Yellowstone Lake Hints at Buildup to Hugh Blast.

Denver Post ^ | August. 10th, 2003 | Diedtra Henderson, Science writer

[Orlando]

Yellowstone National Park,Wyo.-

The mystery of the deep at picturesque Yellowstone Lake is a BULGE that rises 100 feet from the lake floor, stretches the length of seven football fields, and has the potential to explode at any time.

[Orlando]

>Water temperatures 65 feet below the surface shot as high as 187 degrees Fahrenheit.<

[strela]

Are you series?

(heh heh, he said "bulge" ... heh heh ...)

[boris]

All your bulge are belong to us.

[freebilly]

Wowe! This is vey Series...!

[ThreePuttinDude]

OH NO.......save the wife and kids....not a HUGH Blast....

[Gritty]

If I recall, a lot of people laughed when Mt. St. Helens was doing the same thing.

[Consort]

If the temperature increases another 25°, the lake will start to boil.

[Catspaw]

When we were in Yellowstone in the early 90's, they had the same concern.

[StatesEnemy]

Nope... water pressure, plus MOST of the water at Lake Yellowstone will kill you in summer via hypothermia.

[ClearCase_guy]

Danger at Yellowstone: Women, minorities are likeliest victims.

[Richard Axtell]

They ought to interview this Hugh Blast guy, I'll bet he knows what's going on.

[umgud]

This should have been posted under "bulging news"..

[basil]

I was at Yellowstone a couple of months ago, and heard none of this. But then, I always miss the hugh series stuff.

[John H K]

Well, Yellowstone is a caldera, and everything about calderas is infinately more complicated than a pretty much standard stratovolcano like St. Helens, which is much simpler by comparison.

Long Valley Caldera in CA had a great many indicators of possible eruptive activity, similar to St. Helens, in the 80s and 90s and has yet to erupt.

Also, for those who don't read the article, they're NOT talking about another caldera-forming blast like the ones hundreds of thousands of years ago that would kill everyon in the 3 adjacent states and end agriculture in the midwest, etc; HUGH blasts are a relative thing :-)

[Bobibutu]

The Yellostone Basin was created by a massive blast thousands of years ago ... if memory serves me - there is a story about a geologist that was studying the area and found that the crater was the whole basin. He had been looking for something smaller.

I'll look for a link or 2

[Orlando]

On August 7th, it was reported on the Salt lake tribune
that the ground temperatures now up to 212 degrees Fahrenheit, and that new steam vents, and mud pots have
formed in recent weeks,etc...

Here's that report:

"Strange activity in Yellowstone"


http://www.sltrib.com/2003/Aug/08072003/utah/81920.asp


there are other signs of a possible problem with yellowstone...check-out breaking news section for better information and data...


http://www.volcanolive.com


okay there is a bulge under the lake...

[TC Rider]

I first visited Yellowstone back in '77. Like many dumb tourists, I was astounded to learn the whole area was volcanically active. Geysers, mudpots, fumeroles, hot springs, etc were everywhere.

I always thought Ol' Faithful was all there was.

I travelled through the area regularly, my favorite stop was Thermopolis.

[Ditter]

If Hugh is getting ready to blast I'm outta here!

[Bobibutu]

http://minerals.cr.usgs.gov/projects/yellowstone/task5.html

and

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/628515.stm

Thursday, 3 February, 2000, 10:34 GMT
Supervolcanoes could trigger global freeze

Heat rises from under Yellowstone Park



By environment correspondent Alex Kirby

The threat of climate change caused by human activity could turn out to be a minor problem by comparison with a scarcely acknowledged natural hazard.

Geologists say there is a real risk that sooner or later a supervolcano will erupt with devastating force, sending temperatures plunging on a hemispheric or even global scale.

A report by the BBC Two programme Horizon on one supervolcano, at Yellowstone national park in the US, says it is overdue for an eruption.

Yellowstone has gone off roughly once every 600,000 years. Its last eruption was 640,000 years ago.

Professor Bill McGuire, of the Benfield Greig Hazard Research Centre at University College, London, told BBC News Online: "We're getting ready for another eruption, unless the system has blown itself out.

"But the ground surface deformation and other signs measured by satellite suggest it's still active, and on the move."

Molten rock

Typically, supervolcanoes are not mountains but depressions, huge collapsed craters called calderas, which are hard to detect.

The Yellowstone caldera is 70 kilometres long and 30 km wide. Eight km beneath the Earth's surface lies a huge magma chamber, containing vast amounts of molten rock.

As pressure rises in the chamber, the surface is also rising and there is a measurable increase in heat. But vulcanologists do not know when Yellowstone will blow.


Supervolcanoes are related to giant calderas

Professor McGuire, whose book, Apocalypse! A natural history of global disasters, portrays a possible Yellowstone explosion in 2074, says there have been two such events every 100,000 years for the last two million years.

