Scientists say that the Yellowstone supervolcano gets stronger every year, and they now think they know why. An 1,800-mile deep “hotspot” has been discovered under the caldera which scientists believe is the volcano’s heat source.
Yellowstone’s hotspot is situated within our planet’s mantle, and scientists believe it is part of a surge of atypically hot rock known as a mantle plume, according to a recent study. They are thought to begin some 1,850 miles below Earth’s surface at the boundary separating the mantle from the core.
Researchers and scientists have been studying Yellowstone in hopes of preventing or at least having some advanced warning when the supervolcano next erupts. “A supervolcano explosion is capable of “plunging the world into a catastrophe” and pushing humanity “to the brink of existence,” NASA researchers wrote in a 2015 study. The information we have on the rare eruptions today are estimates based on the geologic record and the massive deposits left behind by them.
The ash spewed by such an explosion could create a global “volcanic winter” by blanketing parts of continents with soot. Using prediction models from Yellowstone’s last major eruption 630,000 years ago, the researchers revealed Yellowstone could produce more than a meter of volcanic ash in its immediate vicinity. As you can see, the ash would blanket a vast majority of the United States.
But NASA’s plan to help “fix” an eruption could have the opposite effect. The space agency suggested drilling into the volcano to release heat, making it less volatile. But that comes with potentially humanity eliminating consequences. “It has been suggested that the hydrothermal circulation at Yellowstone may cool the underlying magma and may lead to decreased long-term volcanic hazards,” wrote the scientists.
More research needs to be done to figure out how to best protect the planet from a supervolcano eruption, the researchers also said. As of now, people would have mere minutes at most should the Yellowstone volcano erupt. That would not be enough time to save lives.
The Yellowstone region has seen three big eruptions, the first one 2.1 million years ago, the most recent 630,000 years ago. Contrary to Internet rumor-mongering, as well as conspiracy theories about government coverups, there’s no sign that a fourth cataclysmic event is about to happen. –The Washington Post
Our most recent article about the most recent minor eruptions at Yellowstone briefly touched on the mitigation process this type of disaster entails and the evacuation efforts that would need to be made for millions before a supervolcano were to erupt. This brings to mind an even greater question of how the world governments would be able to feed and care for citizens without the help of the sun.
Following a massive volcanic eruption, and especially in the case of a supervolcano erupting, the eruption would blast 240 cubic miles of rock, dust and volcanic ash into the sky. This would spread throughout the world and lower global temperatures by up to 28 degrees for years and cause what scientists refer to as volcanic winter. Due to the debris and ash spewing into the atmosphere, the sun will be blocked, and crops would not be able to grow. As a result, this would cause worldwide famine. Additionally, abnormal rainfall will cause major rivers around the world to flood.
This Has Happened to the World Already
In 1816, a similar situation arose when the world experienced a decrease in global temperatures caused by a volcanic eruption and caused major food shortages and famine. The anomaly was predominantly due to a volcanic winter event caused by the massive 1815 eruption of Mount Tambora in the Dutch East Indies. This event was exacerbated by a previous eruption in 1814 of Mayon in the Philippines. Adding to this dire time, the world was already in a centuries-long period of global cooling that began in the 14th century, and the volcanic eruptions in the early 1800’s only added to the agricultural distress in Europe. Failed harvests were widespread and deeply felt.
“Food riots broke out in the United Kingdom and France, and grain warehouses were looted. The violence was worst in landlocked Switzerland, where famine caused the government to declare a national emergency. Huge storms and abnormal rainfall with flooding of Europe’s major rivers (including the Rhine) are attributed to the event, as is the August frost. A major typhus epidemic occurred in Ireland between 1816 and 1819, precipitated by the famine caused by the Year Without a Summer. An estimated 100,000 Irish perished during this period.”
A Blueprint For Surviving Volcanic Winter
To prevent history from repeating itself, scientists have been searching for ways to feed the world without the help of the sun.
“At least two scientists have already sketched out a blueprint. In their 2015 book Feeding Everyone No Matter What, David Denkenberger and Joshua Pearce propose several ways to feed billions of people without the help of the sun.
Denkenberger, an architectural engineer at Tennessee State University in Nashville, started moonlighting as a catastrophe researcher a few years ago after reading that fungi may have thrived after previous mass extinctions. If humans ever face a similar threat, he thought, ‘Why don’t we just eat the mushrooms and not go extinct?’
