Yeah, uh, Yellowstone might be errupting soon

originally posted by: uncommitted

originally posted by: LSU0408
a reply to: olddognewtricks

Will it destroy the electrical grid when it erupts?

If you are in North America and if (please remember that is a massive if) it does fully erupt, I wouldn't worry about the electrical grid. The blast and its effects will take a matter of hours to fairly much wipe out life in North America, followed by a wave of tsunamis which will effect other countries. It may in itself create some kind of chain reaction, certainly for other hot spots on the same tectonic plate (San Andreas?) Sorry, I know that sounds really dramatic and it's not my style to use such big statements, but it is a very real likelihood.

Remember though, as I put in an earlier post, it may not erupt for millennia - then again, volcano's don't tend to give too much notice when they do erupt.

So I would or would NOT be ok way down here in Louisiana?

a reply to: randyvs

If the world is going to end from this....then I gotta have more cowbell!

I've always had the feeling that North America was anomalous in comparison to the rest of the world. Asia had an advanced culture dating back thousands of years, Mesopotamia, Europe, South America... but in North America, despite it's vast size and resources only achieved a Neolithic level of advancement before being 'discovered' and subjugated by Europeans. Not to mention I don't think there's been any primates here in 50 million years excepting ourselves of course. Is it possible that we're sitting on a geological time bomb that has prevented North America from developing pari passu with the rest of the world?

originally posted by: ronjer
a reply to: randyvs

If the world is going to end from this....then I gotta have more cowbell!

Idn't that cool you noticed that?

I hope not! We're driving up there for a few days in May to camp, hike, etc!

Hope to beat the tourist season, it helps only living eight hours away!

I hope so.

originally posted by: ReadLeader
Don't fear the reaper


""""the National Science Foundation (NSF)-funded scientist doesn't think it's going to happen anytime soon--at least not for another 1 million to 2 million years.""""

NSF.GOV

Those people don't know jack. When Mt. St. Helens blew, they didn't know it would back then until it was so obvious and evident that the volcano was having serious action. Later, they're still as unknowing on future eruptions:

Here is part of the transcript from PBS inre:

Mt. St. Helens: Back From the Dead

PBS Airdate: May 4, 2010

NARRATOR: Mount St. Helens: the biggest volcanic eruption in North America in nearly a century. Virtually all life for 200 square miles is wiped out. It seems impossible life could ever return to this barren wasteland.

CHARLIE CRISAFULLI (Ecologist, United States Department of Agriculture Forest Service): We found a lot of our conventional wisdom was just flat wrong.

NARRATOR: In recent years there are ominous signs the volcano is awakening.

JOHN PALLISTER (Geologist, United States Geological Survey): These things were like skyscrapers that were being shoved out of the ground. They were literally that big.

NARRATOR: A 30-year quest to understand one of the most complicated volcanoes in the world is revealing new mysteries, deep inside the mountain.

JOHN PALLISTER: We don't know whether it's going to erupt explosively again in two years or in 20 years or in 200 years.

NARRATOR: Is Mount St. Helens preparing to erupt again? Right now, on NOVA: Mount St. Helens: Back from the Dead.

October 2004: Mount St. Helens comes back to life. Steam and ash spew from the crater on the mountain's summit.

JOHN PALLISTER: We saw the boiling material come out of the ground. We saw that it was blasting up. It was dark and it was light at the same time. It made a plume that rose up over the rim of the caldera and drifted downwind. It came up to above our altitude, to 10- or 12,000 feet.

NARRATOR: It's a frightening development. For years, Mount St. Helens has been quiet.

JON MAJOR (Geologist, United States Geological Survey): The volcano went from quiet to unrest to eruption very, very rapidly.

NARRATOR: It could be headed for a massive explosion.

DANIEL DZURISIN: (Geologist, United States Geological Survey): It seemed possible that we were headed toward an explosive eruption. We didn't know. That was a key question.


***SNIP***

NARRATOR: But there are still many unanswered questions. Scientists' understanding of what triggers an eruption this massive is incomplete. And given the scale of destruction, they need to find a way to predict when it might happen again, before it's too late. Mount St. Helens is about to become one of the most intensely studied volcanoes in the world.

Also, to those thinking the government will come riding in on a white horse/truck/airplane to 'save' them, I wouldn't count on them in a catastrophic situation. Look at the FUBAR handling of Hurricane Katrina, Sandy.

You'll be lucky if you can get a bottle of water. It's always best to be prepared on your own efforts whenever possible. You'll have what you want, when you want it.

a reply to: StoutBroux

They've made a lot of advances in their understanding of volcanoes since Mt. St. Helens blew. That being said, they still aren't perfect in getting it right. Really, they can only notice the major activity to a better degree and are increasingly likely to be able to predict SOME kind of eruptive activity.

Look at Bardarbunga. They got it right that it would erupt, but they couldn't predict when, what kind of event or even how long it would last. They only knew it was likely to erupt ... but even then, there was also a probability it would settle down and not do anything. And Iceland is one of the more well-studied geologically active places we have.

But when we start talking about Yellowstone, or Taupo, or Toba, or Long Valley, they really don't know exactly how those monsters behave because they are different systems than their smaller cousins. Are the exactly the same or do they behave differently? No one knows because there hasn't been a well-studied eruption of one of them.

It's not a matter of if, but when....

And when it does, it's over, tha tha that's all folks!

It will be like one huge doom orgasm.

a reply to: olddognewtricks

I read this online every so often, and then...nothing comes of it. Right now the way the world is I say let it blow!

Do not worry Kim Jong Un will start WWIII and end the world with its new toies

a reply to: uncommitted

I'm sure it's a fantastic read, and I will certainly look into this novel.

I am a little perplexed why there would be a tsunami though. I'm no expert on Caldera's but I thought they were a very unique volcano with an even more unique eruption profile. The worst part about the Yellowstone Caldera is it's a very slow eruption by our expectations of how a volcano erupts. The eruption itself may last years, and it mostly involves the caldera itself collapsing into the earth while enormous volumes of ash and poisonous gasses spew into the atmosphere.

They are not like their typical conical high pressure cousins. In fact, If Yellowstone Erupted it would be likely many North Americans would last months before poisonous gasses or ash over took them. Imagine Centralia Pennsylvania times a zillion, the earth is collapsing into a fiery abyss, ominous subterranean groans, strange smells, dark skies.

I think I'd rather be nuked.

a reply to: uncommitted

..... Have you read into Caldera's? I've only briefly explored the subject and the majority of sources I have read from say they collapse, spewing enormous amounts of sunblocking, choking ash and poisonous gasses..... I'm not claiming either of us is right or wrong. I just thought I should add that, I was just lead to believe by the things I had read they were not what we expect.

originally posted by: LSU0408







So I would or would NOT be ok way down here in Louisiana?

The extent of the ashfall from the two previous eruptions of Yellowstone as well as the one in california (i think it was)

volcanoes.usgs.gov...

3 of the four major eruption ashfalls in the geologic record do not get to louisiana and one covers 66 percent of it. however; as nasty as the ash is and it is nasty indeed the rest of the world will feel it in the form of no summer for two or three years and cold terrible winters. so no food. dead animals. die back of the biome.

and the ash is micro-shards of glass like material that will shred every cell in it's victims lungs, nose, sinuses and throat. victims will suffocate/drown on their own blood and cellular and intra-cellular fluids. it remains sharp like that for several years before weathering renders it rounded enough to not be deadly. so the winds can stir it up again and again in the meantime.

originally posted by: LSU0408
So I would or would NOT be ok way down here in Louisiana?

Anybody who survived would experience food shortages, but aside from that how much ash fall you'd get in LA depends on how the wind blows, literally, and other factors like the size of the eruption. These are the ash fall maps from three prior eruptions and one of them did cover most of Louisiana in some amount of ash:

volcanoes.usgs.gov...

However we don't really know how thick those ashfalls were.

Ok, I'm going to start holding my breath...

there is some evidence for -and a lot of doom porn web hype about a super caldera under Arkansas, Eastern Oklahoma and north La. there is increased thermal activity in arkansas, there are kimberlite pipes there and there is a mysterious deadzone in the area somewhere.

originally posted by: Arbitrageur

However we don't really know how thick those ashfalls were.

I remember reading that in oklahoma the Yellowstone eruption ash layers are .5 to three meters thick.

Ah, mostly same hype as the Cascadia fault. S&F however, whether you're in the fall out zone or the epicenter always good to be in the know with preparation just in case.

I like how in their doom-porn article, they first say likely in 80 years.. then a bit later, likely in 70 years.. with a link to an article.. that says the chance any given year.. is 1 in 700,000. Yea.. great investigative reporting there. I'm sure they were not sensationalizing it whatsoever!