The Yellowstone SuperCaldera Project

While I was not expecting a UFO connection to this research project, we must uphold the creed, "deny ignorance". I think a small course deviation is acceptable.

In light of this new research tangent, I offer a historical synopsis of UFO activity in Southeastern Idaho. My great-grandfather was one of the first to start ranching in the Wood River Valley, about 120 miles from Yellowstone. As a child, I can remember family gatherings where my father and several uncles would discuss the lights they witnessed while working on the ranch as children. I haven't heard those stories in awhile, so I can't make any detailed description of what they've seen.

These conversations also described the stories coming out of Carey and Arco, the two towns surrounding Craters of the Moon National Monument. Craters of the Moon is the vast volcanic landscape that encompasses the remnants of the old Yellowstone Caldera, which erupted 600,000 years ago. There are interesting volcanic features all over this area, most of which are totally dormant. My favorites are the Ice Caves, located on Highway 75 and are open to the public.

The stories that were relayed to me, described multiple sightings of UFOs dating back to the 1940's. The surrounding area has a large Basque population and most of the sightings that my family had heard outside of Wood River Valley were from Basque sheep herders working the area.

In 1998, I met some Carey residents while in Sun Valley for the weekend. The UFO topic came up over some drinks and they immediately reacted, "oh, you mean the Arco Lights?� The phenomenon has taken on such proportions, that the townsfolk have named it. Since then, I've had at least three conversations with different individuals, who have all claimed to have either seen or heard of the "Arco Lights". I've run the name through several old archives and can't find any newspaper articles regarding these lights.

The other feature of the area that raises my suspicions is Idaho National Environmental Engineering Laboratory. Arco is adjacent to the boundary of INEEL, which happens to be home to 32 experimental reactors. This is the largest concentration of nuclear reactors in the world. There's a good discussion on INEEL, www.abovetopsecret.com..." target="_blank" class="postlink">here. INEEL opened in 1949, so it is possible that all of these sightings can be attributed to work and happenings at INEEL.

Until now, I hadn�t heard any stories about red glowing orbs flying through the forests. That�s a new one to me.

*returns to quake monitoring*


[Edited on 17-11-2003 by kukla]

In Yellowstone's Norris Geyser Basin, Steamboat Geyser, the largest geyser in the world, erupted on Wednesday for the 4th time in 18 months.

Billings Gazette article

Anytime Steamboat erupts, it's a special event in Yellowstone.

And it's been happening more frequently lately.

The geyser, which has had intervals ranging from four days to 50 years, has had more major eruptions in the 21st century than any time since the early 1980s. The geyser fell silent from 1991 until May of 2000. Since then, it has erupted five times: April 2002, September 2002, March 2003, April 2003 and on Wednesday.

Just to update on my quest for real-time GPS data, the links to the static position changes are still off line. Is someone hiding something? Is there movement that is alarming some? It seems that maybe a much tighter lid is being placed over information surrounding this.


icarus.unavco.ucar.edu...

icarus.unavco.ucar.edu...

www.unavco.ucar.edu...

Okay, I've managed to get the following info about the Norris Geyser Basin...





"A temporary, five- station GPS network was installed in Yellowstone National Park in response to increased heat and steam emissions in parts of Norris Geyser Basin. The network was installed by a UNAVCO engineer, University of Utah students and faculty, and National Park Service scientists as part of a monitoring effort by Yellowstone Volcano Observatory (YVO). "


No date was given nor any current info..

A link on that page was provided to the following press releases. the first one dated back in July works but the latest one doesn't for some reason.


www.nps.gov...


www.nps.gov...

Norris Junction is five miles from the West Entrance and outside the caldera rim. Do not confuse Norris Junction and Norris Geyser Basin. Norris Junction is the least seismically active area in Yellowstone and is 20 miles south of the Geyser Basin. I have never seen the Norris Junction meter move.

It does appear that the seismometer did malfunction on 10/31 but has since come online and is reporting movement. The YVO removed the previous week of data, which is odd considering the previous week didn�t show any movement.

I'm hoping the current readings are a malfunction of the seismometer. If Norris Junction is moving, it would be a significant development. Increased activity in this area would indicate that magma plume is migrating both north and south from Norris Geyser Basin. The fumarole at Nymph Lake is a clear indication of northerly migration, but there hasn�t been any indication of Southerly migration.

www.seis.utah.edu...