Indeed, people could grow mushrooms on leaf litter and on the trunks of trees killed by the disaster, Denkenberger says. Even better would be raising methane-digesting bacteria on diets of natural gas, or converting the cellulose in plant biomass to sugar, a process already used to make biofuel. Denkenberger and Pearce—an engineering professor at Michigan Technological University in Houghton—calculate that by retrofitting existing industrial plants, survivors of the catastrophe could produce enough of such alternative foods to feed the world’s population several times over.
Of course, a few other ingredients would have to survive as well: infrastructure, international cooperation, and the rule of law. Whether human society endures or snaps is the unknown on which everything else could hinge, says Seth Baum, executive director of the Global Catastrophic Risk Institute in New York City, a nonprofit think tank whose researchers include Denkenberger.
‘How would we fare? I think the only reasonable answer one can give to the question at this time is that we have absolutely no idea,’ Baum says. To him, social resilience after a catastrophe is just another question for scientists to address, instead of leaving it to dystopian writers and doomsday preppers.
Not that he has anything against survivalists. ‘As much as they might seem silly on television, I’m actually a little happier knowing that there are people out there doing that stuff,’ Baum says. He quickly adds, ‘Hopefully, it’ll never come down to just that.’”
Fortunately, there are scientists and teams of individuals looking out for the human population and finding ways to keep us alive during the worst possible circumstances. But, as Seth Baum remarked in reference to preppers and survivalists, it is a relief knowing there are people out there doing stuff to get ready and are preparing for the worst-case scenario.
Underneath the quiet nature preserve of Yellowstone lies the most powerful and largest supervolcano on the planet. The fear of it erupting in our lifetime has put many on high alert, and recently, the Steamboat Geyser of Yellowstone gave another indication that the area is under strain.
‘More than 20 police, fire, and rescue vehicles descended upon the area around Yellowstone supervolcano this week to prepare for what could be a “life or death” emergency. Earlier this week, it was reported that there were a series of eruptions at the Steamboat Geyser, the worlds tallest and active geyser and they are expecting more minor eruptions to come.
Yellowstone National Park Public Affairs confirmed that there could be a supervolcano eruption imminently – and that they were putting themselves through their paces so that they were ready for any eventuality.’
Seismologists who have monitored the area have warned for years that the area is under strain and have observed deformation in rocks occurring under Yellowstone. This deformation causes a change in pressure and magma underneath the surface.
In fact, last month, the same geyser produced similar activity giving cause for concern. Dr. Wendy Stovall, the deputy scientist in charge at the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory, a branch of the United States Geological Survey, said, “There is a lot of seismicity, or earthquake activity, and deformation around the geyser basin.” She also said, there is no cause for concern at this time. “Volcanoes all over the world have hydrothermal systems. “Because all the water goes away from the heat coming up. As long as there’s water and the geysers and hot springs and mud pots are still boiling, everything is fine.”
That said, Yellowstone National Park Public Affairs are not wasting any time and have begun preparations and training exercises. In fact, the emergency services associated with the National Park are discreetly performing training exercises to minimize local disturbances and to ensure that if the volcano erupts, they will be able to act decisively.
Morgan Warthin, a Yellowstone spokesman also discussed the challenges his team will face if there is a supervolcanic eruption at Yellowstone.
He said: “You know, the number one challenge is we are remote, so it takes a while to get to Yellowstone.”
During the simulation, family members of park employees, Xanterra employees and residents of Gardiner gave up their time to play the role of victims in the exercise.
When the test run began, responders from eight different agencies inside and outside the park dealt with the situation well.
What Would Happen if the Yellowstone Supervolcano Erupted?
An eruption would have 2,500 times the force of Mt. Saint Helens in 1980.
Would be larger than any nuclear bomb ever tested.
The eruption would blast 240 cubic miles of rock, dust and volcanic ash into the sky. This would spread throughout the world and lower global temperatures by up to 28 degrees for years.
620 cubic miles of lava would flow out of the volcano. This is equivalent to coating the entire United States in 5 inches of lava.
States surrounding Yellowstone would be wiped off the map (Idaho, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Colorado, and Utah).
