Whats going on at yellowstone?

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Hot Spot Watch
Hotspots. There are several places in Yellowstone where I see quakes day after day after day. It's very interesting watching those spots and micro-analyzing the quake data around them. Usually, what happens is, there's a quake down deep somewhere, then a lot of other quakes ascending from the original spot, sometimes as much as a few miles, without quite making it to the surface. That's what happens at one of the spots, located just northwest of the caldera at 44 deg, 39 min N and 111 deg, 3 min, 36 sec W (44.65N, 111.06W), on a regular basis. Let's call it "Hotspot 1." Look at March 5th through 7th of 2006, for example, the ones with "YWB" in the right column (graphic version). Most of the 29 quakes stayed between 5 and 7 miles deep. That's good. Other places aren't so deep. That's not so good. Then there's January 19th-21st, 2001, another lovely burst at that spot; there were about 315 quakes over a 2-day, 15-hour period (graphic version). It's been around for a long long time. And after all these years, it's still percolating.

Hotspot 2 is just southwest of the lake, and inside the caldera. This one only appeared very recently. It's at around 44 deg, 25 min, 12 secs north and 110 deg, 25 min, 12 secs west. Yes, that's right; the spot is 25'12" off each major lat/lon line. That's 0.42 in decimal, so 44.42 N, 110.42 W. Isn't that odd? March 18, 2006 (graphic version) was especially memorable there. It started with a bang about 2 miles deep, and ended with an even bigger quake about 300 feet deep. It's like there's a vertical fault line there; the quakes (about 27 of them on that day) resonated up and down that fault (shaft maybe?) for about three hours before the final one that brought it all to a halt. Here's a seismogram for that day, from the closest station to that spot (The Promontory). It's very interesting. Given the depth of the final quake in the series, it almost looks like an eruption was just barely halted before it began. Remember, most quakes in Yellowstone are caused by magma movement putting pressure on different areas in different ways which change over time as things melt and move. There are long, low-amplitude tremors of long duration in that seismograph, and to me that means Harmonic Tremor, defined as "A continuous release of seismic energy typically associated with the underground movement of magma. It contrasts distinctly with the sudden release and rapid decrease of seismic energy associated with the more common type of earthquake caused by slippage along a fault." Look at it again. 11:34:30 to 11:35; 11:59 to 12:02. Harmonic tremors before and after the near-surface quake. That means after the quake happened, magma was still moving, but the new pressure was never released by another quake. There was a tiny quake the next day at 11:20, but at a depth of 4 miles. Then on March 23rd, another big quake. I don't know its coordinates yet, but note the protracted harmonic tremors after it. Where else would it be but right where we're studying? (Update, 4/1/06 [no joke]: according to Them, there was not one single quake in Yellowstone on 3/23/06, but that tremor is HUGE at the YTP station and much smaller at the LKWY and YLT stations. It COULD thus have non-seismic origins... but it sure LOOKS quakey, especially the harmonic-tremor-like traces after it.)

Another hotspot that's been less obvious until now is under the north side of Lake Yellowstone. From 12/27/08 to 1/4/09, almost 500 quakes occurred in a narrow band under the lake nowhere near any known fault lines (and yet, exactly coincident with the infamous Bulging Lake Bottom Scare from 2003 or so). And they weren't piddling little 1.2-magnitudes, either. A hundred of them were over 2.0; 18 were over 3.0. It's the largest swarm of "larger" quakes I've seen so far. That implies to me that the ground is moving more freely in that area now, and that means it's not as strong anymore. Now, does anyone know what would happen if a vertical shaft were to open up allowing the lake to drain into the magma chamber? Anyone? No? Well, it'd flash right into steam while trapped underground, that's what it'd do, and the pressure would become so tremendous so quickly that the ground above it would all give way and push the rest of the lake into orbit. Many, many volcanoes have exploded from exactly that trigger: water trapped in the rocks around its throat finds a path to the magma, turns instantly to steam, and blows the whole mountain apart. Yellowstone would super-blow. I wonder how much warning they'd get... "Hey, the lake's drai-" *BOOM*

Two of the animated images below show this Lake hotspot acting up. It's interesting to see its migration over the years; 9/29/1998, it looks like it was where it is now, but on 3/18/2006, it's farther to the southwest. Yet it never got really active until December of 2008, and then it went insane. Taking both the number and magnitude of the quakes into consideration, it's the closest we've come yet to a full blow-out, so I've devoted a whole section to that timeframe. (Just be glad I'm not disturbing you with what the Bible Code says about it. The summary: April of 2010. Buy enough food to last until Dec. 21st, 2012. After that you'll probably have no need for food.)

