Yellowstone Supervolcano

[matthyaouw]

the movement does not mean an explosion is imminent. Calderas – the massive craters that are left behind when a volcano collapses – all over the world go up and down over decades.

http://environment.newscientist.com...-surge-causes-record-rise-at-yellowstone.html

If you're gonna panic every time a caldera twitches, you probably won't be getting much sleep in the near future.

 

[Orleander]

so never in recorded history has a caldera erupted?

 

[matthyaouw]

so never in recorded history has a caldera erupted?

Not one the size of yellowstone, no.

 

[Orleander]

But it can erupt right? So why couldn't it erupt this year?

 

[matthyaouw]

You could say that about any volcano anywhere. The question really is "is there any evidence to suggest it will?" The seismologists who study it are saying no, not at the moment. Things could change, but what's the point in guessing until we've got some evidence?

 

[Orleander]

...but what's the point in guessing until we've got some evidence?

Because of Mt St Helenes. Better safe than sorry.

 

[matthyaouw]

Ok. Let's evacuate a couple of million people to be on the safe side and make the area a complete no-go for anything up to a million years. I'm sure no one will mind.

 

[Orleander]

why would you do all that???

 

[matthyaouw]

Oh never mind.

 

[P. BOOM!]

http://environment.newscientist.com...-surge-causes-record-rise-at-yellowstone.html

If you're gonna panic every time a caldera twitches, you probably won't be getting much sleep in the near future.

Not only that, but the next time the caldera erupts it will most likely be a huge outpouring of lava...just like the last time.

 

[Orleander]

Not only that, but the next time the caldera erupts it will most likely be a huge outpouring of lava...just like the last time.

Like in Hawaii? Just a lot of oozing, not a big pyroclastic explosion?

 

[P. BOOM!]

Since the last big BOOM! 600,000 years ago, there have been a dozen or more lava flows. Some are of truly impressive scale...see this photo, the lava front is the escarpment that runs from the foreground to the background! And yes, this was a very slow moving but massive flow. This one alone dwarfs anything Hawaii has produced in the last couple of centuries.


http://volcanoes.usgs.gov/yvo/images/19770717-rc-madplateau_large.jpg

Here's a good overview:

http://volcanoes.usgs.gov/yvo/history.html