Moreover, the amount of ash dispersed from the eruption could be so great that it could literally crush buildings, foul water supplies, clog electronics, ground airplanes, and irritate lungs. If that wasn’t enough to be bothersome, the toxic gases and chemicals would enter our atmosphere and cause toxic rain thus killing more humans, animals, and plants.
Given these facts, it is understandable why so many are trying to prepare for this. Be it preparing for a quick getaway or sheltering in place, there is much to prepare for. Luckily, there is still time to get some reserves in order.
How Much Warning Would We Have?
An example of what an ash cloud would look like after an eruption from a supervolcano.
So, will supervolcanoes give us any type of warning before they erupt? It turns out that supervolcanoes would provide a few warning signs that would give us a fairly definite timeline before they go off, but unfortunately, it’s not a very comforting timeline. According to a recent study, you’d have about a year or less to prepare.
Right before any super eruption though, there is one final stage — the decompression stage — characterized by the release of gas bubbles at the eruption site.
So, the study researchers decided to analyze quartz crystals at the site of one of these massive eruptions that erupted in California about 760,000 years ago, creating the Long Valley Caldera. Quartz crystals cover surface rims of eruption sites, so by analyzing them, the researchers were able to determine the rim growth rates times of the volcano based on the concentration of titanium in the crystals. By measuring the size and growth rates of these rims, they were able to determine the length of time it took for an explosion to happen once the decompression phase had begun.
Their analysis showed that more than 70% of rim growth occurred in less than a year, indicating that the quartz rims grow mostly in just the days or months prior to an eruption.
At first glance, most preppers would find that kind of warning to be a relief. After all, if someone told you that say, a nuclear war was going to happen in a year or that a tsunami was going to wipe out your home in a few months, you would have plenty of time to either get ready or get out of dodge.
But with a supervolcano, you’re dealing with an epic disaster that people and governments would need more time to prepare for. That said, having these officials decide on when to sound the alarm will be the biggest struggle. “It’s going to be hard for scientists to convince themselves just because of our only partial understanding of the complexity of the processes that are taking place,” Jacob Lowenstern of the U.S. Geological Survey in Menlo Park, California, the scientist-in-charge of the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory says. Source
How To Prepare for the Long-Term
How does one prepare for a supervolcano? Survivability in this type of disaster is slim if you live in the surrounding areas. Suffice it to say, there would be mass casualties any way you look at it. This is the type of disaster that would be considered an end-of-the-world-as-we-know-it event and would change the way we live life on this planet for years to come. It is essential to understand this before you begin prepping for long-term survival.
Areas to concentrate your efforts on are preparing your vehicle for a last minute evacuation, having supplies to shelter in place for up to 6 months or more, having a way to protect yourself from breathing in toxic chemicals, having a long-term food source, and having a way to grow your own food.
Based on research on your part, find out if your location will be immediately affected. At this time, you must make a decision whether to bug in or bug out. Because you never know when the supervolcano will erupt, it would be wise to have bug out bags in multiple locations (the workplace, home, and the vehicle).
If you evacuate:
Depending on where you reside in relation to the supervolcano, millions of people may need to be evacuated, which even with a year’s heads up could turn into a massive humanitarian disaster. Similar to how officials plan localized evacuations, they will likely zone out the affected area and allow certain zones to leave one at a time. When it is your time to leave, make sure you have a clear plan on where you are headed, including where you will stay, etc. Moreover, make sure you keep your vehicle evacuation-ready. This includes ensuring the vehicle is well-maintained with a full tank of gas, has the essential bug out supplies, has essential maps and navigational items. Follow the designated evacuation route and expect heavy traffic and delays.
Before you leave, prepare your home by turning off the gas, electricity, and water. Disconnect appliances to reduce the likelihood of electrical shock when power is restored.
If you are out of immediate impact and plan to shelter in place:
To supply the home for a supervolcano disaster, you need to plan for the long-term. That ash will clog the atmosphere enough to block out the sun, disrupting the global climate enough to cause food shortages and mass famine. Therefore, your food sources may be all that you have to get your through. If you are lucky enough to have a hydroponic growing system, make sure you have a lot of seeds to support your dietary needs.
