Signs Of An Eruption

BBC ^ | 8-30-2003

[blam]

I wonder what he thinks of Yellowstone? It could affect the whole world when/if it blows.

[cinnathepoet]

I knew Yellowstone had a geyser. I guess I never thought about there being a volcano there. Quite a few bison would be affected.

[meanie monster]

Yea, I saw a post awhile back about a bulge in the lake.

[witnesstothefall]

Geologists had been aware Ruiz was awakening. They'd even done some emergency planning and preparation. But noone, noone, was prepared for the violence that came. And of course, noone knew exactly when. Very sad.

[blam]

"I knew Yellowstone had a geyser. I guess I never thought about there being a volcano there"

Yellowstone Lake Hints At Buildup To Huge Blast

[Nateman]

I wonder what he thinks of Yellowstone? It could affect the whole world when/if it blows.

Genetic detectives figure the human gene pool was very tiny 75000 thousand years ago. Something horrible nearly made mankind extinct. A supervolcano like the one at Yellowstone erupted at about that time period. Thanks to a handful of people, both private and government, that have special places set aside for nuclear war I don't think extinction will happen this time, but the next eruption event at Yellowstone is already due by noting it past history of eruptions. The last time it went off Kansas was covered by ash at least 10 feet thick.

[meanie monster]

Yellowstone is one of the largest super volcanoes in the world. It is also VERY active.

[cinnathepoet]

This could be hugh!

[Cool Guy]

Please keep me pinged on news about Yellowstone. Thanks.

[blam]

The Toba 'super volcano' blew 75,000 years ago and only 2-5,000 humans worldwide survived. This 'bottleneck' is detectable in human DNA.

[ChadGore]

Re: This could be hugh!

This is hugh

[rdb3]

Quite a few bison would be affected.

True. And women and minorities will be hurt the most.

[Paul C. Jesup]

Calm down. Last time that thing blew we had no real understanding of the world itself, nor did we have any technology.

We now have both. It will be a little tough for a year or two. But we'll be okay.

By the way, the last time Yellowstone blew, the ash only cover everything west of the Mississippi in the U.S. If your east of the Smokey Mountain, you'll probably be okay.

It will not be the end of the world, it will just be a very bad day for anyone caught in the blast.

[blam]

"Genetic detectives figure the human gene pool was very tiny 75000 thousand years ago. Something horrible nearly made mankind extinct. A supervolcano like the one at Yellowstone erupted at about that time period."

That was TOBA (click the link and read, they say less than 1,000 humans survived.)

[blam]

"We now have both. It will be a little tough for a year or two. But we'll be okay."

So...what are you gonna eat for the 2-4 years it will take for the dust veil to clear?

[Treebeard]

Bernard Chouet is a god. He looked at a signal within a signal (called the B wave, I think) and found a signature of a volcano getting ready to blow.

His analogy of a magma tube being like a plugged pipe in a pipe organ was spot on. These long period events are the mountain pressuring up to blow. A lot of his colleagues at Galeras bet their lives on Stanley Williams' theory that low gas emissions meant low eruption probability. Six of them lost.

I'd love to see his long period event model plugged into a supervolcano system, not that it would matter a hell of a lot if Yellowstone lets go. There won't be anyone left to say "I TOLD YOU SO!" to.

[Mike Darancette]

The Toba 'super volcano' blew 75,000 years ago

Toba > 700 Cubic Miles of stuff.

[Paul C. Jesup]

The Great Plains is not the only source for the world's farms. And this event will NOT block out the sun, it will just cool the climate slightly. There will still be a workable food supply from other farms worldwide. And if worse comes to worse, I live in rural Georgia, getting food will not be that hard, compared to a major urban city.

By the way, after this is over, the ash itself will actually enrich the soil that it cover, allowing for better farming in the future.

[John H K]

I knew Yellowstone had a geyser. I guess I never thought about there being a volcano there. Quite a few bison would be affected.

Err, well, if the entire Caldera went up, it would kill every human being in Wyoming, Idaho, and Montana, and end all agriculture in the midwest for years, likely leading to mass starvation in the US, which is more than a few bison :-)

However, it's extremely unlikely that happens in our lifetimes.

The recent spate of articles about the lake are about the possibility of a small localyzed eruption, NOT the caldera going up. It's possible to have small eruptions at Yellowstone without a full caldera blast.