Whats going on at yellowstone?

Hmmmm, that was a decent sized one... but not reported?

Originally posted by la2
there is a fault there, but at the moment its unclear if these earthquakes are right at the edge of the fault or if its further toward the caldera. I'm in UK so any further place of information you can give me, i'd be greatful.

As for the exact location of the earthquakes relatively to the faults, I don't know.
Keep in mind that new faults appear all the time, and that most of the existing ones are not mapped.

Also, a 2D representation of faults on the surface like on the map in the Yellowstone earthquake page (www.seis.utah.edu...) is not completely "true". Faults may have varying inclinations along their vertical axis (depth), they are rarely perfectly perpendicular to the ground as 2D maps might suggest.

reply to post by MoorfNZ


Probably M2.3-M2.4, so it most likely won't be automatically reported.

[edit on 2010-1-17 by Shirakawa]

Ah ok, I thought it might have been a 2.5+ but your eye is obviously far keener than mine I need to refresh and stare more!

reply to post by MoorfNZ


I was just going to bring up the fact that the 19:44 (MST) quake was right on the caldera rim. It may not be a good thing. The caldera rim is a deep fault. And faults are where you have the most movement. The disaster scenario has the caldera rim opening up like a zipper all around the volcano. I however think the volcano erupts in a different dynamic. To learn more about my crazy ideas, watch my videos.

www.youtube.com...

The 19:50 (MST) quake was not big at all and certainly not 3.7.

It's also interesting to note that the swarm that started this thread did not start out as vigorously as this current series.

And I must correct myself. It's not the moon, it's the reduction in the moon's gravity. Last year when the swarm started the moon was at it's maxium apogee. That's was right after the moon was at it's closest point during a full moon, when the moon would have maximum gravitational affect. So the earth is subject to the stong pull during the full moon and then the moon loses it's influence as it goes out to it's furthest extent with the new moon. It's the extreme range and it also has to do with the fact that we are in winter an the earth is far away from the sun and near it's Perihelion. The earth is being tugged back and forth by the moon and the sun. That's what's moving the fluids under Yellowstone and producing this swarm.

Does anyone know how many "swarms" there have been in Yellowstone in the last 12 months? Or a link will do

Originally posted by MoorfNZ
Does anyone know how many "swarms" there have been in Yellowstone in the last 12 months? Or a link will do

Just start at page one and work your way forward. all the swarms are listed there.

With the caldera slowing its rise and seismic activity in the Park receding to normal levels, a new stretch of stability may in store for the Yellowstone National Park supervolcano.
A report from the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory noted the slowdown in the rise of the caldera, as measured by GPS data collected between mid-2004 and mid-2009; in fact, the slowdown is total and could indicate a stop in the rise, according to researchers. This fits with predictions made back in 2007 about how the supervolcano would act: researchers had predicted the caldera would rise for a relatively short period of tume but then the uplift would end, leading to a stable period in supervolcano activity. The uplift has indeed apparently ended.

Add to that a relatively quiet month in seismic activity, and you have the makings of stability. The December readings indicated a normal month, with only 70 earthquakes recorded in the Yellowstone National Park region. No earthquake swarms were recorded in December.

Speculation on a Yellowstone supervolcano eruption always makes for good TV rating and Website page views. But the best evidence indicates nothing spectacular is on the horizon.

Source: www.yellowstoneinsider.com...

reply to post by MoorfNZ


The key words to read in the YVO report on deformation is that is has slowed and MAY have stopped. Shirakawa a few weeks ago posted graphs that showed some parts of the park were still rising. If anything can be said about the deformation, it's that it has stalled. It is not continuing it's steady rise, but nor has there been any subsidence which often follows swarms. There has been no subsidence since the major swarm last year. Since there has been no subsidence, there still may be pressure left to be released. Over the last few years there has been an injection of molten magma the size of Los Angeles.

When you look at the GPS graphs, you can see where the uplift slowed. But if you look at them now you will see that they seem to be on the rise again. Shirakawa has more detail graphs that maybe he can show again with new data and plot the current trend.

www.uusatrg.utah.edu...





[edit on 17-1-2010 by Robin Marks]

Is it just me or has the auto reporting stopped - I thought those last two would definitely register over 2.5.

Originally posted by Robin Marks
reply to post by MoorfNZ

 

The key words to read in the YVO report on deformation is that is has slowed and MAY have stopped. Shirakawa a few weeks ago posted graphs that showed some parts of the park were still rising. If anything can be said about the deformation, it's that it has stalled. It is not continuing it's steady rise, but nor has there been any subsidence which often follows swarms. There has been no subsidence since the major swarm last year. Since there has been no subsidence, there still may be pressure left to be released. Over the last few years there has been an injection of molten magma the size of Los Angeles.

When you look at the GPS graphs, you can see where the uplift slowed. But if you look at them now you will see that they seem to be on the rise again. Shirakawa has more detail graphs that maybe he can show again with new data and plot the current trend.

www.uusatrg.utah.edu...





[edit on 17-1-2010 by Robin Marks]

Thanks, I have just tracked back and had a look at the data from Shirawaka - would be interested to see any new plots added

What is USGS playing at?

www.presstv.ir...

Originally posted by MoorfNZ
What is USGS playing at?

www.presstv.ir...

whats the go with that?! didn't hear a thing about it on USGS, 4.0 killing 7 people - crazy!!

the quakes are continuing into today the 18th i wonder if they ll get bigger and more promnouced and if the usgs will post them all ,.

This the uplift since 2004 at WLWY gps station, which is relatively distant from the current earthquakes though. There are indications that the caldera might be starting to deflate in that part of Yellowstone.

There's not much to report from the GPS station close to YMR seismic station though: quake.wr.usgs.gov... at least for the moment. Things might change after this swarm.

[edit on 2010-1-18 by Shirakawa]

Thanks Shirawaka

Lots more activity continuing at YMR...

The last one seemed bigger than M2.5 to me.
Is YVO downplaying earthquakes now?

Originally posted by Shirakawa
The last one seemed bigger than M2.5 to me.
Is YVO downplaying earthquakes now?

I'd usually defend them and say no, but this recent lack of reporting seems a bit strange..

a volcano the size of YS anykind of large quake bigger then a 3.0 after lasts years major swarm will be downrated to make sure there isnt a mass panic so yeah they could be lieing .

reply to post by MoorfNZ


Well, to be fair we should wait until at least 8.30-9.00 AM Mountain Time (UTC -7). At the moment most YVO/UUSS geologists are probably still sleeping, maybe they only have somebody awake to check that "large" earthquakes do not get automatically reported to be unrealistically large.

Yep, that's what I was thinking - although I get confused with what day/time it is there as it's currently Tues 19th 00:16 here!!

I don't like to jump on the seismo's, even on this thread we've seen this before I believe and it turned out to be nothing. I suspect someone gets paged or something if there's an anomaly worth checking.. can't believe no human isn't monitoring it remotely or whatever.

[edit on 18-1-2010 by MoorfNZ]

[edit on 18-1-2010 by MoorfNZ]