Explosive find, of the volcano kind.

Denver Post ^ | August 10, 2003 | Diedtra Henderson

[cogitator]

OK. Let's get the gov't to sell tickets to the next explosion! You know the tree-hugging sierra club elf wannabes will buy at least a pair of tickets!

Actually, these things do wonders for tree preservation. They preserve whole forests as petrified trees (and I'm not kidding, I've seen them, on Yellowstone's Specimen Ridge). You can see a picture of them here (bottom of the page):

Charlie (There are some great shots under the other 'names' on this site.) If I remember correctly, the "Firehole River Morning" under 'Dan Martin' appears to be Pocket Basin.

[openotherend]

Let's throw humorist Al Franken in the lake as a sacrifice. Maybe the hot air stuff will be neutralized.

[bd476]

Interesting article Snooker.

Here's another bit of info, although it was a very small quake:

"== PRELIMINARY EARTHQUAKE REPORT == U.S. Geological Survey, National Earthquake Information Center

This event has been reviewed by a seismologist.

A minor earthquake occurred at 6:11:05 (UTC) - Coordinated Universal Time on Friday, August 8, 2003. The magnitude 3.4 event occurred 15 km (9 miles) E of Paonia, CO. The hypocentral depth was 5 km ( 3 miles)."

http://earthquake.usgs.gov/recenteqsUS/Quakes/usxfah.htm

[bd476]

California caldera is smaller than Colorado caldera.

Still, carbon dioxide and helium emissions are causing 50-150 tons tree kill per day around Horseshoe Lake:

http://lvo.wr.usgs.gov/CO2.html

Likelihood of future eruptions in the Long Valley Caldera (California):

http://wrgis.wr.usgs.gov/fact-sheet/fs073-97/

Scientists report 100 acres of dead and dying trees from carbon dioxide emissions around Mammoth Mountain.

http://wrgis.wr.usgs.gov/fact-sheet/fs172-96/

[Mike-o-Matic]

"Screw this! Next year, we're going to Europe."

[Mike-o-Matic]

(just so they're not considering Europe... which has Stromboli, Vesuvius, Etna... )

[Mike-o-Matic]

Ack! "Europe" should be "Italy."

[Old Professer]

I posted the following comment on another thread; maybe someone smarter than me can tell me if I am headed the right direction.

The business of 65 foot depth comes from another comment about how hot the water would be at that depth before boiling considering the increased pressure.:

This was about the only graph I could come up with; since the effect of pressure on the boiling point of water reaches to about 367 degrees C if this curve is stable to two ATM it would intersect the T line at roughly 127 degrees C and a depth of 65 feet would allow the water to be just at boiling, I think. 134 posted on 08/11/2003 9:42 PM CDT by Old Professer [ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 118 | View Replies | Report Abuse ]

[bd476]

"Here is a thought: If terrorists were able to procure a nuclear weapon, sucessfully plant it and detonate it, where would it do the most crippling damage to the US and its economy? In the middle of Manhattan, or cracking the caldera that contains the Yellowstone super volcano? I suspect the focus of our intelligence is more focused on catching the guys bombing Manhattan than the ones bombing Yellowstone. So what would a smart terrorist do?"

Hopefully a smart terrorist would listen to the U.S.G.S's answer regarding this possibility.

While the USGS scientists have not ruled out the possibility of a terrorist attempting to precipitate either an earthquake or volcano, they have said that the probability of a successful explosion leading to a catastrophic seismic event is very close to nil. I'll find the link on that later. Nothing to lose sleep over... yet.

[null and void]

I posted the following comment on another thread; maybe someone smarter than me can tell me if I am headed the right direction.

I'm not smarter, but I do have a good reference book at hand...

65 ft of water column is a bit over 2 atm. You need to add the local air pressure to this, a bit less than 1 atm, given the altitude. Call it 3 atm total ~ 45 psia. About 275°F/135°C (source-Steam tables in the CRC Handbook of Physics and Chemistry). The rilly kewl thing would be as the water starts to boil it will rise into the colder water over the bulge, and the bubbles will abruptly condense out. Like in a pot on your stove, the collapsing bubbles will make a growling noise. Only much, much louder...

[Old Professer]

I was debating with myself whether to use the 2ATM or 3ATM value (gauge pressure allowance); the difference is about 15 degrees F.

[staytrue]

"Cataclysmic eruptions 2.0, 1.3, and 0.6 million years ago "

If my math is right, we have about 100,000 years to go before another one. tick tick tick.

[cogitator]

(just so they're not considering Europe... which has Stromboli, Vesuvius, Etna... )

You left out Santorini, the Big Daddy when it comes to past explosive eruptions in Europe and environs. (Especially considering that the eruption that created the Santorini caldera was about four times bigger than Krakatoa in 1883.)

[Mike-o-Matic]

Well, I typed "Europe" but meant "Italy." Santorini's in Greece, isn't it?

Anyway, haven't been at my sharpest lately! Sorry.

[Calpernia]

>>>I love the smell of hydrogen sulfide in the morning.

Apparantly you have never driven the NJ Turnpike ^-^

[Calpernia]

Ping!

[RadioAstronomer]

Thanks for the ping. :-)

[WestPacSailor]

Sounds like my morning bath......after "Burrito Night"

EWWWWW! That's just WRONG!

[Rebelbase]

"I love the smell of hydrogen sulfide in the morning.
"

Don't stay under the sheets to long.....

[Rebelbase]

"Couldn't one of the Park Rangers don some scuba gear, take a hammer and a wooden stake down to the lake bed and just punch a small hole in it to relieve the pressure? :)
"

Or they could drill the thing and pump in a few truckloads of Tums.