Yellowstone Volcano - Ready to Destroy

I found this paragraph in DK eyewitness guides under the sub-heading "Future Disasters".

"Below Yellowstone Park in the USA, a massive magma chamber heats the water which bursts from the famous geysers. If enough pressure (is) built up in the magma chamber, it could cause the biggest volcanic eruption in recorded history, destroying much of the USA, and blasting enough ash into the air to cool Earth. Some scientists warn that an eruption at Yellowstone is now overdue."

It shocks me that even some acclaimed scientists believe the Yellowstone volcano will erupt eventually. There was even a show entitled "Supervolcano" that analysed the volcano.

Here are some links relating to the Yellowstone Volcano:
jscms.jrn.columbia.edu...
(Are we too afraid to face the possibility)

www.solcomhouse.com...

I would like to see your opinions on this matter.





[edit on 18-11-2008 by Unknown_Significance]

I know there have been other threads on Yellowstone but I have created this one to discuss the possibility of an eruption in the near future and how badly it would affect America and the world?

reply to post by Unknown_Significance


I belive that a major earthquake in the 9.5 OR higher that would need to make Yellowstone Volcano erupted. No, and a big eruption as if Yellowstone Volcano would blow would not destory most-all of USA.

Yellowstone is not the only volcano in the US that is a danger.

We have one in Calif that is almost as bad.
en.wikipedia.org...

The scariest thing about Yellowstone in my lifetime is that someone might Target it with a Nuke or 2

Overdue in geological terms doesn't frighten me for my life or children's or children's children...

But that in a war that sucker might get blown, that scares the heck out of me Caldera + Radiation

They've been saying this for years.
Apparently the lava dome has been expanding somewhat which, in conjunction with it being overdue for it's cyclic-like eruption behavior, is leading to much speculation on not if, but when it will happen.
I don't think fear plays into weather or not we are willing to "face" this, or any other possibility of a cataclysmic natural disaster, but, rather, we will face it when it happens as that seems to be the way a majority of people tend to be.
We've got daily tasks to attend to and more immediate needs to be concerned with. Sure, it may be in the back of everyone's mind, but unless it is seriously ABOUT to erupt, people just go about what they were doing in short order.

i think yellowstone is being grossly underestimated as far as damage is concerned. No it will not "destroy" most of the usa as far as eruption is concerned (well wyoming and idaho will be pretty screwed). It's effects are more long term. The amount of ash it will eject is far beyond anything historical, the major damage is that after an eruption, US crops will be ruined creating the greatest famine this country has ever seen.

Worldwide, the ash will enter the atmosphere causing worldwide famine when it blocks out the sun and a nuclear winter type scenario is certainly possible.

As for another volcano in cali that's about as bad? Mt ranier, shasta? As far as i know none even come close to yellowstone's caliber of volcano. and some of you may know that yellowstone was only recently discovered to be a volcano because of the lands rising due to chamber pressure. To quickly say it, the eruption is imminent, it IS long overdue, and if there was any way to stop it believe me we would have already done it. So when will it happen? 2010 is my best guess but who can really say. The faster the poles shift the more likely for an eruption, same logic that dictates earthquakes are only gonna get stronger and more frequent.

Since there's no way to predict this beyond saying "ok, maybe it will happen at some point", no way to prevent it, and no way to protect ourselves from it beyond normal survival tactics, there's not much to talk about..

just cuz we can't stop yellowstone doesn't mean it's not an interesting topic nevertheless. If we knew a catastrophic asteroid were coming in 3 years or so, I'd still talk about it till it hits

If yellowstone turns into jellystone because of the long overdue eruption , I'd say its better to plan ahead than to plan on the fly. Stock up with dried foodstuffs, you can use them as your going and always restock as you get to 2/3rds capacity, always keep your car fuelled , regas at half a tank, in case of a quick getaway.
o point trying to find a cave as everyone else will do that and besides caves are nothing but big holes in the ground, great for graves and if you get caught in a pyroclastic cloud it will not only seal you in but suffocate the lot of you staying in a cave. ( thats if your close enough to the blast).
If your further out follow the above food and gas rules as if the SHTF then crops will dwindle due to the ash ( if its going to be a huge blast) ( Krakatoa and the 'dark ages' < Krak blew thousands of tonnes into the atmosphere hence the dark ages ( probably wrong but hey who cares?)
If you have to make a quick getaway carry supplies that are easily grab-able, and be prepared to keep miving till it settles. then head back home if its still standing.
We'll be ok in the UK but if the ash in the atmosphere covers the Earth we ALL will be in trouble, Crops will fail on all continents and all we'll have to eat are tinned stuff. Animals will be the first to be eaten by the starving followed by whatever plants survive that we can eat safely. the water will become toxic unless its bottled and or purified ( Can you say expensive as people will be charging through the nose to supply it).
Be prepared to barter 'favours' ( you know what I mean).
the park is long overdue all we can do is hope that it goes away (like a pimple that hurts when you touch it, so you don't and it goes down on its own) but as soon as we become complacent then POW , it'll blow.

