Yellowstone More Volcanically Active than Previously Estimated

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

[Lyndal]

Aghhh - spell check.

[John H K]

Toba was one heck of an eruption.

The Toba eruption was MUCH, MUCH smaller than the last three Yellowstone Caldera Blasts.

[Dog Gone]

That's true. The next time Yellowstone goes, it's the end of this nation. But that's okay, since it will probably end most nations.

It's really going to ruin real estate prices, I know that. ;-)

[Mike Darancette]

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?

The Hawaiian hotspot is 70 million years old (vs 17 million for Yellowstone) with a track running from the Emporer Seamounts to Hawaii Some 6,000 km all of which is in the Pacific Ocean. There is no explanation as to it's cause.

Both hotspots are stationary with the crustal plates moving relative to the hotspots.

The Hawaii hotspot track has a pronounced dogleg left where the motion of the Pacific Plate changed direction some 43mya.

USGS on Hawaiian Hotspot

[blam]

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

So this says Toba was just a bit bigger than the Yellowstone eruption?

[blam]

"So this says Toba was just a bit bigger than the Yellowstone eruption?"

That's the way I read it.

[blam]

More comparisons (Minus Toba)

[willyone]

Asteroid? Hawaii is the most recent of the Hawaiian Islands formed by a hot spot where the earths crust is thin at the bottom of the Pacific. All the other Hawaiian Islands are in decline as there is no longer any volcanic activity renewing them. They have moved with the crust away from the vent. Midway was once a large Island in the Hawaiian chain. Not much left of it now.

[willyone]

Crater Lake and Lake Tahoe put Yellowstone to shame in the size dept. Tahoe is a twenty mile by thirty mile caldera which was formed 750,000 years ago when the volcano there blew. It did not just send ash to Nebraska it sent rocks that far. Some debris has been speculated to have actually been blasted into space. Pretty impressive.

[dirtboy]

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

Yeppurs. Of course, to simple humans like you and me, any second now is about two thousand generations...

[RightWhale]

Hawaii may be more than a thin spot in the crust. There is an overabundance of Helium 3 in the basalts, which appear to have come up all the way from the core. According to J. Marvin Herndon's article in the Aug. Discover magazine.

[Dog Gone]

It would be fascinating to see the next eruption, but not any fun to attempt to live through. I don't think you or I have much to worry about.

[Old Professer]

The Yellowstone hotspot -- which many scientists believe is a plume-like zone of hot and molten rising from at least 125 miles beneath Earth's surface -- 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.

Given this time procession, we are due for another such event anytime now, give or take a few thousand years.

[PeaceBeWithYou]

Crater Lake and Lake Tahoe put Yellowstone to shame in the size dept. Tahoe is a twenty mile by thirty mile caldera which was formed 750,000 years ago when the volcano there blew.

Uhhh..No. Yellowstone's Caldera is about 10x the size of Mt. Mazama's, and Tahoe is a basin, not a caldera.

Name	Caldera Size	Volume of erupted material
Yellowstone (.6 my ago)	75km x 45km	~ 1,000 km3
Mt. Mazama (Crater Lake)	7km x 8km	~75 km3
Mt. Pinatubo, Philippines	None	~10 km3
Mt. St. Helens	None	~1-2 km3

Source.

Lake Tahoe: Was formed by faulting that occurred over millions of years as the Sierra Nevada range rose from a shallow sea to the west and the Carson Range rose to the east. Snow, rain, creeks and rivers drained into the basin, forming a lake. The lake level increased until it reached an outlet near the present town of Truckee. Active volcanoes poured lava into the basin, eventually damming the outlet and causing waters to rise several hundred feet higher than Lake Tahoe’s current level. A new outlet was cut just east of one volcano, Mount Pluto, near the present location of Northstar Ski Resort. Source.

[ATOMIC_PUNK]

Remember folks it ends in fire and brimstone

[billhilly]

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

Your optimism is impressive.

[cogitator]

Hawaii is the most recent of the Hawaiian Islands formed by a hot spot where the earths crust is thin at the bottom of the Pacific.

And next in line is the Loihi seamount.