Whats going on at yellowstone?

Has anyone tried this app. for Google Earth? It gives you a timelapse of the quakes

www.google.com...

After you load it, focus on Yellowstone and use the new slider at the top. Most of the quakes are under the lake. Kind of looks like fireworks,I just hope that there is not a BIG one at the end.

The 2.7 an hour ago was really shallow, 0.2km or~0.1 mile deep, (with an uncertainty of +or- 1 mile)

Good morning all, and Happy New Year.

I've been quietly following this thread since the beginning, and have learned more about volcanoes than I thought possible at my age. Thanks to all of you who have posted such great information.

The first thing I did upon waking this morning was to check all the MSM sites to see if an "event" had happened, but saw nothing about Yellowstone at any of those sites.

If I hadn't know to come here to ATS, I would not be aware of the EQs still happening there. Again, thanks..

I've made a timelapse video of 250 earthquakes occurred below Yellowstone lake until December 31.

The video shows vertically the DEPTH of earthquakes, unlike other animations. North is towards the left portion of the screen. Unfortunately the video doesn't look very good on youtube, if you want to download it at full quality (1024x576 pixel) please click this link.

reply to post by Shirakawa

Very nice little animation. Thank you -- star for you! I saved the download as you suggested.

Just a query: I noticed that the quake dots appear then disappear as the swarm progresses northwards. Does the display show the individual quakes for only a set period (eg 24 hours)?

reply to post by JustMike


Yes, I forgot to mention, only 100 earthquakes are shown at the same time, I've made it so to better understand how they moved their location over time.

reply to post by JustMike


Very strange, they all stopped at 23:55 UTC yesterday. Maybe they've switched them off for maintenance? Any other reason, why not all of them?

reply to post by Shirakawa


Wow. Phenomenal video!

Star for you and thank you!

Originally posted by JustMike
reply to post by tarifa37

 

I'd classify as "dumb" the people who don't ask questions because they prefer to remain ignorant. Your question is very reasonable.

Warning signs or (if we want to be a touch more scientific vis-a-vis volcanoes) "precursors" would in this region include unusual or unexpected changes in water levels in lakes, ditto temperature changes, "bubbling" (gas release or venting) either seen in that lake or venting from the ground, significant changes in the eruption periods or characteristics of geysers, and a rapid increase or change in the height of the "dome". Some of these can obviously be directly observed, others have to be determined by studying data collected by sensors of various kinds.

The same goes with the helicorder (seismogram) data. The traces are studied by experts to look for signs of significant volcanic/magmatic activity and of course quakes which might be caused by this activity, and also, for the past twenty years or so, they also look for indications of what are called "long-period events" which are a special "signature" indicating pressure buildup and that can indicate if an eruption is imminent. In fact, this indicator is very important. If it is present and the number and period of these "LP" events are on the rise, then they would be worried.

For info about why these LP events are so important I'd recommend a couple of sites that will give you the basics of them in a few minutes, direct from Dr Bernard Chouet, the scientist who discovered their significance and first used them to predict impending eruptions with great accuracy. The first is an interview with him where he discusses what it all means, the second (longer) text is the transcript of a BBC "Horizon" special about volcanoes and predictions, which details the first time his methods were used and what the consequences were.

Interview with Dr Bernard Chouet

BBC Program: Volcano Hell








Thanks for your very informative and detailed answer.I will check out the links that you have recommended.Coming to ats is an education in itself.

reply to post by flora

Hello Flora,

good afternoon from here in Prague! I hope your New Year was peaceful and that the year ahead will be a good one for you.

Yes, there have been some excellent posts on this thread and like you, I've certainly improved my knowledge in some respects and benefited from the opinions and experience of others. Overall, ATS would probably be one of the best "one-stop info shops" around and I find it invaluable, as I think many do.

[End of free plug for ATS ]

As for the MSM, while they have some awareness of what is going on in Yellowstone, I would imagine they are wary of publishing much. There were some stories a few days ago but now, it's "old news" for them and they'll only take interest once more if there's either a significant change in what is going on there, or someone in authority issues a press release that makes them sit up and take notice. Frankly the MSM are about the last place to get information about what is really going on in most matters of any import (but you would be well aware of that as you are here on ATS).

Best regards,

Mike

reply to post by apex

Highly unlikely that they'd switch them off for maintenance in the middle of the most significant swarm of quakes in Yellowstone in many a long year.

[EDIT to add:] Apex knows about this but others might not...If you take a look at the map I made and put up in this post (that Apex was replying to), then it's easy to see which helicorders are still up and running. They seem to be on a separate "loop" from all the others, which could account for it.

