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Ancient rhinos in Nebraska lived in large local herds and died slowly from volcanic ashfall, not sudden disaster. Credit: John Haxby/The University of Nebraska State Museum ************************************************************************* Volcanic eruption from 12 million years ago preserves a snapshot of extinct animal life. Rhinos that once roamed much of North America 12 million years ago likely lived in large herds, according to a new study by the University of Cincinnati. Researchers examined isotopes in the teeth of rhinos found in what is now northeast Nebraska. At this site, more than 100 rhinos died at a single water hole and were buried in...

A vast, ancient crater in the western United States may be home to one of the most significant mineral discoveries of the century. Published in the journal Science Advances, researchers have identified a geological formation beneath this site that could dramatically reshape the global landscape for clean energy technology. A Supervolcano’s Legacy Becomes a Resource Powerhouse The McDermitt Caldera, measuring 45 by 35 kilometers, was formed 16.4 million years ago following a catastrophic volcanic eruption. Over time, a lake developed inside the caldera, collecting thick layers of volcanic ash and mineral-rich sediments. These conditions gave rise to lithium-bearing clay minerals,...

Slumbering five miles beneath the surface of Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming is a timebomb more than 640,000 years in the making. The Yellowstone supervolcano is a vast reservoir of magma with the potential to unleash a category eight eruption over 100 times more powerful than Krakatoa. Thankfully, Yellowstone or any supervolcano of its size has never erupted within recorded human history. But now, artificial intelligence (AI) reveals exactly what that would look like.

DENVER (KDVR) — On Tuesday, visitors at Yellowstone National Park fled when a hydrothermal explosion occurred a few miles north of the famous Old Faithful geyser. No one was injured, but the event destroyed a nearby boardwalk and prompted officials to close the Biscuit Basin area of the park for the rest of the year. As alarming as the video and subsequent damage seemed, the phenomenon is a normal, common occurrence at Yellowstone, happening at least once each year. Officials with the U.S. Geological Survey told Nexstar hydrothermal explosions like the one that occurred this week are “not a sign...

SMITHS FERRY — A magnitude 4.9 earthquake shook Idaho residents Monday morning, with impacts felt in Boise in the Treasure Valley. The quake, which the U.S. Geological Survey said occurred at 10:25 a.m., is the largest in Idaho since a magnitude 6.5 quake occurred in March 2020. The agency said Monday’s quake originated near Smiths Ferry, about 50 miles south of McCall.

Geophysicist Mike Poland joins Cowboy State Daily's Wendy Corr on "The Roundup" about the super-volcano in Yellowstone, the thousands of earthquakes that hit Yellowstone every year, and why Yellowstone is not likely to blow up anytime soon.” ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A Conversation With Geophysicist Mike Poland Wendy Corr Well, hey there, folks, and welcome to The Roundup. We are a Cowboy State Daily podcast featuring voices, opinions and perspectives from interesting people in the Cowboy State. I'm your host, Wendy Corr. And we've got a fascinating subject today that we're going to talk about with Mike Poland, who is a geophysicist with...

VLADIMIR Putin’s allies have bizarrely threatened to use the Satan-2 nuclear missile to attack the Yellowstone supervolcano. The attack - that could cause a radioactive eruption - was openly talked about on state-run TV and came as the Russian tyrant ordered testing of the 16,000 mph missile. Putin is said to have warned Joe Biden of the test launch of the missile - officially known as the RS-28 Sarmat - in advance, while the US president was in Ukraine. Speaking on a nightly panel discussion about the war hosted by Kremlin mouthpiece Vladimir Solovyov, one military expert talked about how...

The vast expanse of Lake Taupō's sky blue waters, crowned by hazy, mountainous horizons, invokes an extreme sense of tranquility. And yet, deep in the ground below, geological unrest is brewing, according to a new paper in the New Zealand Journal of Geology and Geophysics. Lake Taupō is the largest freshwater lake in Australasia, located at the center of New Zealand's north island. And while it appears peaceful today, the lake has a violent origin story. The lake's waters sit within a prehistoric caldera – a word based on the Spanish for 'cauldron' or 'boiling pot' – formed during Earth's...

The Science Channel investigated a section of the valley and discovered many clouds of smoke pouring from beneath the ground. Using InSAR data that has been monitoring the region for the last 20 years, geophysicist Jared Peacock pointed out a worrying aspect of the caldera that might portend problems. InSAR is a remote sensing method that employs a laser to concentrate a beam of radiation on a target, bouncing back to a sensor on an antenna, providing a comprehensive map of a region. One of the most concerning sites in InSAR was near Mammoth Lakes, a hamlet in the Sierra...

aska has been in the headlines in recent days after its Great Sitkin volcano erupted last week. Last Thursday, the US Geological Survey said a red warning had been raised – indicating that significant emission of volcanic ash into the atmosphere is likely. The Alaska Volcano Observatory said a "short-duration" explosive eruption of one-two minutes occurred at 5:04 GMT on Thursday, resulting in an ash cloud up to 15,000 feet above sea level. They added: "Since that explosion, seismicity has decreased and satellite images show that the ash cloud has detached from the vent and is moving towards the east."...

