Posted on 03/02/2006 5:28:00 AM PST by The_Victor
BILLINGS, Mont. - A newly discovered surface bulge in Yellowstone National Park may be responsible for some unexpected geothermal activity in recent years, according to a study by U.S. Geological Survey scientists.
The bulge, about 25 miles across, rose 5 inches from 1997 to 2003 and may have triggered some thermal unrest at Norris Geyser Basin, including a sudden rise in temperatures, new steam vents and the awakening of Steamboat geyser.
The findings are part of a paper set to be published Thursday in the journal Nature.
Charles Wicks, one of the USGS scientists who worked on the study, said much of what happens beneath the park's surface remains a mystery, but more is being learned about the Yellowstone caldera, the huge bowl-shaped collapsed volcano in the middle of the park that last erupted 640,000 years ago.
Geologists discovered the dome on the northern rim of the caldera several years ago, and Wicks and others used satellite images and other tools to track its swelling.
Wicks and his colleagues theorize that molten rock moved out of the caldera and beneath the area of the inflating dome, which has been named the North Rim Uplift Anomaly. The floor of the caldera sank as the molten rock left.
Around the same time, some unusual activity began occurring in and around Norris Geyser Basin, according to the USGS findings.
Steamboat geyser erupted in May 2000 after nine years of dormancy, and then erupted five more times between 2002 and 2003. The nearby Porkchop geyser also sprang to life after 14 years of dormancy.
Ground temperatures at Norris, the hottest and most unstable geyser area in the park, rose so high in 2003 that Yellowstone officials closed some boardwalks out of fear that visitors might be burned.
And just north of Norris near Nymph Lake, a series of steam vents churned and emitted white clouds of gas.
Scientists studying the shore of Yellowstone Lake found that the caldera has been rising and falling for at least 15,000 years, sometimes swinging more than 10 feet.
Henry Heasler, Yellowstone's lead geologist, said research about the heaving caldera could play a role in predicting volcanic activity and help ensure the public's safety.
"We've known that the caldera breathes," Heasler said. "Now we're starting to get a much better idea of those respirations."
Bombay would probably be too close, too.
In 1815, the eruption of Mt. Tambora, Indonesia, resulted in an extremely cold spring and summer in 1816, which became known as the year without a summer. The Tambora eruption is believed to be the largest of the last ten thousand years. New England and Europe were hit exceptionally hard. Snowfalls and frost occurred in June, July and August and all but the hardiest grains were destroyed. Destruction of the corn crop forced farmers to slaughter their animals. Soup kitchens were opened to feed the hungry. Sea ice migrated across Atlantic shipping lanes, and alpine glaciers advanced down mountain slopes to exceptionally low elevations.
Again, drama queen baloney.
"Charles Wicks, one of the USGS scientists who worked on the study, said much of what happens beneath the park's surface remains a mystery, but more is being learned about the Yellowstone caldera, the huge bowl-shaped collapsed volcano in the middle of the park that last erupted 640,000 years ago."
Okay, C.W., if you drop 2 of those 0's, I might just start believing you
...6,400 years ago...
"Okay, C.W., if you drop 2 of those 0's, I might just start believing you
...6,400 years ago... "
Why should *U* believe *YOU*? They have empirical data to support the 640k year number. How about you?
I believe the figure for the total number of caldera-forming blasts from the Yellowstone hot spot (extending SW along the track through Idaho and Oregon) is something like 15-20.
If the world were 6,000 years old those eruptions would have been 300 years apart and human life would be impossible.
Feel free to read this (though I know you won't):
http://geology.cr.usgs.gov/capabilities/gronemtrac/geochron/geochron.html
http://volcanoes.usgs.gov/yvo/faqshistory.html
That's Global Warming for ya'.
Ol Doinyo Lengai volcano in Tanzania emits millions of tons of CO2 and Sulphur gases annually.
The 200-mile area of Italy between Florence and Naples produces an enormous amount of carbon dioxide...
"People have known about these springs for a long time," says John D. Rogie, graduate student in geosciences. "At Acqua Terme, the boiling water and carbon dioxide geyser is encased in glass and is part of a spa resort." In one location, the researchers note, a spring has been cased and tapped to supply carbon dioxide to a Coca Cola bottling plant.
"These sites are locally known, but not generally publicized outside of Italy," says Kerrick. "Some produce virtually 100 percent carbon dioxide and are quite lethal. The area around such vents is typically littered with animal carcasses and people have died in these areas." One reason these places are so lethal is that carbon dioxide is invisible and heavier than air. The gas sits on the ground and flows to low areas. Animals and humans caught in these areas can be killed before they have time to leave.
For details of this information see Hot Springs are Significant Contributors to Atmospheric Pollution
Newly discovered? I read about this years ago.
>> If she blows, it's all Bush's fault. <<
Just because yellowstone has a bulge, doesn't mean she (whoever that its) needs to blow it. Especially not with a perfectly good Bush around...
Yeah, but think of all the great potatoes the survivors could farm!
>> We live on the edge of the projected immediate-kill zone. I figure when I hear it blow I'll have just enough time to enjoy a glass of good whiskey and a fine cigar! <<
Uh, no.
You don't do wanna do that on the edge of the kill zone. The people on the edge get the slow, agonizing deaths. If you can'y run away, run towards.
bttt
They knew about the bulge for several years, they're just now getting around to panicking about it.
What would be the basis for that number?
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