[End of edit.]

Anyway, I suspect it's a technical problem as even many of the U of Utah's helicorders in Utah itself are also down -- and they went down at the same time.

Considering the time, the reason could be awfully prosaic. Picture this: five minutes before midnight, some poor intern or junior tech who got stuck with the New Year's Eve graveyard shift in a control center sat miserably toasting the incoming New Year with his cup of cola and accidentally spilled in into a vital piece of equipment... Orrr... a party in full swing in a tech center that handles all the feeds, and POP! Whoops! Champagne cork flies off and clobbers some vital gadget...

Wouldn't surprise me, to be honest. Having worked for the govt. I know what it can be like in such places on New Year's.

Mike

[edit on 1/1/09 by JustMike]

reply to post by Shirakawa

Well you've done a superb job, Shirakawa! I have huge respect for people who can make things like that -- especially when you are doing it purely to share and help others to learn more, without getting paid. Very kind of you and I hope a mod gives you applause, at least. You've done some wonderful graphics on this thread and they've been invaluable in aiding us to picture what's going on.

reply to post by Shirakawa



Great video...thanks!

2 lines.

That avi time lapse is great. Thank you so much.

Thanks everybody, I thought it would've been great to share that video as it clearly shows that as time passes, newer earthquakes occurring below Yellowstone lake tend to be shallower and more northern than early ones as if something is moving below there.

[edit on 2009/1/1 by Shirakawa]

Originally posted by TwiTcHomatic

Originally posted by dustystrings

Not updating: YPP_EHZ_WY YTP_EHZ_WY YLT_EHZ_WY YML_EHZ_WY YDC_EHZ_WY YPK_EHZ_WY YMP_EHZ_WY YHB_EHZ_WY YJC_EHZ_WY YMC_EHZ_WY YHH_EHZ_WY YSB_EHZ_WY YMV_EHZ_WY MCID_EHZ_WY

Just was gonna mention that. Thanks for the list! maintenance? Scheduled outage?

This one still is up...( I think )

quake.utah.edu...

You guys have to remember..

These sites weren't exactly intended for the amount of people that keep refreshing those pages.

Its like a Digg article that leads to a site going down in 15 minutes.

The web servers are staying up just fine -- it's whatever creates the charts that is now gone MIA. If we weren't getting ANYTHING (ie, the graphic was showing as a red X or similar) then we could complain about the servers being clogged up.

This is a "lack of data" (or "script crapped itself" or "recording device is now in a pool of molten lava") type event, not a "server overloaded because of the slashdot or digg effect".

I will say that USGS TA.H17A is reporting again, so folks that are using GEE can watch.. and there was just a really nice spike at 15:00zulu (about 10 minutes ago)

-K

New update from YVO!

