND TIMIDCRATS!!!! (3-T's For World Peace))
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To: RipSawyer
""The last blast there, which occurred more than 600,000 years ago, covered half the US - around 3,000sq miles - with volcanic ash."

There is a blatant flaw in this sentence making it unbelievable to anyone with an IQ above 95. "

Proving beyond a shadow of a doubt that the little genius from the Associated Press who authored the article is another idiot with a degree from the Columbia School of Journalism.

106 posted on 01/30/2005 10:09:19 PM PST by tom h
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To: Lokibob
Great, thanks a lot for posting that!

On a smaller scale, Discovery showed a very interesting programme on Vesuvius this evening. 700,000 people living in the red zone around the foot of the mountain. What will happen if a repeat of the Plinian eruption in 79AD occurs? There is no way that scientists will be able to convince people to evacuate if they cannot say for definite if an eruption is imminent. By the time they're sure, it'll be too late to get everyone out that densely populated area.

107 posted on 01/30/2005 10:11:19 PM PST by Youngblood
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To: HAL9000
The HUGE Supervolcano at Yellowstone National Park is about 20,000 years overdue for eruption. Last I heard was that the ground was so hot in the park that many areas near the hot springs have been closed to the public. Animals have been fleeing from the region for months.

More Info Posted Here

108 posted on 01/30/2005 10:17:04 PM PST by ex-Texan (Mathew 7:1 through 6)
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To: timer

"According to Tom Beardenthere was a mag 5.0 earthquake under the yellowstone caldera a year ago, caused by a scaler inferometer beam weapon(as mentioned by DefSec William Cohen)leased by the yakuza(japanese mafia)from the russians(this was NOT reported in the press). This EM beam weapon is also being used to modify our weather(some 20 different countries are currently having a WAR with these weapons in weather modification)."

Really? Why am I always the last to know?


109 posted on 01/30/2005 10:18:30 PM PST by Kirkwood (Liberals gave the world "Rock the Vote." George W Bush gave the world "Iraq: The vote!")
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To: NutCrackerBoy
Well, who the heck cares what the climate will be WHEN WE'RE ALL DEAD!

I lifted this from elsewhere:

Supervolcano blows, will result in extinction of mankind.

NY Times headline the next day before NY is destroyed by ash:

WORLD ENDS TOMORROW: WOMEN AND MINORITIES HIT HARDEST

110 posted on 01/30/2005 10:34:09 PM PST by roadcat
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To: Judith Anne; cajungirl

And we are all just dead, naked and dead, and they laugh at us.

Well, I personally am wearing pajamas and a robe, and slippers.

Volcano? No problem, where's the marshmellows and hotdogs?


111 posted on 01/30/2005 10:51:42 PM PST by ancient_geezer (Don't reform it, Replace it!!)
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To: RipSawyer
There is a blatant flaw in this sentence making it unbelievable to anyone with an IQ above 95.

it's the new math learned at government schools.

112 posted on 01/30/2005 10:51:58 PM PST by liberty2004
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To: HAL9000

Better vote for the democrats, they'll save us.


113 posted on 01/30/2005 10:57:05 PM PST by lotusblos
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To: Strategerist
I didn't think the NZ volcano quite reached super volcano status, at least not 26.5k years ago, although I'm not certain of the cutoff. The last 'super volcano' was Toba in Indonesia about 74k years ago according to the Discovery Channel show many here recall. According to the sidebar of this, Taupo put out 500km3 then. For comparison:

Yellowstone 2M BC 2500km3
Yellowstone 1.3M BC 280km3
Yellowstone 600k BC 1000km3
Toba 74k BC 3000km3
Taupo 24.5k BC 500km3
Santorini 1.6k BC 30km3
Tambora 1815 150km3
Krakatoa 1883 18km3
Mt. St. Helens 1980 0.3km3

The numbers come from a variety of sources I've collected since first seeing THE show. See also this old thread.

Tambora was huge, but is little remembered today even though it caused widespread crop failures ("The year without summer.") Civilization survived. Santorini was smaller, but left a memorable crater and likely ended the Minoan civilization. Plus likely started the Atlantis mythos. Neither were "Super." Sooner or later there will be another Super Volcano, Super Asteroid, Super Tsunami, or Super Liberal Politician will come along and threaten civilization as we know it. It could be soon, it could be a long way off, but it is sure to come. The odds favor the unnatural latter problem. We'd better have a stable economy on the Moon and beyond by then if we want to fulfill Science Fiction's Manifest Destiny.

114 posted on 01/30/2005 10:57:32 PM PST by JohnBovenmyer (I)
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To: sassbox

Frankly, I'm more concerned about the condition of my soul, since we are all going to die inevitably and go meet our Maker and Divine Judge.

JMHO


115 posted on 01/30/2005 11:01:17 PM PST by broadsword ("It's a Religion of Peace, and we'll KILL YOU to prove it!")
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To: snarks_when_bored
But what about this one?

They spew thousands of cubic yards of ash, dust and poisonous sulphur dioxide into the atmosphere and create a giant crater, or caldera.

Duh.

Duh, fer sure. The USGS says that Mt. St. Helens, a moderate volcano, spewed 3.7 billion cubic yards of material (most into the air, I presume). What's a factor of a million between friends, anyway?

This "science writer" would seem to be a complete idjet.

116 posted on 01/30/2005 11:20:46 PM PST by ProtectOurFreedom
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To: JohnBovenmyer

I saw a documentary called "Who was Moses" a while back (can't remember if it was National Geographic or Discovery), and they put forward a hypothesis that the eruption/explosion of Santorini was responsible for some of the seemingly supernatural occurances in the story of the flight from Egypt, most notably falling ash, and a tsunami causing a massive tidal effect around the Nile Delta, letting Moses cross and drowning the Egyptians (the programme alleged that the Red Sea was a mistranslation, and that Moses in fact crossed the Reed Sea or Sea of Reeds, which was in the delta).


117 posted on 01/30/2005 11:45:25 PM PST by Youngblood
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To: HAL9000

"Recent measurements indicate that over the past century the earth above the Yellowstone magma chamber has risen almost 19 inches. Scientists say this is telling evidence of pressure building below."

Yeah, but has it been building up for 40,000 years, or did it just start?

Do they know???? I wish they would try to do more detailed pieces than just it may blow. Yeah, we know. But, I would like more info than that.

It is definitely quite a bit overdue, though...unless its cycle is slowing down, and it is delaying its eruption.


118 posted on 01/30/2005 11:49:56 PM PST by rwfromkansas ("War is an ugly thing, but...the decayed feeling...which thinks nothing worth war, is worse." -Mill)
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To: Mr. Mojo

Just think about the Earthquake that would just rock the entire United States if Yellowstone goes.

It would be heard here and probably Canada and perhaps even central America.


119 posted on 01/30/2005 11:51:03 PM PST by rwfromkansas ("War is an ugly thing, but...the decayed feeling...which thinks nothing worth war, is worse." -Mill)
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To: tickmeister

past eruptions have sent ash way beyond the Plains almost to the Gulf Coast.


120 posted on 01/30/2005 11:53:19 PM PST by rwfromkansas ("War is an ugly thing, but...the decayed feeling...which thinks nothing worth war, is worse." -Mill)
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