Originally posted by spinkyboo
It's called paying attention. Thinking. It's what we don't do enough of.
Chances are you could probably go outside right now and find 10 people on your own block that don't even know that Yellowstone presents an issue that
could wipe out the species as we know it.
Why do some people feel such an overwhelming need to put down the people who choose to THINK?
Perhaps because THEY don't want to?
Ready to pay attention?
I could say the same as you as you probably don't know of the plethora of other caldera super volcano systems that could potentially 'wipe out the
species as we know it'. I'm willing to bet that you do not know about active and ancient super volcano systems that were stronger than some of the
Yellowstone eruptions, or nearly matched it in strength.
That's right, Yellowstone isn't the only one.
Do you pay attention over every little quake in the Lake Taupo, or Lake Toba system? Both have produced VEI 8 eruptions in recent history, one only
~26,000 years ago and both released more material than the youngest Yellowstone caldera. What about Whakamaru, about 250,000 years ago?
Or how about quakes around the ancient La Garita Caldera in Colorado? Did you know that Caldera eruption was double the strongest Yellowstone
eruption at Island Park?
What about Long Valley, or the Valles Caldera System in New Mexico? Or the Bennet Lake Volcanic Complex? How about the Calderas on Iwo Jima? What
about uplift at Campi Flegrei, the most documented in the world?
Heck, lets really scare you and talk about the Lazufre volcanic area in South America. That system has a 45 km wide area of ground deformation that
formed over a 3 year period (2003-2006). To put that in perspective, thats an area of about 1100km sql miles being uplifted on AVERAGE 3cm per year
-- or comparable to the size of Yellowstone and Long Valley. Someplace's had 50cm uplift.
I don't see ANY threads here about those systems, but Yellowstone has a handful 1.5 earthquakes and it's the end of the world, the sky is falling,
and a monster eruption will take place next week.
And yet you sit there and tell me that I don't want to "think", when in reality you're the one that can't see the forest from the tree's.
Hiccups in an active caldera system is not the portent for a major eruption. Even the 7.5quake of 1959 caused an uplift of almost 12 feet along the
Hebgen fault -- with no eruption. Nor did the 1983 Borah Peak quake in Idaho.
Not every hiccup the caldera makes portend to a major eruption. Over 30 recent lava flows have occurred within the caldera and around it since the
last caldera forming eruption. In fact, the 'hills' behind Old Faithful and the upper geyser basin are one such flow. Thousands of other
hydrothermal explosions have taken place as well -- some knocking out sections as big as heart lake with no eruption. Nor the 80 some odd volcanic
eruptions there that have taken place have caused caldera forming eruptions either.
If you want to panic and lose sleep over every little quake in Yellowstone, be my guest. Play to your own ignorance that Yellowstone can only produce
extinction level events. Oh and please, by all means ignore the rest of the caldera systems in the world, some just as dangerous, some more so,
others less.
Oh I know why.. it's not sensational enough. Basalt flows or smaller volcanic eruptions just aren't newsworthy even though they are the most likely
to happen in the caldera. Just like the Lassen Peak swarm a few months back had NO notice here, nor did the Crater Lake swarm.
As far as the other calderas, mention any of them I mentioned and get a blank stare even on this forum, but Yellowstone -- OMG DISCOVERY CHANNEL SAYS
ITS GOING TO BLOW! PANIC!
I'll keep my own thinking cap on -- thanks.