There is the long valley caldera in eastern California that is increasing in activity... new Sulphur vents and the like... and its a biggie too.

By all accounts the Yellowstone volcano erupts every 600,000 years or so.

from the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory website:

www.cheniere.org...

Three extremely large explosive eruptions have occurred at Yellowstone in the past 2.1 million years with a recurrence interval of about 600,000 to 800,000 years. More frequent eruptions of basalt and rhyolite lava flows have occurred before and after the large caldera-forming events. For example, scientists have identified about 30 different rhyolite lava flows that erupted after the most recent caldera eruptions, about 640,000 years ago, from vents inside the caldera. The most recent was about 70,000 years ago. Many of these eruptions were separated in time by several tens of thousandsof years. Because the evidence of earlier eruptions may have been either buried or destroyed, we do not really know how often the volcano has actually erupted....

.... Volcanic activity began in the Yellowstone National Park region a little before about 2 million years ago. Molten rock ( magma) rising from deep within the Earth produced three cataclysmic eruptions more powerful than any in the world's recorded history. The first caldera-forming eruption occurred about 2.1 million years ago. The eruptive blast removed so much magma from its subsurface storage reservoir that the ground above it collapsed into the magma chamber and left a gigantic depression in the ground- a hole larger than the state of Rhode Island. The huge crater, known as a caldera, measured as much as 80 kilometers long, 65 kilometers wide, and hundreds of meters deep, extending from outside of Yellowstone National Park into the central area of the Park (Figure 1).

Later, activity shifted to a smaller region within the Island Park area of eastern Idaho, just southwest of Yellowstone National Park, and produced another large caldera-forming eruption 1.3 million years ago. Subsequent activity has been focused within the area of the National Park, and another huge eruption 640,000 years ago formed the Yellowstone caldera as we now see it.

The three caldera-forming eruptions, respectively, were about 2,500, 280, and 1,000 times larger than the May 18, 1980 eruption of Mt. St. Helens in Washington State. Together, the three catastrophic eruptions expelled enough ash and lava to fill the Grand Canyon.

In addition to the three climactic eruptions, activity associated with each of the three caldera cycles produced dozens or even hundreds of smaller eruptions that produced both lava and pyroclastic materials....

.... The most recent volcanic activity consisted of rhyolitic lava flows that erupted approximately 70,000 years ago. The largest of these flows formed the Pitchstone Plateau in southwestern Yellowstone National Park....

.... Since the most recent giant caldera-forming eruption, 640,000 years ago, at least 30 smaller but still destructive volcanic eruptions have occurred at Yellowstone. Some of the eruptions were approximately the size of the devastating 1991 Pinatubo eruption in the Philippines, and several were much larger....

.... During the three giant caldera-forming eruptions that occurred between 2.1 million and 640,000 years ago, tiny particles of volcanic debris (volcanic ash) covered much of the western half of North America, likely a third of a meter deep several hundred kilometers from Yellowstone and several centimeters thick farther away (Figure 3). Wind carried sulfur aerosol and the lightest ash particles around the planet and likely caused a notable decrease in temperatures around the globe.

[edit on 18-11-2008 by grover]

i guess we should watch it by 2012 when the Solar Cycle will reach the maximum of actovity. When the sun is active, the volcanos are more likely to get active too (my guess, based on basic data observation)

This link will take you to the government observatory at Long Valley:

lvo.wr.usgs.gov...

from Wikipedia: en.wikipedia.org...

Long Valley Caldera is a depression in eastern California that is adjacent to Mammoth Mountain. The valley is one of the largest calderas on earth, measuring about 32 kilometres (20 mi) long (east-west) and 17 kilometres (11 mi) wide (north-south). The elevation of the floor of the caldera is 6,500 feet (2,000 m) in the east and 8,500 feet (2,600 m) in the west. The elevation of the caldera walls reach 9,800-11,500 feet (3,000-3,500 m) except in the east where the wall rises only 500 feet (150 m) to an elevation of 7,550 feet (2,300 m)).

Long Valley was formed 760,000 years ago when a huge volcanic eruption released very hot ash that later cooled to form the Bishop tuff that is common to the area. The eruption was so colossal that the magma chamber under the now completely destroyed volcano was significantly emptied to the point of collapse. The collapse itself caused an even larger secondary eruption of pyroclastic ash that burned and buried thousands of square miles. Ash from this eruption blanketed much of the western part of what is now the United States. Geologists call topographic depressions formed in this manner calderas....

.... The tectonic causes of the volcanism that have produced the Long Valley Caldera are still largely unexplained and are therefore a matter of much ongoing research. Long Valley is not above a hotspot as is Yellowstone or Hawaii, nor is it the result of subduction such as that which produces the volcanism of the Cascades.