The areas where supervolcanoes are most likely to be found, he says, are subduction zones, where the Earth's plates are dipping below one another. The Pacific Rim and southeast Asia are especially vulnerable.

But there is a caldera in the Phlegraean Fields near Naples in southern Italy. Dr Ted Nield, of the Geological Society of London, told BBC News Online: "It could do the same as Yellowstone, though on a smaller scale".

Nuclear winter

"When a supervolcano goes off, it is an order of magnitude greater than a normal eruption. It produces energy equivalent to an impact with a comet or an asteroid.

"You can try diverting an asteroid. But there is nothing at all you can do about a supervolcano.

"The eruption throws cubic kilometres of rock, ash, dust, sulphur dioxide and so on into the upper atmosphere, where they reflect incoming solar radiation, forcing down temperatures on the Earth's surface. It's just like a nuclear winter.

Animals not caught in the eruption would face major climate change

"The effects could last four or five years, with crops failing and the whole ecosystem breaking down. And it is going to happen again some day."

Ice-core records show that the eruption of Toba in Sumatra about 74,000 years ago may have caused global cooling of from three to five degrees Celsius, and perhaps as much as 10 degC during growing seasons in middle to high latitudes.

Even ordinary volcanoes can affect the climate. When another Indonesian volcano, Tambora, erupted in 1815, several years of globally cold weather followed, with the annual global mean surface temperature about one degree Celsius below normal.

The Geological Society, in evidence to the UK Parliament, is urging more research into the risk from supervolcanoes and their probable climatic effects.

Horizon is on BBC Two at 2130 GMT on Thursday, 3 February.

[MarkL]

It's the global warming! Better sign the Kyoto treaty, quick!

Mark

[FreedomPoster]

>>Danger at Yellowstone: Women, minorities are likeliest victims.

You're forgetting the CHILLruns!

[Ken H]

The Yellostone Basin was created by a massive blast thousands of years ago ... if memory serves me -

That's a great memory! :)

I saw the story about that geologist on the Discovery Channel. I'm thinking he's from the U of Nebraska. Anyway, it's a fascinating story.

[SC Swamp Fox]

At what temperature would the water boil at a depth of 65 feet? Either way, it wouldn't be the first boiling lake in Yellowstone.

[John H K]

A report by the BBC Two programme Horizon on one supervolcano, at Yellowstone national park in the US, says it is overdue for an eruption.
Yellowstone has gone off roughly once every 600,000 years. Its last eruption was 640,000 years ago.
The mass media is pretty much guaranteed to botch or mischaracterize every single science story they do, since journalists now go to college and study journalism, therby guaranteeing they know absolutely nothing about anything.

Yellowstone ALSO has gone over a million years between caldera-forming blasts, hence the term "overdue" is really not correct.

It could theoretically go next year but given the long time between them and the wide variance in how often they happen the chance it happening in the lifetime of anyone reading this thread is vanishingly small.

Of course, this bulge in the lake could explode at any time, or not for 200 years, and like I said it has NOTHING to do with a caldera blast or anything; it would be thousands of times smaller.

[biggerten]

At that depth, the pressure is about triple what it is at the surface. That would mean the boiling point would be about 275F.

That's not exact, because I've not taken into account Yellowstone's hieght above sea level, for example, and there are other factors. But it's good enough for the girls I go out with.

[jdege]

The problem is that Yellowstone sits over a supercaldera.

If the whole thing goes, it's not going to be something mild like Krakatoa:

http://www.yellowstonetreasures.com/nugget16.htm

[F.J. Mitchell]

It can only be "series" if it turns into a chain reaction of explosion after explosion. Any such explosion would be "serious", but a "series" of explosions would be extremely "serious".

Sorry folks but seeing "series" used in lieu of "serious" is driving me mad.

[redheadtoo]

I heard one of the guests on the Coast to Coast AM radio show say that if Yellowstone blows it could trigger a chain reaction causing all the volcanos in the United States to erupt. He said that there are about 30 volcanos in the lower 48 states.

[Husker24]

You would think that if it blew, it would actually relieve the pressure from other volcanoes.

[King Prout]

but are the moose in danger?

[Husker24]

I listened to that Coast to Coast AM radio show, untill one time they started talking about "shadow people", then I realised what a load of crap it was.

[Nathaniel Fischer]

Danger at Yellowstone: Women, minorities are likeliest victims.

Nah. When I was at Yellowstone, there were lots of Asians but not many blacks or Hispanics. These days Asians don't count as minorities (at least not in the victim sense.)

[microgood]

[The Old Hoosier]

Sorry folks but seeing "series" used in lieu of "serious" is driving me mad.

You can't be series.

[stboz]

What about Boris and Natasha?

[F.J. Mitchell]

LOL! Series as a heart attack.

