Super Volcano In Yellowstone National Park

solcomhouse ^ | Unknown

[Junior]

It would dump several hundred cubic kilometers of dust into the air, lowering the world's temperature several degrees. According to the Discovery Channel show, the ash fall was two meters deep 1200 kilometers from the caldera 600,000 years ago.

[raygun]

Actually, this post is a little bizarre. I was just thinking about this in response to some other post recently.

People don't realize that one of thinnest known spots of the Earth's crust is in Yellowstone. Pretty much everywhere else the crust is several factors of miles if not order of magnitude of miles deep. However in Yellowstone it is less than a quarter mile thick. It has been determined that ash deposits from the last eruption of the Yellowstone volcano and are indisputably chemically and geologically linked to the Yellowstone eruption have been found on the eastern seaboard (like S.C. & Georgia) with layer thickness of tens of feet.

How's you like them apples?

[RightWhale]

lowering the world's temperature several degrees

Seems like that would bring on an Ice Age if the blowout is big enough. We missed a summer up here when the Philippines volcano let loose. Lots of snow the next winter as well.

[ninenot]

planned trips there for the next 10,000 years

Perhaps I am a bit more conservative than you.

I will NOT go there in 1000 years.

[ninenot]

drilling into it

You first.

[Kozak]

Exactly. It's happened before, will happen again, and sounds roughly equivalent to another Krakatoa explosion. I wouldn't want to be within several hundred miles of it, when it blows. The recent 70-cm rise is disturbing, hinting at "sooner" rather than "later", from what I can recall of my vulcanolgy course (back in the early 1980's). But "Soon" in geologic terms can mean anywhere from 5 seconds from now to several thousand years from now. . . .

Not exactly. Comparing Krakatoa or even Thera to this is what a conventional 500lb bomb would be to a strategic nuclear weapon. Look at the map on the thread. HALF the US would be buried under the pyroclastic flow. This would have major global effect.

I know I know its not likely for our or the forseeable future so I am not getting my panties in a bunch, this is just presented for intellectual curiosity.

[Junior]

I know I know its not likely for our or the forseeable future ...

Dunno. Some experts say the eruption is overdue. And the domes under the caldera are expanding ...

[Don Carlos]

If it's gonna blow, I hope is blows before my next VISA card payment goes in the mail!

[Ken H]

Glad you had an enjoyable time, but you're lucky that thing didn't erupt while you were there!

I've been reading about the big quake in the lower Midwest in the early 1800's along the Meridian-Mississippi fault. We're due for a big one between now and the next few hundred years. I'm getting the hell out of the Midwest ASAP!

I'm looking for a safe place from Mother Nature's wrath.

Looking at Fargo, North Dakota.

[PeaceBeWithYou]

I think at last count there are 7 such supervolcano's dispersed across the globe.

This juxtaposed against the "Save the Planet" bunch makes them look really silly.

I've said it before, and I'll say it again. This planet Earth has been in the past, is now, and will always be a dangerous place, but the alternatives are worse.

[PLMerite]

Cool. Elevator to where, though?

[#3Fan]

Cool! Anyone ever wonder if another Harry Truman (of Mt St Helens fame) were living in the area, would the feds lay siege to his home and arrest him if he refused to flee an impending disaster?

Being that this would wipe out a third of humanity, they wouldn't worry about it.

[Poohbah]

Actually, it's part of the "crustal rebound" of the North American plate since the end of the last Ice Age. Basically, when the ice sheet formed, it pressed down on the rock. Now, with the weight off, it's coming back up.

[#3Fan]

When Toba eropted, scientists estimate that there were only a few thousand human survivors out of millions, from studying mitochrondial DNA.

[Young Werther]

Met and married a NoDak. We live in Dallas and she says her blood has thinned and she won't move back up north! My brother-in-law was flooded several years back when the Red River rampaged. He was in Grand Forks.

If you desire the long winters and don't mind the isolation, then I would recommend Northern Canada or Alaska. Point Barrow, Inuvik, or Cambridge Bay. Be prepared for lotsa moose!!

[rwfromkansas]

I heard about this....the last time it erupted it buried animals as far away as Nebraska I think.....this is a bit worrisome. Oh well....

[ckilmer]

they make this stuff up as they go along.

[Salgak]

The question is, HOW DEEP a pyroclastic flow ? If a big chunk is covered with a few inches, it's not as big a concern as, for instance, the flow dropped 3 feet of volcanic tuff as far as Chicago, and pretty much burying the Farm Belt under several yards of stuff. . .

[Kozak]

The depth probably looked like an asymptotic curve. Lots of stuff close to the bang tapering off. Compare the areas of the coverage of say Mt St Helens with one of the flows out of Yellowstone and I think you will see it would be pretty horrific for the US and the world.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Just came across this and wanted to add info regarding the 6 others . I think mammoth here in California is one also, but smaller than Yellowstone.

Geologists warn of "Supervolcano" threat

 

Just how large was the eruption of Santorini?

The explosive force and destruction of a volcanic eruption is measured using the Volcano Explosivity Index (VEI).

Whilst it is thought that Santorini eruption in c1645BC was four times bigger than that of Krakatoa in 1883, they are both ranked 6 on the VEI scale. Of those eruptions that have been measured, only that of Tambora in Indonesia in 1815 is ranked higher, at 7 on the VEI scale.

The Santorini eruption deserves its reputation as one of the largest and most devastating of the last 10,000 years. During the eruption about 30 cubic kilometres (7 cubic miles) of molten fine grained igneous rock called rhyodacite was expelled. The plinian column formed reached about 36km (23 miles) high and the pyroclastic flow spewed ash, rock and gases such as sulphur dioxide into the atmosphere.

The removal of such large amounts of magma from the volcano caused it to collapse and fill with water from the surrounding sea. The result of the water hitting the remaining hot magma was much like pouring water onto a chip pan - the water quickly heated and expanded causing further, violent explosions that ejected large blocks of magma from the crater.

Question Number: g00182d

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