YELLOWSTONE VOLCANO OBSERVATORY MONTHLY UPDATE Thursday, January 1, 2009 07:57 MST (Thursday, January 1, 2009 14:57 UTC) YELLOWSTONE VOLCANO (CAVW#1205-01-) 44.43°N 110.67°W, Summit Elevation 9203 ft (2805 m) Volcano Alert Level: NORMAL Aviation Color Code: GREEN December 2008 Yellowstone Earthquake And Ground Deformation Summary Earthquake Summary: Yellowstone seismicity increased significantly in December 2008 due to an energetic earthquake swarm that commenced on December 26. This swarm, a sequence of earthquakes clustered in space and time, is occurring beneath the northern part of Yellowstone Lake in Yellowstone National Park. As of this writing, the largest of these earthquakes was a magnitude 3.9 at 10:15 pm MST on Dec. 27. Through 5:00 pm MST on Dec. 31, the sequence had included 12 events of magnitude 3.0 to 3.9 and approximately 20 of magnitude 2.5 to 2.9, with a total of at least 400 events large enough to be located (magnitude ~1 or larger). National Park Service (NPS) employees and visitors have reported feeling the largest of these earthquakes in the area around Yellowstone Lake and at Old Faithful and Grant Village. The hypocenters of the swarm events cluster along a north-south-trending zone that is about 7 km long. The vast majority of the focal depths are shallower than 5 km. It is not possible to identify a causative fault of other feature without further analysis. Analysts are currently processing the backlog of seismic data from these events. The current analyst-processed catalog is believed to include all events of magnitude 2.5 and greater through Dec 31 at 5 pm MST, but hundreds of earthquakes remain to be processed. The total of more than 400 locatable events is based on automatically-determined locations and magnitudes for the swarm events. The December 2008 earthquake sequence is the most intense in this area for some years. No damage has been reported within Yellowstone National Park, nor would any be expected from earthquakes of this size. The swarm is in a region of historical earthquake activity and is close to areas of Yellowstone famous hydrothermal activity. Similar earthquake swarms have occurred in the past in Yellowstone without triggering steam explosions or volcanic activity. Nevertheless, there is some potential for hydrothermal explosions and earthquakes may continue or increase in magnitude. There is a much lower potential for related volcanic activity. The National Park Service in Yellowstone has been kept fully informed of the ongoing seismic activity via electronic means and by phone contacts with the University of Utah and the U.S. Geological Survey USGS). The Wyoming Office of Homeland Security is reviewing Earthquake Response Plans and monitoring seismic activity. Earthquakes are a common occurrence in the Yellowstone National Park area, an active volcanic-tectonic area averaging 1,000 to 2,000 earthquakes a year. Yellowstone's 10,000 geysers and hot springs are the result of this geologic activity. A summary of Yellowstone's volcanic history is available on the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory web site (listed below). The University of Utah operates a seismic network in Yellowstone National Park in conjunction with the National Park Service and the U.S. Geological Survey. These three institutions are partners in the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory. Seismic data from Yellowstone are transmitted to the University in real-time by radio and satellite links from a network of 28 seismographs in the Yellowstone area and are available on the web. Seismologists continue to monitor and analyze data from this swarm of earthquakes and provide updates to the NPS and USGS and to the public via the following web pages. Information on U.S. earthquake activity including Yellowstone can be viewed at the U.S. Geological Survey web site: earthquake.usgs.gov... Information on earthquakes can also be viewed at the University of Utah Seismograph Stations web site: www.seis.utah.edu... Seismographic recordings from Yellowstone seismograph stations can be viewed online at: www.quake.utah.edu... An article on earthquake swarms at Yellowstone is available at the following: volcanoes.usgs.gov... Persons who felt any of the earthquakes are encouraged to fill out a survey form on the USGS 'Did You Feel It?' web site: earthquake.usgs.gov... Geologic information, maps, and monitoring information for Yellowstone can be found on the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory web site at: volcanoes.usgs.gov... Ground Deformation Summary: Through December 2008, continuous GPS data show that much of the Yellowstone caldera continued moving upward, though at a lower rate than the past few years. The maximum measured ground uplift over the past 53 months is ~23 cm at the White Lake GPS station, north of Fishing Bridge. An example can be found at: pboweb.unavco.org... The general uplift of the Yellowstone caldera is scientifically important and will continue to be monitored and studied closely by YVO staff. A discussion of the current uplift episode at Yellowstone and long-term ground deformation at Yellowstone and elsewhere can be found at: volcanoes.usgs.gov... ----- The Yellowstone Volcano Observatory (YVO) is a partnership of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), Yellowstone National Park, and University of Utah to strengthen the long-term monitoring of volcanic and earthquake unrest in the Yellowstone National Park region. Yellowstone is the site of the largest and most diverse collection of natural thermal features in the world and the first National Park. YVO is one of the five USGS Volcano Observatories that monitor volcanoes within the United States for science and public safety.

Important snippet:

The current analyst-processed catalog is believed to include all events of magnitude 2.5 and greater through Dec 31 at 5 pm MST, but hundreds of earthquakes remain to be processed. The total of more than 400 locatable events is based on automatically-determined locations and magnitudes for the swarm events. The December 2008 earthquake sequence is the most intense in this area for some years. No damage has been reported within Yellowstone National Park, nor would any be expected from earthquakes of this size. The swarm is in a region of historical earthquake activity and is close to areas of Yellowstone famous hydrothermal activity. Similar earthquake swarms have occurred in the past in Yellowstone without triggering steam explosions or volcanic activity. Nevertheless, there is some potential for hydrothermal explosions and earthquakes may continue or increase in magnitude. There is a much lower potential for related volcanic activity. The National Park Service in Yellowstone has been kept fully informed of the ongoing seismic activity via electronic means and by phone contacts with the University of Utah and the U.S. Geological Survey USGS). The Wyoming Office of Homeland Security is reviewing Earthquake Response Plans and monitoring seismic activity. Earthquakes are a common occurrence in the Yellowstone National Park area, an active volcanic-tectonic area averaging 1,000 to 2,000 earthquakes a year

i've been following this thread now since the beginning and am becoming addicted too it lol
nice to have a very informative and cordial thread like this.
i know a bit about eq's and volcanoes(environmental science major in college) but one thing i never heard of is- what exactly does everyone mean when they say pollock? and i don't mean the tasty fish!
happy new years everyone

LKWY is still operating..:-)