Due to the toxic rain that would cause mass extinction in the area, you want to concentrate your efforts on storing as much water as possible, as well as, food and supplies to live off of for a long-term emergency. As a starting point, fill sinks and bathtubs with water as an extra supply for washing and get a good water filter with extra filters stored for future use. This is a great week-by-week preparedness course you can use to get your supplies organized and prepped for the longevity.
You can also expect to be without power and alternative light sources will need to be prepared. To keep toxic dust from entering the home, ensure that any holes in windows are repaired and close off the fireplace and furnace dampers. In addition, consider setting adding plastic sheeting to the entrance of the home to minimize any toxic dust from entering the home.
Communication will be limited, therefore add new batteries to your radio, contact family members and let them know your plans and backup plans before the disaster. Remember that communication and emergency services may be overwhelmed or damaged during this type of emergency. Have medical supplies prepped and extra prescription medications,
Another concern you should consider is the toxic air that will be present after the eruption. Two years ago, after the volcano eruption in Indonesia, thousands complained of lung irritation shortly after the eruption. At the time, a local official urged the government to send out medical teams to areas most affected by volcanic ash, as the health awareness of local people is low and they might not consider coughing fits or flulike symptoms to be very serious. He added that ongoing exposure to the ash will destroy the lungs of people inhaling it. Having a way to protect your airways will greatly improve your health during this disaster. If you do not have access to a gas mask, have extra respiratory masks, handkerchiefs or cloth to cover your nose and mouth.
After the eruption:
Once the eruption has ceased, stay indoors until the ash has settled. There could be a danger of roof collapse due to excess ash. If this is the case, seek emergency shelter elsewhere. To prevent toxic dust and ash from entering the home, close and seal all windows with duct tape and keep all heating, and air conditioning units and fans turned off. As well, because volcanic ash can clog engines, avoid running your vehicle. Otherwise, you could damage moving parts and stall vehicles. During this time, you should avoid driving in heavy ash fall unless absolutely required. If you need to drive, keep the speed down to 50 km per hour or slower.
If you have proper body protection, begin clearing ash from flat or low-pitched roofs and rain gutters. Protect yourself from ash by wearing long-sleeved shirts and pants, using goggles, and a respiratory mask.
To conclude, seismologists at Yellowstone will continue to monitor the area in hopes of learning more and gaining a better picture of the supervolcano below. Until then, their preparations and training will ensure their reaction times are spot on in order to help others get to safety. All we can do at this point, is hope for the best and prepare for the worst.
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Tess Pennington is the author of The Prepper’s Blueprint, a comprehensive guide that uses real-life scenarios to help you prepare for any disaster. Because a crisis rarely stops with a triggering event the aftermath can spiral, having the capacity to cripple our normal ways of life. The well-rounded, multi-layered approach outlined in the Blueprint helps you make sense of a wide array of preparedness concepts through easily digestible action items and supply lists.
Tess is also the author of the highly rated Prepper’s Cookbook, which helps you to create a plan for stocking, organizing and maintaining a proper emergency food supply and includes over 300 recipes for nutritious, delicious, life-saving meals.
Visit her web site at ReadyNutrition.com for an extensive compilation of free information on preparedness, homesteading, and healthy living.
Laying underneath the tranquil and beautiful geysers, waterfalls, and mountains of Wyoming lies the Yellowstone caldera. The supervolcano has been worrying some for decades, but now experts fear an eruption could happen soon after reporting a “spate of tremors.”
According to WMD, a spate of four mini-tremors in the area following a period of “rest” has raised fears among some that the supervolcano is about to blow. Although the Yellowstone supervolcano hasn’t erupted for 631,000 years, scientists have been diligently working to understand the last eruption so they can more accurately predict when a big one will happen again.
The most recent quake came on March 11 when a small 1.5 tremor took place beneath the surface. The strongest one, a 1.8 magnitude earthquake, came just hours before this, and people are concerned that Yellowstone could be about to blow.
The growing concern among the public is evident, but many scientists still say the activity at the supervolcano is perfectly normal. Tom Skilling, a meteorologist for WGN News, a local news site in Chicago, explains that is it normal for the volcano to have less active weeks. “Minor earthquakes occur in the Yellowstone area 50 or more times per week, but a major eruption is not expected in the foreseeable future.”