[King Prout]

I don't know if I care about them - they keep stealing my cheese

[redheadtoo]

I realised what a load of crap it was.

I agree that most of it is crap and the more idiotic the guest is the more impressive his academic credentials are.

It is, however, entertaining and occasionally they have a guest on who I can respect.

[_Jim]

If the temperature increases another 25°, the lake will start to boil.

ONLY if that 'heated water' reaches the surface (you see, the water 'at depth' under pressure boils at a *higher* temperture than it would at the surface where it sees only atmosphereic temperature ...).

[stboz]

Hooboy! All your moose and squirrel belong to us!

[drypowder]

Boiled trout for the taking?

[_Jim]

"As pressure rises in the chamber, the surface is also rising and there is a measurable increase in heat. But vulcanologists do not know when Yellowstone will blow."

Time to 'drill' and lance this boil?

[King Prout]

but not my chees, dahlink!

[eno_]

Yeah, the problem is hugh.

[Bedford Forrest]

I heard one of the guests on the Coast to Coast AM radio show say that if Yellowstone blows it could trigger a chain reaction causing all the volcanos in the United States to erupt. He said that there are about 30 volcanos in the lower 48 states.

". . . one of the guests on the Coast to Coast AM radio show. . . ." Right. Yeah, that works for me. Where is Art Bell these days, anyhow? I haven't had a full industrial strength tinfoil hat fix ever since he bailed out. That new guy they have on is a wanker, no more greys, alien abductions, Area 51 horrors, gigantic triangle shaped vehicles [600' wingspan] wafting silently through the night sky over downtown Vegas, faces on Mars, I mean Art was connected. Can't remember if Art was into the Yellowstone caldera - I think he did a few pieces on the Long Valley caldera [Mammoth up to Mono Lake, another area which seems to be rising]. From the look of it, Yellowstone seems a lot more active.

[rwfromkansas]

Bring it on.

It is time the world just ends.

[Orlando]

On July 30th, 2003....11 days ago

There was a news report by Carole Cloudwalker from
www.codyenterprise.com , and it was title:

*Bulge in lake worries YNP scientists.*


http://www.codyenterprise.com/articles/2003/07/30/news/export5845.txt


> Beneath the serene surface of yellowstone lake, where
death from hypothermia comes within 30 minutes, seethes a boiling underwater world.

And like a pot too long on the stove, it could boil over,says U.S. Geological Survey Geologist Lisa Morgan,PhD
of Colorado

She and others from the USGS have been studying the hottest
hot spot in the 7,731 Elevation Lake,, a spot which Morgan has termed an "inflated plain". It lies south-southwest of Storm poiint near Mary Bay, in the northern end of the lake..

Morgan, respresenting both the USGS and Yellowstone Volcanic Observatory, is in the process of mapping the lake
floor with seismicc reflection images,etc......

*****Here the key clue *****

She has found that temperatures along inflated plain have been recorded at about 85 degrees 60 feet down,, where the plain bulges up about 100 feet above the lake floor (Park
spokeperson Cheryl Matthews says the lake RARELY reaches MORE THAN 66 degrees at the surface by late summer, and is much colder deeper down)......<

There's more, but I will stop here .....
On July 30th....Water temp was recorded at 85 degrees F
60 feet down......It Rarely gets to 66 degrees, but today
NEW report says........187 degrees, that's 102 degree increase in just 11 days.....

Something is cooking over-there.....by the way what would happen if that lake blows -up ??? any scienists out-there ?

[Fifth Business]

Hugh Blast? Any relation to Hugh Jass?

[Ken H]

Found this:

PROF. MIKE VOORHIES (University of Nebraska): Well I was walking up this gully looking for fossils, the way I'd walked up a thousand gullies before, keeping my eye on the ground looking for pieces of fossils that might have washed down in the rain the previous night and I scrambled up to the top and I saw something that completely astounded me, a sight that no palaeontologist has ever seen.

NARRATOR: It was a sight of sudden, prehistoric disaster. Voorhies's digging revealed the bones of 200 fossilised rhinos, together with the prehistoric skeletons of camels and lizards, horses and turtles. Dating showed they had all died abruptly 10 million years ago.

MIKE VOORHIES: It suddenly dawned on me that this was a scene of a mass catastrophe of a type that I'd never, never encountered before.

NARRATOR: The cause of death, however, remained a mystery. It was not from old age.

MIKE VOORHIES: I could tell by looking at the teeth that these animals had died in their prime. What was astounding was that here were young mothers and their, and their babies, big bull rhinos in the prime of life and here they were dead for no, no apparent reason.

Supervolcanoes

[Judith Anne]

Fascinating, completely interesting!

I have a question: When I boil water on the stove, the hot water at the bottom rises. What is keeping the hot water under the lake from rising? The weight and mass of the cold water? That can't hold forever, can it? What keeps the temperature of the water from evening out, from the hot water below to the frigid water on top?