Those are just some of the obvious ones I know about right now. I'll probably find more later. For now, to whet your educational yearnings, here are some Animated Maps of hotspot activity (I can generate these for any date range on record without any effort, 'cause I'm a guru-level programmer; just ask if you have any requests).

Special Timeframes:
1 year starting 9/1/1985
Month of March, 2006

Single Days:
3/4/1977 (Hotspot 1)
3/6/1978
10/16/1985 and 10/19/1985
11/9/1985
2/26/1990 (Hotspot 1)
7/4/1995
10/16/1996
6/15/1997
8/12/1997 (Hotspot 1)
9/29/1998 (strange one; 2 spots 50 miles apart, back and forth)
11/14/1998
6/16/1999 through 6/20/1999
8/8/1999 and 8/11/1999 (Hotspot 1)
1/25/2000 (Hotspot 1)
7/28/2000 and 7/29/2000
11/23/2000 and 11/24/2000
12/24/2000
1/20/2001 (Hotspot 1)
12/5/2002
1/3/2003
2/5/2003
September 9th, 2003, is the earliest date I have archived seismograms for. Sorry...
4/14/2004 - Seismogram
3/18/2006 (Hotspot 2) - Seismogram
3/18/2006 (same, non-cumulative)
4/5/2006 (A new hotspot?) - Seismogram
Week of 5/18/2006 - Seismogram



The Great Swarm of 2008
Full map | GoogleEarth™ Map (in ThreeDee!)
Full Swarm Period (so far):
Cumulative | Non-cumulative
Individual days:
12/27/08 | 12/28/08 | 12/29/08 | 12/30/08
12/31/08 | 1/1/09 | 1/2/09 | 1/3/09 | 1/4/09

www.isthisthingon.org...

It is a great site with the data just given above and many charts and graphs.... Even info on just noise...... I know many thoughts have been generated on this site about that topic.... He has been watching for a long time and personally charted alot of data...

Worth a look and some more thoughts...

reply to post by sugrbare03


Friendly reminder:

1) Please use the "ex" button to indicate content from an external source
2) In many instances, a link is really sufficient. We've (meaning those of us who have read the thread) all seen the YVO Observatory site and Isthisthingon, which are the two resources you're quoting. These are enormous posts filled completely with external content, on a thread which is already incredibly long.



[edit on 19-1-2009 by quakewatcher]

reply to post by Hx3_1963


USGS doesn't locate Yellowstone earthquakes. It is all done by the University of Utah. This is just as in the states of Washington and Oregon, all the work is done by the University of Washington. Similar local networks are run in Montana, and Nevada. If an event is really big, the USGS can locate with the national network, but otherwise they simply report what Utah or the other local networks tell them.

earthquake.usgs.gov...

Utah automatically locates the big earthquakes but not the little ones. That's why things don't update quickly on holidays and weekends.

Originally posted by Hx3_1963
reply to post by Shirakawa

 

Think those little "bumps" are from Nevada Eq's?

I think not, because waves from distant earthquakes don't look like spikes, and besides, there haven't been yet earthquakes strong enough to be significantly detected by Yellowstone seismic stations.

To everybody: by the way, water discharge from Yellowstone lake has remained almost constantly above average for a week. If this was only due to bad weather (increased rain precipitation) wouldn't the trend be a little more variable, even if just on a short period of time?

[edit on 2009/1/20 by Shirakawa]

I did not know what ex was for so great.... I will use it from now on.
Yes I have been on with you since page 1.... Just doing own personal research too... At times one looses detail of what has been posted and what hasnt since it has been an on going thing... If indeed it had not been discovered then, I wanted to bring it to the groups attention... Thanks.. Keep up the fine work...saving one planet at a time...

Has anyone noticed Old Faithful's chart tonight?

Weirdness. Hope it's just a technical problem, seems like it would have to be as I don't see it anywhere else.

Check it out, after 22:00:

www.seis.utah.edu...

[edit on 20-1-2009 by quakewatcher]

Hi Lel,

I've heard of chemtrails and have seen pics, but these were not those types of clouds. These clouds were fluffy, scattered in pattern. Kinda like someone took one big cloud and cut it into squares.

Have a look at the pics on this page. NOT the rainbow clouds, but the ones lower down on the page:

pinewooddesign.co.uk...

Here's page that has pics of Chemtrails.

en.wikipedia.org...