A fellow quake watcher informed me that Norris Junction did experience significant movement on 9/6 but nothing for months prior to then. The most recent data indicates that the seismometer is functioning but the movement is insignificant compared to 9/6.

www.seis.utah.edu...

Old Faithful is still showing moderately active seismicity. Moose Creek experienced brief moments of large movement today and the Lake seismometer is still having telemetry problems.

www.seis.utah.edu...

www.seis.utah.edu...

The YVO also released the official microquake numbers for October.

During the month of October 2003, 64 earthquakes were located in the Yellowstone region. The largest shock too occur during this report period was a magnitude 2.6 earthquake on October 9th at 1:22 UTC, located about
23 miles east northeast of Fishing Bridge, Wyoming.

Prior to the park closing for the winter, portions of Norris Geyser Basin did reopen to the public.

Yellowstone National Park Superintendent Suzanne Lewis announced today that effective October 9, 2003, at 8:00 a.m., portions of Norris Geyser Basin that have been closed since July 23, 2003, will reopen to the public. Approximately 4,800 feet of the 5,800-foot temporary closure will reopen, with only the portion of the Back Basin trail from Green Dragon Spring to the Porkchop Geyser intersection remaining closed. (There are approximately 12,500 feet of trails in the Norris Geyser Basin.)

volcanoes.usgs.gov...

Thanks go out to infinite for highlighting a mysterious research lab near Yellowstone.

APHIS, an agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, has joined with the Montana Department of Livestock in recent years in the routine killing of Yellowstone bison that stray beyond park boundaries. The agencies contend that the slaughter is necessary to stop the spread of the bacterial disease brucellosis from bison to domestic livestock, even though no case of transmission from wild bison to livestock has ever been documented.

"The public doesn't even know this research site exists," says Steve Torbit, director of the NWF Rocky Mountain National Resource Center, "and yet it has been under APHIS control for three years."

www.abovetopsecret.com...

The USDA allows bison to be raised privately but uses cyanide to kill any bison that wander out of Yellowstone. The reason for this double standard is not clear, nor is the mission of the laboratory.

Well, typical for me, I have never noticed the real-time streamflow data available on the USGS Yellowstone site. I don't remember any mention of it here, but that doesn't mean a lot either.

When I look at this chart of the temperature of Gibbons River over the past 7 days it makes me want to go...WTF?!? That's showing an 11 degree F temperature change in the water of a 5 day period. Now, it appears to be dropping back off, but what the heck caused that spike? Do you think this is normal to have this kind of temperature spike in flowing water? I would like feedback from some one in the area as to whether it got real darned hot up there or something.

And, also, do you believe that there could be valuable information in looking at the flowrates and temps of these rivers? (i.e. Could ground deformation affect the flowrate???)




[Edited on 12-11-2003 by Valhall]

It has been an interesting morning at YVO. There are four new seismographs on public display. The following locations now have active seismographs.

The Promontory
Mary Lake
Joseph's Coat
Holmes Hil

The most puzzling development is the removal of the Mt. Sheridan seismograph. It was pulled at the same time the new ones were added. I would also note that Mt. Sheridan was exhibiting very active movement including a possible 4.0 that is not on the finger list at the time of this update.

www.seis.utah.edu...

I haven't been watching the stream-flow data, but in my opinion that spike is further evidence that the plume under Norris is still very active even though the seasonal disturbance has passed.

Thanks, Kukla.

I will start trying to look at the streamflow data for the various rivers, regularly and report any spikes I see.

Thanks for the info on the seismos and I sure am curious to see if we get any data on the possible 4.0.

Okay, here is what I have from reviewing the flowstream data. Not all rivers in Yellowstone have the water temperature recorded. Also, the following "averages" are purely visual from the graphs. All temperatures are in Celsius.

Boiling River:

Range: 55 - 58.5, ave = 57 from 11/5 - 11/8
Range: 54.5 - 55.3, ave=54.8 from 11/8 - 11/12

Firehole River:

Range: 5 - 10, ave=7.8 from 11/5 - 11/8
Range: 11 - 12.2, ave=11 from 11/8-11/10

Gibbon River:

Range: 0 - 3, ave=1 from 11/5 - 11/8
Range: 4.5 - 7, ave=5 from 11/8 - 11/10

Soda Butte (Park Bandy):

Steady at an ave = .1

There appears to have been an event around 5:45 MT that is recorded on several of the Yellowstone traces. I include the link to the Holmes Hill trace here, as the signature stands out a bit more in this one, but also the link if you want to look at the other recorders. I have looked at the US earthquake log and cannot find what event would be causing this.

