Yellowstone More Volcanically Active than Previously Estimated

Space Daily ^ | 07/19/2002 | Brooke Shiley

[cogitator]

Thar she blows!

[stylin_geek]

I did a double take when I saw the name of the author...Brooke Shi...ley. I did find the article to be rather interesting. Thanks for the post.

[Mike Darancette]

produced its three most recent caldera eruptions at or near the present site of Yellowstone National Park 2 million, 1.3 million and 642,000 years ago.

Looks like it's due.

...extending from the Oregon-Idaho- Nevada border northeast to Yellowstone.

I read someplace that this hotspot was created by a large object striking the Earth about 17mya.

[Dog Gone]

Looks like it's due.

No kidding. On a geologic timescale, it's the equivalent of any second now.

[where's_the_Outrage?]

The Discovery channel has a very interesting program on this specific issue. For example they've found Yellowstone has risen several centimeters from a 1920's survey.

[lexington minuteman 1775]

Boy if this thing erupts the same year as the asteroid hits in 2019 I suspect the global warming folks will go into hibernation.BWHAHAHAHAHA!

[RightWhale]

this hotspot was created by a large object striking the Earth about 17mya

Kind of a permanent weakness, then?

What about the idea that Hawaii and Iceland are similar types of hotspots that go very very deep as opposed to West Coast volcanos that are involved only with the continemtal plates? Would Yellowstone be very deep like Iceland and Hawaii?

[Salgak]

When it starts rising at centimeters per month or week. . . then I'd start clearing out the West and mid-West (g)

[Campion]

Actually, it rose from the 1920's to the 1980's, but has now started to subside again. It was 90 cm higher than the 1920's level, now it's only 50 cm higher. (sigh of relief)

[Mike Darancette]

What about the idea that Hawaii and Iceland are similar types of hotspots that go very very deep as opposed to West Coast volcanos that are involved only with the continemtal plates? Would Yellowstone be very deep like Iceland and Hawaii?

Yellowstone and Hawaiian hotspots are similar as they are the shallow manifestations of deep magma plumes. Iceland is not a hotspot in the sense of Hawaii and Yellowstone but rather due to spreading along a plate boundary.

The Yellowstone hotspot is much older than the Cascade Volcanoes and seems to not be related.

[blam]

"When it starts rising at centimeters per month or week. . . then I'd start clearing out the West and mid-West (g)"

The last time this thing blew (Super-Volcanoes) it deposited 6 feet of ash in Nebraska. Toba (same category) exploded 75,000 years and extimates are that only 5,000 people worldwide survived. (DNA studies support this contention)

[Dog Gone]

Maybe we'll be lucky and the continent will continue drifting until the hotspot is under Martha's Vineyard before blowing.

[RightWhale]

Well, then, two other things. Is Hawaii due to an asteroid impact way back a long time ago, and is the Yellowstone plume moving relative to the crust like Hawaii?

[blam]

Toba
The last super-volcano to blow it's top 75,000 ya.

[chemainus]

Martha's Vineyard is a good choice spot... so is LA......and don't forget DC.... sort of like rolling two senators down a hill in the same barrel....ya' got uh summbich on top all the time

[Dog Gone]

Toba was one heck of an eruption. Where did you hear that it killed all but 5,000 humans worldwide? The eruption was a very long distance from Africa.

[Salgak]

Mind you, world population, 75,000 years ago was likely to be only a few million at most. None of which knew what was coming, or could take effective precautions....

[blam]

"Where did you hear that it killed all but 5,000 humans worldwide? The eruption was a very long distance from Africa."

Numerous places but, most recently on one of the documentary channels that has a program titled, Super Volacanos. It was a nuclear/cosmic winter effect that killed most.

[Dog Gone]

That makes some sense. I assume there is some evidence to suggest a sudden climate change accompanying the blast.

It certainly did eject an incredible amount of ash into the atmosphere.

[Lyndal]

Good article. Local folklore in Cody, WY just east of Yellowstone says that Heart Mtn just north of Cody along highway 120 was blown out of the caldera in yellowston and landed ther upside down. Or so I've been told.