Yellowstone is one of the most seismically active areas in the world and there are regular earthquakes detected in and around the supervolcano. This latest spate of tremors follows a period in February where more than 200 small tremors detected were detected over a period of 10 days. According to experts with the US Geological Survey, that swarm began on February 8 in a region roughly eight miles northeast of West Yellowstone, Montana and increased dramatically in the days following.
Despite experts trying to calm nerves, concerned citizens have taken to Twitter to voice their concern about a potential eruption. One person wrote on Twitter: “Pray to Yellowstone caldera. We can end it all.” RyGuy said on the social media site: “Yellowstone’s gonna blow up and get us all”.
If the volcano does explode, a climate shift would ensue as the supervolcano would spew massive amounts of sulfur dioxide into the atmosphere, which can form a sulfur aerosol that reflects and absorbs sunlight. The large spew of ash into the atmosphere would block out sunlight and directly affect life beneath it creating a “nuclear winter.”
Scientists in Yellowstone have detected over 200 earthquakes at the supervolcano in the last 10 days. With reports coming in that the Ring of Fire could be awakening as well, many are preparing for the worst.
Experts with the US Geological Survey say that this latest swarm began in a region roughly eight miles northeast of West Yellowstone, Montana and, it’s increased dramatically in the days since. While the earthquakes are likely caused by a combination of processes beneath the surface, the current activity is said to be “relatively weak,” and the alert level at the supervolcano remains at “normal.” The USGS says the new swarm is occurring in about the same location as the Maple Creek swarm last summer, which brought roughly 2,400 earthquakes in a four-month span.
Experts also say there are likely many more earthquakes in the Yellowstone region that have gone undetected. “The present swarm started on February 8, with a few events occurring per day,” according to USGS. “On February 15, seismicity rates and magnitudes increased markedly. As of the night of February 18, the largest earthquake in the swarm is M2.9, and none of the events have been felt. All are occurring about 8 km (5 mi) beneath the surface.”
“Swarms reflect changes in stress along small faults beneath the surface, and generally are caused by two processes: large-scale tectonic forces, and pressure changes beneath the surface due to accumulation and/or withdrawal of fluids (magma, water, and/or gas),” USGS explains. “The area of the current swarm is subject to both processes.”
“While it may seem worrisome, the current seismicity is relatively weak and actually represents an opportunity to learn more about Yellowstone,” USGS says. “It is during periods of change when scientists can develop, test, and refine their models of how the Yellowstone volcanic system works.” However, the experts did lace a warning into their statement. “The earthquakes, too, serve as a reminder of an underappreciated hazard at Yellowstone – that of strong earthquakes, which are the most likely event to cause damage in the region on the timescales of human lives.”
According to a group of seismologists who are monitoring the potentially catastrophic supervolcano, Yellowstone is “under strain.” This new report has reignited fears that the caldera could erupt at any moment.
Experts were alerted to the volcano’s strain after noticing deformation. This process, where subsurface rocks subtly change shapes, is occurring beneath the surface of Yellowstone right now. Researchers state deformation occurs when there is a change in the amount of pressure in the magma chamber and experts are keeping an eye on the development.
Seismologists from UNAVCO, a non-profit university-governed consortium, are using “Global Positioning System (GPS), borehole tiltmeters, and borehole strainmeters” to measure minute changes in deformation at Yellowstone. In an article for the Billings Gazette, David Mencin and Glen Mattioli, geodesists with UNAVCO, say “the strain signal is larger than would be expected if the crust under Yellowstone were completely solid.”
“What that means, at least in their eyes, is that there’s lava flowing that’s allowing pressure to build in the chamber,” says Joe Joseph of The Daily Sheeple. “I don’t know if this is good or bad!”
These independent observations agree with other instruments at Yellowstone, like seismometers, that indicate a zone of semi-molten rock starting about 3 miles beneath the surface. The term “semi-molten” is used because the entire zone contains only between 5 and 15 percent liquid rock that occupies small pockets of space between the solid rock.
But the scientists want to assure the public that these observations are no cause for alarm. “Of course, they’re always gonna say that,” says Joseph. “It’s about 700,000 years ago they say when it erupted and it’s long overdue. So here we are, Yellowstone, yet again, thrust into the news because of some of this new data coming out…,” Joseph said.