The two new-found events have been named the McMullen Creek eruption (occurring about 8.99 million years ago) and the Grey's Landing eruption (occurring about 8.72 million years ago), and they significantly adjust Yellowstone's long-term volcanic timeline – and appear to show that huge eruptions are now occurring way less frequently than they once did. Scientists were able to use a combination of chemical, magnetic, and radio-isotopic analysis to link volcanic deposits across tens of thousands of square kilometres (or several thousand square miles), joining together geological records that were previously treated as separate. In other words, what had been seen...

An area at the center of the Norris Geyser Basin was found to inflate and deflateExperts have determined a intrusion of magma under the surface is to blameMagma became trapped at the top and pushed the rocks up above itThe magma has since receded, putting the pulsating on pause for now  An area the size of Chicago in Yellowstone National Park has been inflating and deflating by several inches over the past decadeThe Norris Geyser Basin, the oldest, hottest and most dynamic thermal area in the park, was observed to rise 5.9 inches each year from 2013 to 2015...

Steamboat Geyser, the tallest active geyser in the world, erupted more times in 2019 than in any other year, baffling scientists who are trying to understand what triggered this unusual streak of activity. The geyser can shoot water more than 300 feet into the air, and this year it has erupted more than 45 times, surpassing the 32 eruptions recorded in 2018. In the three years before that, however, the geyser didn't erupt at all. Unlike Old Faithful, which is famous for its highly predictable eruptions, Steamboat is an erratic giant. "In the 1960s, there was another period where there...

The Cascadia and San Andreas Faults may be linked, with earthquakes on one triggering events in the other "with minimal or no separation in time," scientists have said. Chris Goldfinger and Joel Gutierrez, from Oregon State University, say their evidence showing a relationship between the two goes back almost 3,000 years. The controversial findings, which have not yet been published, will be presented at the American Geophysical Union fall meeting in San Francisco on Friday. The San Andreas Fault forms part of the tectonic boundary between the Pacific and North American Plate. It stretches about 750 miles along the east...

A 100-foot fissure has opened up in the Grand Teton National Park – not far from the potentially catastrophic Yellowstone volcano. The giant crack in the Wyoming–based national park has prompted officials to shut down areas from tourists in case of landslides. The Grand Teton National Park said in a statement: “The Hidden Falls and Inspiration Point areas are currently closed due to elevated potential for rockfall. [...snip...] If it was seismic activity beneath Grand Teton which caused the fissure, it could be a sign that Yellowstone is reawakening. If the Wyoming volcano were to erupt an estimated 87,000 people...

Latest swarm began Feb 8, about 8mi northeast of West Yellowstone, Montana As of February 18, the scientists say they've detected more than 200 quakes Still, experts say the activity is 'relatively weak,' and alert level remains normal A new swarm of earthquakes has cropped up at the Yellowstone supervolcano, with more than 200 small temblors detected in the last 10 days alone. According to experts with the US Geological Survey, the latest swarm began on February 8 in a region roughly eight miles northeast of West Yellowstone, Montana – and, it’s increased dramatically in the days since. But for...

YELLOWSTONE is “under strain” according to a group of seismologists who are monitoring the potentially catastrophic volcano, prompting fears an eruption is imminent. _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Yellowstone ERUPTION: Supervolcano under 'STRAIN’ - experts find magma chamber pressure ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ A process known as deformation, where subsurface rocks subtly change shapes, is occurring beneath the surface of Yellowstone which alerts experts. Researchers state deformation occurs when there is a change in the amount of pressure in the magma chamber and experts are keeping an eye on the development. Seismologists from UNAVCO, a nonprofit university-governed consortium, are using “Global Positioning System, borehole tiltmeters, and borehole...

China has limited access to a nature reserve on its border with North Korea after mysterious seismic shakes at the rogue nation's nuclear test site were detected less than 10 minutes after it launched a missile earlier this month. Beijing reportedly closed the site over fears that underground detonations by the North Koreans at a facility near Punggye-ri could lead to rockslides and even trigger an eruption of the active volcano Mount Paektu, which is sacred to North Korea and located right on the border between the two countries.

Beneath Yellowstone National Park is a giant volcano. The heat from this volcano powers all of the park's famous geysers and hot springs, so most tourists probably don't worry about having tons of hot magma under their feet. But perhaps they should: The Yellowstone supervolcano is a disaster waiting to happen. The supervolcano erupts about every 600,000 years, and it's been about that long since the last eruption. That means the volcano could erupt any day now, and if it does it'll send enough dust and ash into the sky to blot out the sun for years, along with blowing...

More than 800 earthquakes have now been recorded at the Yellowstone Caldera, a long-dormant supervolcano located in Yellowstone National Park, over the last two weeks - an ominous sign that a potentially catastrophic eruption could be brewing. However, despite earthquakes occurring at a frequency unseen during any period in the past five years, the US Geological Survey says the risk level remains in the “green,” unchanged from its normal levels, according to Newsweek. The biggest earthquake in this “swarm” - which registered a magnitude of 4.4 – took place on June 15, three days after the rumblings started. That quake...