Posted on 12/13/2013 6:20:25 PM PST by TroutGuy
The supervolcano that lies beneath Yellowstone National Park in the US is far larger than was previously thought, scientists report.
A study shows that the magma chamber is about 2.5 times bigger than earlier estimates suggested.
A team found the cavern stretches for more than 90km (55 miles) and contains 200-600 cubic km of molten rock.
The findings are being presented at the American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting in San Francisco.
Prof Bob Smith, from the University of Utah, said: “We’ve been working there for a long time, and we’ve always thought it would be bigger... but this finding is astounding."
If the Yellowstone supervolcano were to blow today, the consequences would be catastrophic.
The last major eruption, which occurred 640,000 years ago, sent ash across the whole of North America, affecting the planet’s climate.
(Excerpt) Read more at bbc.co.uk ...
What you really should be thinking about is what happens when all those nuclear power plant reactors and their spent fuel pools all go bang from lack of cooling. Really think about it now and tell me that they will be able to maintain cooling on dozens of these things with power out and transportation impossible. And everything buried in Ash. Look what happened to world from just one power plant in Japan. In this case there will be dozens. And it will be even far more impossible to deal with.
I suppose Pele might not be requesting the most important Hawaiian, but rather a virgin Hawaiian. In that case, feed Pele the Hawaiian with the virgin birth certificate.
The NY post said it is between 125 and 185 billion cubic miles of molten rock.
What a gneiss guy.
Make steam, run steam turbines, generate electricity. WIN.
I have known loess in my heart.
Yet Jesus was.
Not saying creation was exactly 6000 years ago, but God is not limited by our puny speculation
It's hardly speculation. God obviously wants us to figure out his creation. I don't think he created the effects of crustal plates moving over hot spots to deceive us. The same goes for the magnetic striping of ocean floors.
wow, we really need Obama’s “Affordable Care Act” in case this Yellowstone thingy blows up!!
Excellent graphic, ETL! Where did that come from? Thanks!
What’s interesting is Yellowstone Lake is rising. While out on a visit there a couple years ago they pointed out how once submerged boats are now on dried lands. This is caused by a growing volcanic gas pocket underneath the lake pushing the lake upwards. To get the full effect of what this super-volcano would do, one just has to look at a map of the US and see how it changed the geographic landscape west of the Mississippi.
I worked a project in Brigham City, UT a few years ago, and, like you, kept track of those swarms. If Yellowstone goes Big Time, you'll be the first to know (and go), but the rest of us (as far as the "go" part) won't be too many days/weeks/months behind.
This sounds like a great heat/power source like in Iceland. They could probably supply power to most of the west very cheaply at the same time reducing the risk of a Mt St Helen’s type of event
You’re welcome.
It came from here:
http://volcanoes.usgs.gov/volcanoes/yellowstone/yellowstone_geo_hist_52.html
Well cheer up its about 60,000 years til its due to blow up again. I plan to be playing a harp way before that. :-)
How do you safely get thermal power from a volcano?
Thank you for that.
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