[snooker]

Very interesting ... Click on link for pictures and illustrations.

[SouthernFreebird]

Deja Vue

[FourPeas]

Yellowstone is a fascinating place. Beautiful, too.

[cmsgop]

What did Cheney know and when did he know it....

[Pyro7480]

TEMPORARY HYDROTHERMAL MONITORING PROGRAM TO BEGIN AT NORRIS GEYSER BASIN: 8 August 2003

In response to notably increased heat and steam emissions in parts of Norris Geyser Basin, the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory will deploy a temporary network of seismographs, Global Positioning System (GPS) receivers, and temperature loggers. The temporal deployment is intended to document chemical and physical signals that accompany this increased activity, to identify the underground locations of hydrothermal steam sources and the relationship of the Norris geyser basin to the background general seismicity, and crustal deformation of the Yellowstone caldera. It may also detect any precursory signals to geyser eruptions and hydrothermal explosions.

The GPS equipment is designed to detect very small movements of the earth, and the seismic array can measure earthquakes associated with flow of thermal water and earthquakes located on buried faults. Seven seismometers, that record a wide range of seismic frequencies typical of hydrothermal and volcanic systems, called broadbands, will be placed throughout the Norris Geyser Basin, five of them within and around the hydrothermal disturbed area itself. These "broadband" seismometers are especially sensitive to the long-wavelength ground vibrations that occur as water and gas move through underground cracks as well as deeper volcanic sources.

The seismic array will be complimented by high precision GPS receivers that precisely measure the coordinates of points on the ground from data transmitted by an array of satellites that can be compared with each other to measure the relative ground velocities through time. These data compliment Yellowstone’s permanent GPS network.

Movements of the ground associated with underground pulses of water and steam (including geyser eruptions) may be detected by this new technology. Thermometers placed in hot springs and creeks will continuously document the flow of water out of the geyser basin. The scientists hope to link individual pulses of water, changes in their chemistry and temperatures to pressures in the earth. This information may provide information on ground motions and seismic signals that precede them.

The Norris Back Basin has been closed since July 23, 2003, after formation of new mud pots, changes in geyser activity, and significantly increased ground temperatures (up to 200 degrees Fahrenheit) in some areas near the Back Basin trail. Additional observations include vegetation dying due to thermal activity and the changing of several geysers' eruption intervals. The heightened rate of steam discharge has continued to the present time.

[VOA]

Highly-recommended related material:
"Catastrophe", a segment from PBS's "Secrets of The Dead" series.
I don't know many PBS affiliates ran this segment, but it's a hum-dinger story
about a possible MEGA-eruption of Krakatoa in 535 A.D. that impacted the world
for up to the next decade or so.

[Focault's Pendulum]

A hydrothermal explosion releases pent-up pressure; in this case, letting loose 10-foot-tall waves, raining chunks of pulverized rock on land, and injecting a plume of steam and poisonous gases through the water

Sounds like me at about 5:30 in the morning.

'the living, breathing caldera,

....and that's an apt description of my ex wife.

[Migraine]

The huge pool of hot rock lying 125 miles beneath Yellowstone slightly dropped from 1985 to 1995.

125 miles? That's a glaring error, I'm afraid. I'd say more like 12.5 miles, even less in some spots. There are places in Yellowstone where the magma is no more that 3 miles from the surface. That's the nature of a caldera -- it is an upward "bubble" of magma, in this case, it is about 30 miles across.

[ElkGroveDan]

I love the smell of hydrogen sulfide in the morning.

[cogitator]

There are several hydrothermal explosion basins in Yellowstone; one of the best is Pocket Basin, a very easy "backcountry" hike not very far from the developed part of the Lower Geyser Basin where Old Faithful Geyser is located. I was able to go there on a special tour about 10 years ago. You do have to be very careful; careless hikers have been burned and have died due to injuries received when they got too close and fell into the thermal features.

[null and void]

Related thread here:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/961712/posts

[bert]

Here is a link to info on the Yellowstone Caldera. It is 28 miles by 47 miles long.... The potential for destruction is awsome.

[shadowman99]

This topic came up last week and I've been thinking about it ever since. Somebody suggested looking up information on Supervolcanos. It's quite disturbing. Yellowstone has had a super eruption roughly ever 600,000 years for the last 2 million years. Yellowstone is roughly 40,000 years overdue for such an eruption.

[Only1choice____Freedom]

I don't know if it's just me but my wife seems to think I have computers on my brain all the time.

"the living, breathing caldera" Now known as SCO Group.

And describing thes feature of a dome I couldn't help thinking about Microsoft's famous "That's not a bug, that's a feature" memo.

Is it too late? Do I need a patch? I'm going home to crash.

It's Bill Gate's fault, I think I'll sue.

[countrydummy]

Did you all see this one? It is about Mt. Rainer!

http://www.msnbc.com/news/950829.asp?vts=081120031405

[PokeyJoe]

"There is no cause for alarm, at this point, and there may never be," said Jake Lowenstern, scientist-in-charge at USGS' Yellowstone Volcano Observatory in Menlo Park, Calif. The observatory tracks volcanic and hydrothermal unrest at Yellowstone as well as earthquakes. "

Nothing to worry about folks. Keep it moving. Nothing interesting here.

[RightWhale]

If the dome lets go, it's going to be more humid than usual downrange.

[Flying Circus]

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?

[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/