Anyone have some suggestions, or can point out what I'm missing?

www.seis.utah.edu...

www.seis.utah.edu...

There has been further research done on the "bulge" at the bottom of Yellowstone Lake.

Link

Below the blue waters of Yellowstone Lake, a mysterious dome 2,100 feet across and 100 feet high is causing concern among scientists and citizens who don't know whether it's a harmless curiosity or a hazard on the verge of exploding. The dome, also called a bulge, is less than a mile from shore and was recently explored by researchers with the U.S. Geological Survey, using unmanned submarines and sonar.
"It could be the precursor to a hydrothermal explosion," said Lisa Morgan, a geologist leading the team.
Hydrothermal blasts occur when super-heated water, often under extreme pressure, rapidly flashes to steam, hurling rocks and sometimes gouging out huge craters.
News of the dome comes at a time of increased activity beneath Yellowstone, which experienced a magnitude 4.4 earthquake in August.

So, while it could be a precursor to a hydrothermal explosion, and while they're saying there is indeed "increased activity" in Yellowstone, there's "no need to worry," right?

Yellowstone continues to receive some media attention. The LA Times article that Banshee quoted hit the wires hard. It was in some of the local papers here and elsewhere. I was bombarded by questions at Thanksgiving from relatives, who four months ago thought I was crazy.

Seismic activity has been at background levels. The official count of quakes for November was 56. A quick review of the stream flow data looks normal for this time of the year.

While an event can occur at any time, Yellowstone's "season" doesn't begin for another four months.

[Edited on 17-12-2003 by kukla]

There were a couple of events yesterday (12/27) that registered on every Yellowstone recorder.

www.seis.utah.edu...

The only event recorded on the USGS seismic activity record for yesterday that could possibly correspond with either of these events (which are around 12:07 and 12:16 UTC) is a 2.1 in Denali National Park in Alaska at 12:07. Sorry, but I'm not buying that even for the first event...and there is no seismic event recorded on USGS for the second one at 12:16.

So both of these sigs are not recorded on the USGS site.

I have accumulated annual earthquake data from the USGS Yellowstone monitoring site, along with supporting graphics of quake epicenters and constructed the following analysis.

Yellowstone Seismic Analysis

NC was kind enough to take the static images from the USGS epicenter maps and create us a great animation of seismic activity from 1973 to 2002 (1982-1984 data not available).

I am hoping that this animation will help us learn something...maybe in a trend we spot in movement or such.

If possible, please save to your own computer so that we can minimize drain on mysticfish.

www.mysticfish.net...

Many many thanks to NetChicken!!!

[Edited on 29-12-2003 by Valhall]

December activity report:

December 2003 Yellowstone Seismicity Summary

During December, 2003, 56 earthquakes were located
in the Yellowstone region. The largest shock to
occur during this period was a magnitude 2.6
earthquake on December 27 at 5:15 pm (MST), located
about 22.4 miles south southeast of West Thumb,
Wyoming. Another magnitude 2.6 event was also
recorded 2 km east of Norris Jct. on December 16 7:30
pm (MST) associated with the earthquake swarm
described below.

During this report period a small earthquake swarm of
10 earthquakes, of 0.7

Yellowstone has showed some interesting behavior in the last month. I didn�t have the time unfortunately to watch the seismograms in December, but the official monthly report has never mentioned swarms in the past. While I have not seen the graphs for myself, the close proximity to the Norris epicenter and the fact that YVO recognized the swarm is cause for concern. The 5.0 in Jackson on 1/7 was also felt strongly all over the park. This jolt is the most movement I�ve seen in several months.

I would also like to dispel some rumors being propagated by Rense and others. Animals will definitely behave differently if a large explosion or quake is coming. But�I assure you that no animals are leaving the park. These rumors started passing in September and have recently hit a crescendo. I have personally been to the park and have spoken to people returning from snowmobiling in the park over the holidays.

There is no migration underway. The bison herds, wolves and elk are still there.

There seems to be some event that lasted several minutes recorded on the Mary Lake webicorder (at the top):

www.seis.utah.edu...

There has been a 3.1 in Warm River, ID today.



And the seismos in Yellowstone are all jicky:

www.seis.utah.edu...