The known volcanic history of the Long Valley Caldera area started several million years ago when magma began to collect several miles below the surface. Volcanic activity became concentrated in the vicinity of the present site of Long Valley Caldera 3.1 to 2.5 million years ago with eruptions of rhyodacite followed by high-silica rhyolite from 2.1 to 0.8 million years ago. After some time a cluster of mostly rhyolitic volcanoes formed in the area. All told, about 1,500 square miles (4,000 square kilometers) were covered by lava....

.... n May of 1980, a strong earthquake swarm that included four Richter magnitude 6 earthquakes struck the southern margin of Long Valley Caldera associated with a 10 inch (25-cm), dome-shaped uplift of the caldera floor. These events marked the onset of the latest period of caldera unrest that continues to this day. This ongoing unrest includes recurring earthquake swarms and continued dome-shaped uplift of the central section of the caldera (the resurgent dome) accompanied by changes in thermal springs and gas emissions. After the quake another road was created as an escape route. Its name at first was proposed as the "Mammoth Escape Route" but was changed to the Mammoth Scenic Route after Mammoth area businesses and land owners complained.

In 1982, the United States Geological Survey under the Volcano Hazards Program began an intensive effort to monitor and study geologic unrest in Long Valley Caldera. The goal of this effort is to provide residents and civil authorities in the area reliable information on the nature of the potential hazards posed by this unrest and timely warning of an impending volcanic eruption, should it develop. Most, perhaps all, volcanic eruptions are preceded and accompanied by geophysical and geochemical changes in the volcanic system. Common precursory indicators of volcanic activity include increased seismicity, ground deformation, and variations in the nature and rate of gas emissions.

reply to post by gordonwest


Actually, it would destroy much of the earth, not just the US, its called a super valcano and it has erupted in the past, it may just be the cause for the last worlds ice age 150,000 years ago.

Originally posted by stinkhorn
reply to post by gordonwest

 

Actually, it would destroy much of the earth, not just the US, its called a super valcano and it has erupted in the past, it may just be the cause for the last worlds ice age 150,000 years ago.

Toba wiped out most of the human race 75,000 years ago...lucky we didnt go extinct.Scientists figured out it was roguhly 70% due to a small gene pool..

[edit on 18-11-2008 by Solomons]

I took quite a bit of interest in this volcano a couple years ago. Last I heard, parts of the park had to be closed off due to steam pockets erupting through the ground where they shouldn't be erupting. Acres of pines trees mysteriously died presumably due to the heat underground killing the roots. The ground had risen significantly to the point of forcing lakewater out of it's containment and into the forest. There were groups of animals found dead with no apparent cause as to why.

Make no mistake about it, the supervolcano that stirs under Yellowstone Park is the biggest volcano on this planet. If this volcano erupted to it's full capacity, it would literally be erupting nonstop for several days and maybe even longer than a week. It would eject so much ash and debris into the air that it would completely block out the sun worldwide. Plant life would die within weeks and animal life within months. Water supplies in the US would be immediately contaminated with volcanic ash and the sun blocking debris would travel all over the world as the jet stream carried it around the entire planet. This would be a world wide event of the extinction level variety and would immediately be the end of the United States. Very little if any of the US would be habitable after such a disaster. Temperatures would drop significantly worldwide.

Volcanic ash isn't just any old ash. When it combines with moisture in the air or on the ground, it becomes a substance that resembles liquid concrete. A layer about an inch thick would be enough to collapse the roof of most houses. This conversion also happens when it mixes with the moisture in your lungs. Breathe enough of it in and you literally drown in it.

I don't mean to frighten people, but the potential of this volcano should not be underestimated. Make no mistake, this volcano will destroy this planet and everything on it if it erupts. It's a ticking time bomb that has been stirring more than usual over the last decade or so. Yellowstone is the most active geological location on this planet and is capable of completely destroying everything within hundreds of miles of it very quickly.

The Lake Toba supervolcano eruption (Indonesia) sent the earth into an ice age and wiped out around 60% of the planet's human population. This ice age lasted around 1000 years. This supervolcano pales in comparison to that of Yellowstone, which is much bigger. As a matter of fact, you could fit the entire city of Tokyo in it's crater; this thing is MASSIVE. An eruption of this magnatude would be of biblical proportions and if it wanted to erupt tomorrow, we could do nothing to stop it. I pray to God no one ever has to witness such an event, but this is one thing we can't control.

People are forgetting about the other BIG Volcano, the one that N'Z - New Zealand is sitting on.

I guess the question should be which one has a better probability of destroying the US first, Yellowstone volcano or nuclear bombs?

Either one doesn't sound good.

Originally posted by jam321
I guess the question should be which one has a better probability of destroying the US first, Yellowstone volcano or nuclear bombs?

Either one doesn't sound good.

Or both A country would only need a couple to pop yellowstone like a cork i would think if they hit the right place...

Originally posted by stinkhorn
reply to post by gordonwest

 

Actually, it would destroy much of the earth, not just the US, its called a super valcano and it has erupted in the past, it may just be the cause for the last worlds ice age 150,000 years ago.

WE'RE DOOOOOOMED

[edit on 18/11/08 by DataWraith]