They look more like the trails an airplane leaves.

You can see the difference that I'm talking about. The clouds above OC today were of the first example, not chemtrails.

reply to post by OCAngel

Hi All, I'm a newbie (Gawd! I can't believe I am posting in a forum like this!)

I've been following this thread since Christmas. Thanks to all for the information. I find everyone here quite intelligent, credible, and interesting.

Like you, I didn't think I'd be posting on this site. When I first heard of the EQ swarms at Yellowstone starting back on Dec 26th, the news media barely said anything about it. Out of curiosity, I started to google and found this thread. I started at page one of this thread and now look where we are! Quite frankly, I hope this particular thread continues as there is a tremendous amount of talent here which for the most part, has a good scientific approach to this subject. I've learned,(and am still learning), a great deal about seismology and I'm having a ball. It looks like I have taken up a new hobby (like I really needed one).

Currently I live about 270 miles from "ground zero", but I lived in Cody, WY. for many years (which is WAY closer), and have visited Yellowstone frequently during all four seasons. It is quite a fascinating place, to say the least.

Anyway, welcome, have a ball, don't get too worried, and enjoy the learning experience...

Regards, Ric...

P.S.. You know you're hooked when you spend the better part of your days off from work looking at webicorders, GEE, IRIS, VASE, Web sites that deal with interpreting seismograms, etc., and your wife says; darn it honey, let's go for a ride. It's a pretty day out...

I think I'll go and hang out on the "Life on Mars" thread for a few minutes and see what's happening there...

Ric...


















[edit on 20/1/2009 by raepperle]

By the way, did anybody notice that GPS ground deformation data for WLWY station shows a much faster upward deformation than LKWY station, nearing two inches/year? It's where the second smaller earthquake swarm occurred two weeks ago.

reply to post by Thought Provoker

I sometimes wonder what taxes are for too... didn't Bush say he was going to give another $3 billion to the parks department a couple of years ago? I guess some bank got it instead..

Yep, I heard that too. Not meaning to get off topic but, It's enough to p*** off the James Boys..




[edit on 20/1/2009 by raepperle]

where can we place bets on when she'll blow?

my money is on (hopefully) not in our lifetime!

reply to post by OCAngel


Welcome OC having another "Live" contact in SoCal is a good thing...Well maybe not for you...Anywhoo Coolness to Da Maximumness!!!

reply to post by seismo jock sniffer


Yeah you got me there...I "knew" that U of U does that, but, all that pop'ed into my Mush Gob was USGS...either way...UnderFunded Gov Overseers

Well shucks U of U is off line??? Is this a good thing?

Originally posted by Shirakawa
By the way, did anybody notice that GPS ground deformation data for WLWY station shows a much faster upward deformation than LKWY station, nearing two inches/year? It's where the second smaller earthquake swarm occurred two weeks ago.

I think the evidence is pretty overwhelming now that the latest earthquakes were caused by either magma or hydrothermal intrusion. If the former, hopefully the magma has now cooled and hardened to become new rock. I guess that's the good side of magma movement- as long as it doesn't erupt it can potentially cool and end up plugging some holes.

Hey --- Interesting enough the seismographs aren't up this morning, they are all down...they are only showing 5 of them, yet those are not working either.

Has anyone seen all the graphs/monitors down at one time before?

www.isthisthingon.org...

you will see at the above site, they aren't even bothering to show all. I also tried to go to the monitors individually that I have favorited, but ...no go...

Why wouldn't they be on or showing?

Yellowstone network seismic stations on GEE are working as usual, so I think it's, again, a DNS problem with the U of U website.

reply to post by OCAngel


I have inserted in many pages back, videos I took of those "earthquake" clouds I took last Monday. In fact the whole U.S. map showed those clouds. Those clouds can happen 30 days or less before a big quake, I also put in the pics of the clouds you linked to. I will put them in again.

I am wondering, if something so large of gases and water vapors have affected the whole U.S. cloud formations. The sat pic showed those formations even off the East coast of the U.S..

So my question has been, could what is going on at YS with vapor releases - and it being so big...could then have all the clouds do what they did on Monday? Even in the thick of clouds with rain and snow still showed the scattered clouds. In my video I took, showed wavyness.

If cloud predictions are correct..and if my videos those type clouds, then I would say something big may happen somewhere around the U.S.

First here is the satellite from 15th of Jan.




here are pics of clouds from the link:pinewooddesign.co.uk...





Now: here are the 2 videos of clouds I personally took: