Michael Snyder / End of the American Dream – 2013-10-07 02:31:13
http://endoftheamericandream.com/archives/yellowstone-supervolcano-alert-the-most-dangerous-volcano-in-america-is-roaring-to-life
Yellowstone Supervolcano Alert: The Most Dangerous Volcano In America Is Roaring To Life
Michael Snyder / End of the American Dream
(October 3, 2013) — Right now, the ground underneath Yellowstone National Park is rising at a record rate. In fact, it is rising at the rate of about three inches per year. The reason why this is such a concern is because underneath the park sits the Yellowstone supervolcano — the largest volcano in North America. Scientists tell us that it is inevitable that it will erupt again one day, and when it does the devastation will be almost unimaginable.
A full-blown eruption of the Yellowstone supervolcano would dump a 10-foot-deep layer of volcanic ash up to 1,000 miles away, and it would render much of the United States uninhabitable. When most Americans think of Yellowstone, they tend to conjure up images of Yogi Bear and “Old Faithful”, but the truth is that sleeping underneath Yellowstone is a volcanic beast that could destroy our nation in a single day and now that beast is starting to wake up.
The Yellowstone supervolcano is so vast that it is hard to put it into words. According to the Daily Mail [2], the magma “hotspot” underneath Yellowstone is approximately 300 miles wide…. The Yellowstone Caldera is one of nature’s most awesome creations and sits atop North America’s largest volcanic field. Its name means ‘cooking pot’ or ‘cauldron’ and it is formed when land collapses following a volcanic explosion.
In Yellowstone, some 400 miles beneath the Earth’s surface is a magma ‘hotspot’ which rises to 30 miles underground before spreading out over an area of 300 miles across. Atop this, but still beneath the surface, sits the slumbering volcano.
When most Americans think of volcanic eruptions in the United States, they remember the catastrophic eruption of Mount St. Helens back in 1980. But that eruption would not even be worth comparing to a full-blown eruption of the Yellowstone supervolcano.
And now the area around Yellowstone is becoming increasingly seismically active. In fact, Professor Bob Smith says that he has never seen anything like this in the 53 years that he has been watching Yellowstone [3]…
Until recently, Bob Smith had never witnessed two simultaneous earthquake swarms in his 53 years of monitoring seismic activity in and around the Yellowstone Caldera. Now, Smith, a University of Utah geophysics professor, has seen three swarms at once.
In September, 130 earthquakes hit Yellowstone over the course of a single week. This has got many Yellowstone observers extremely concerned [3]…. Yellowstone’s recent earthquake swarms started on Sept. 10 and were shaking until about 11:30 a.m. Sept. 16.
“A total of 130 earthquakes of magnitude 0.6 to 3.6 have occurred in these three areas, however, most have occurred in the Lower Geyser Basin,” a University of Utah statement said. “Notably much of seismicity in Yellowstone occurs as swarms.”
So What Is the Worst-case Scenario?
Well, according to the Daily Mail [2], a full-blown eruption of Yellowstone could leave two-thirds of the United States completely uninhabitable…. It would explode with a force a thousand times more powerful than the Mount St Helens eruption in 1980.
Spewing lava far into the sky, a cloud of plant-killing ash would fan out and dump a layer 10ft deep up to 1,000 miles away. Two-thirds of the US could become uninhabitable as toxic air sweeps through it, grounding thousands of flights and forcing millions to leave their homes.
Can you think of another potential disaster that could accomplish the same thing?
That is why what is going on at Yellowstone right now is so important, and the American people deserve the truth. The following are some more facts about Yellowstone that I compiled that I included in a previous article [4]…
#1 A full-scale eruption of Yellowstone could be up to 1,000 time more powerful [5] than the eruption of Mount St. Helens in 1980.
#2 A full-scale eruption of Yellowstone would spew volcanic ash 25 miles up into the air [6].
#3 The next eruption of Yellowstone seems to be getting closer with each passing year. Since 2004, some areas of Yellowstone National Park have risen by as much as 10 inches [7].
#4 There are approximately 3,000 earthquakes [7] in the Yellowstone area every single year.
#5 In the event of a full-scale eruption of Yellowstone, virtually the entire northwest United States will be completely destroyed.
#6 A massive eruption of Yellowstone would mean that just about everything within a 100 mile radius of Yellowstone would be immediately killed.
#7 A full-scale eruption of Yellowstone could also potentially dump a layer of volcanic ash that is at least 10 feet deep up to 1,000 miles away [5].
#8 A full-scale eruption of Yellowstone would cover virtually the entire midwest United States with volcanic ash. Food production in America would be almost totally wiped out.
#9 The “volcanic winter” that a massive Yellowstone eruption would cause would radically cool the planet. Some scientists believe that global temperatures would decline by up to 20 degrees.
#10 America would never be the same again after a massive Yellowstone eruption. Some scientists believe that a full eruption by Yellowstone would render two-thirds of the United States completely uninhabitable.
#11 Scientists tell us that it is not a matter of “if” Yellowstone will erupt but rather “when” the next inevitable eruption will take place.
What makes all of this even more alarming is that a number of other very prominent volcanoes around the world are starting to roar back to life right now as well.
For example, an Inquisitr article [8] from back in July described how “the most dangerous volcano in Mexico” is starting to become extremely active…. Popocatepetl Volcano is at it again. The active volcano near Mexico City erupted again this morning, spewing ash up into the sky.
The volcano is currently in the middle of an extremely active phase. According to the International Business Times [9], the volcano has registered 39 exhalations in the last 24 hours. An eruption earlier this month caused several flights [10] to be canceled in and out of Mexico City.
The BBC [11] notes that officials raised the alert level yellow following Popocateptl’s eruption on Saturday morning. Yellow is the third-highest caution level on the city’s seven-step scale.
And an NBC News article [12] from August noted that one of the most dangerous volcanoes in Japan has erupted 500 times so far this year…
Ash wafted as high as 3 miles above the Sakurajima volcano in the southern city of Kagoshima on Sunday afternoon, forming its highest plume since the Japan Meteorological Agency started keeping records in 2006. Lava flowed just over half a mile from the fissure, and several huge volcanic rocks rolled down the mountainside.
Though the eruption was more massive than usual, residents of the city of about 600,000 are used to hearing from their 3,664-foot neighbor. Kagoshima officials said in a statement that this was Sakurajima’s 500th eruption this year alone.
So what does all of this mean? Are we now entering a time when volcanic eruptions will become much more common all over the globe? Could we rapidly be approaching the day when an absolutely devastating volcanic eruption will paralyze much of North America?
Sources:
[1] American Dream: http://endoftheamericandream.com/archives/yellowstone-supervolcano-alert-the-most-dangerous-volcano-in-america-is-roaring-to-life
[2] The Daily Mail: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1350123/Worlds-largest-volcano-Yellowstone-National-Park-wipe-thirds-US.html
[3] in the 53 years that he has been watching Yellowstone: http://www.komonews.com/news/national/Swarm-of-earthquakes-shakes-Yellowstone-224773612.html
[4] in a previous article: http://endoftheamericandream.com/archives/could-an-eruption-of-the-yellowstone-supervolcano-destroy-the-united-states-as-we-know-it
[5] up to 1,000 time more powerful: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1350123/Worlds-largest-volcano-Yellowstone-National-Park-wipe-thirds-US.html#ixzz1C3ZLrxbc
[6] 25 miles up into the air: http://news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_thelookout/20110125/us_yblog_thelookout/underground-yellowstone-supervolcano-causing-earth-to-rise-in-some-spots
[7] have risen by as much as 10 inches: http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2011/01/110119-yellowstone-park-supervolcano-eruption-magma-science/
[8] an Inquisitr article: http://www.inquisitr.com/844616/popocatepetl-volcano-erupts-alert-level-raised-in-mexico-city-video/
[9] International Business Times: http://www.ibtimes.com/popocatepetl-volcano-video-captures-eruption-active-volcano-crater-near-mexico-city-1343529
[10] eruption earlier this month caused several flights: http://www.inquisitr.com/832808/mexico-volcano-eruption-causes-dozens-of-flight-delays/
[11] BBC: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-23267354
[12] NBC News article: http://photoblog.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/08/19/20087725-500-eruptions-in-231-days-japan-volcano-coats-city-with-ash-again?lite
[13] Could An Eruption Of The Yellowstone Supervolcano Destroy The United States As We Know It?: http://www.prisonplanet.com/could-an-eruption-of-the-yellowstone-supervolcano-destroy-the-united-states-as-we-know-it.html
[14] Huge volcano under Yellowstone Park rising: http://www.prisonplanet.com/huge-volcano-under-yellowstone-park-rising.html
[15] Is the world’s largest super-volcano set to erupt for the first time in 600,000 years, wiping out two-thirds of the US?: http://www.prisonplanet.com/is-the-worlds-largest-super-volcano-set-to-erupt-for-the-first-time-in-600000-years-wiping-out-two-thirds-of-the-u-s.html
[16] The Ring Of Fire Is Roaring To Life And There Will Be Earthquakes Of Historic Importance: http://www.prisonplanet.com/the-ring-of-fire-is-roaring-to-life-and-there-will-be-earthquakes-of-historic-importance-on-the-west-coast-of-the-united-states.html
[17] Scientists predict eruption of undersea volcano: http://www.prisonplanet.com/scientists-predict-eruption-of-undersea-volcano.html
Copyright 2013 PrisonPlanet.com. All rights reserved.
Is the World’s Largest Super-volcano
Set to Erupt for the First Time in 600,000 Years,
Wiping Out two-thirds of the US?
Daniel Bates / The Daily Mail
(January 25, 2011) — The super-volcano beneath Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming has been rising at a record rate since 2004. It would explode with a force a thousand times more powerful than the Mount St Helens eruption in 1980. Spewing lava far into the sky, a cloud of plant-killing ash would fan out and dump a layer 10ft deep up to 1,000 miles away.
Two-thirds of the US could become uninhabitable as toxic air sweeps through it, grounding thousands of flights and forcing millions to leave their homes.
This is the nightmare that scientists are predicting could happen if the world’s largest super-volcano erupts for the first time in 600,000 years, as it could do in the near future.
Yellowstone National Park’s caldera has erupted three times in the last 2.1 million years and researchers monitoring it say we could be in for another eruption. They said that the super-volcano underneath the Wyoming park has been rising at a record rate since 2004 — its floor has gone up three inches per year for the last three years alone, the fastest rate since records began in 1923.
But hampered by a lack of data they have stopped short of an all-out warning and they are unable to put a date on when the next disaster might take place.
When the eruption finally happens it will dwarf the effect of Iceland’s Eyjafjallajökull volcano, which erupted in April last year, causing travel chaos around the world.
The University of Utah’s Bob Smith, an expert in Yellowstone’s volcanism told National Geographic: ‘It’s an extraordinary uplift, because it covers such a large area and the rates are so high. At the beginning we were concerned it could be leading up to an eruption.’
But he added: ‘Once we saw the magma was at a depth of ten kilometres, we weren’t so concerned. If it had been at depths of two or three kilometre we’d have been a lot more concerned.’
Robert B. Smith, professor of geophysics at the University of Utah, who has led a recent study into the volcano, added: ‘Our best evidence is that the crustal magma chamber is filling with molten rock. But we have no idea how long this process goes on before there either is an eruption or the inflow of molten rock stops and the caldera deflates again.’
The Yellowstone Caldera is one of nature’s most awesome creations and sits atop North America’s largest volcanic field…. In Yellowstone, some 400 miles beneath the Earth’s surface is a magma ‘hotspot,’ which rises to 30 miles underground before spreading out over an area of 300 miles across. Atop this, but still beneath the surface, sits the slumbering volcano.
Scientists . . . believe that a swelling magma reservoir six miles underground may be causing the recent uplifts. They have also been keeping an eye on a ‘pancake-shaped blob’ of molten rock the size of Los Angeles which was pressed into the volcano some time ago.
But due the extreme conditions it has been hard to work out what exactly is going on down below, leading researchers unable to say with certainty what will happen — or when.
Since the most recent blast 640,000 years ago, there have been around 30 smaller eruptions, the most recent of which was 70,000 years ago. They filled the caldera with ash and lava and made the flat landscape that draws thousands of tourists to Yellowstone National Park every year.
‘Clearly some deep source of magma feeds Yellowstone, and since Yellowstone has erupted in the recent geological past, we know that there is magma at shallower depths too,’ said Dan Dzurisin, a Yellowstone expert with the US Geological Survey at Cascades Volcano Observatory in Washington State.
‘There has to be magma in the crust, or we wouldn’t have all the hydrothermal activity that we have. There is so much heat coming out of Yellowstone right now that if it wasn’t being reheated by magma, the whole system would have gone stone cold since the time of the last eruption 70,000 years ago.’
Posted in accordance with Title 17, Section 107, US Code, for noncommercial, educational purposes.