If the Yellowstone volcano nestled mostly in Wyoming were to erupt, an estimated 87,000 people would be killed immediately and two-thirds of the USA would instantly be made uninhabitable. The large spew of ash into the atmosphere would block out sunlight and directly affect life beneath it creating a “nuclear winter.”
A new video has surfaced on YouTube which shows what appears to be a UFO zig-zagging it’s way over the Yellowstone supervolcano in northern Wyoming. The video was taken on June 9, but only recently uploaded to the video-sharing site.
The bright metallic object can be seen zipping across the sky on the left.
Yellowstone has long been a hotspot for alien sightings and UFO enthusiasts. According to the National UFO Reporting Center, there have been hundreds of reported sightings in the state of Wyoming, going all the way back to 1871. Jeanetta Foresta uploaded a video of the sighting under the heading “Things R flying all over – overnight”. She posted: “There were more than four at the beginning and this is overnight so there is no sun to reflect off of a plane.”
The famed Yellowstone volcano has garnered national interest in recent months, especially over the summer when more than 400 earthquakes hit in one week near the volcano. “This is the highest number of earthquakes at Yellowstone within a single week in the past five years, but is fewer than weekly counts during similar earthquakes swarms in 2002, 2004, 2008 and 2010,” scientists explained in a June statement to the Star Valley Independent. The scientists added, however, that the swarms are nothing new and are not a cause for worry. Experts at the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) say the risk of the Yellowstone supervolcano erupting is quite low, with a probability of one in 730,000.
There is still no official explanation for what was captured on this video.
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Author: Mac Slavo Views: Read by 50 people Date: October 11th, 2017 Website:www.SHTFplan.com
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The rumblings beneath the formerly dormant supervolcano known as the Yellowstone caldera just won’t quit. And the ongoing earthquake swarm at the Yellowstone National Park supervolcano is now one of the longest ever recorded, having started on June 12.
Over the past three and a half months, almost 2,500 earthquakes have been recorded in the western part of the national park. This is on par with the biggest swarm ever recorded, where more than 3,000 earthquakes took place over three months,Newsweek reports.
In its latest monthly update about activity at Yellowstone, the US Geological Survey said 115 earthquakes had been reported in the park during September. Of these, 78 were part of the ongoing swarm 6 miles north of West Yellowstone. The biggest event in the swarm last month was magnitude 2.3.
“This is the sort of work that will happen in the months to come, as we gather up all of the available data and start crunching numbers,” Poland says. “What we can say now is that through the of September, the University of Utah has located 2,475 earthquakes in the swarm. This puts the 2017 swarm on par with that of 1985, which lasted three months and had over 3,000 located events.
“[This is] certainly a fascinating event and one that we hope to learn more about through some post-swarm analysis,” he adds. “There’s a lot to work on this winter, for sure.”
While scientists at the USGS have brushed off the threat of a supervolcano eruption, scientists at NASA have said it represents a potentially devastating threat to the US population. These same scientists have suggested several risky strategies to prevent an eruption if one appears imminent.
Brian Wilcox, a former member of the NASA Advisory Council on Planetary Defense, and several other NASA researchers over the summer shared a report previously unseen outside the space agency about the threat Yellowstone poses, and what can be done to prevent an eruption.
According to NASA, an eruption at Yellowstone could plunge the earth into a volcanic winter and destroy crops and livestock, precipitating widespread famines. Food reserves would only last about 74 days, according to the UN, after an eruption of a super volcano, like that under Yellowstone.
With an eruption long overdue, NASA has devised a plan to drill into the caldera and try to artificially cool it – a strategy that researchers say comes with its own risks.
Scientists at the USGS say the monthslong earthquake storm at the caldera has ended; however, they played down the risks posed by the swarm shortly after it started over the summer, only for the rumbling to continue. Others maintain that an eruption is long overdue.
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Author: Tyler Durden Views: Read by 474 people Date: October 6th, 2017 Website:http://www.zerohedge.com/
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It is no longer a conspiracy that the Yellowstone supervolcano may erupt causing nuclear winter-like conditions, killing all life
Jeff Gunn/Flickr
(INTELLIHUB) — U.S. government and emergency management higher-ups already know that the Yellowstone supervolcano is set to erupt by 2024 and are making preparations to breach the supervolcano’s massive magma chamber which some experts fear could trigger a nuclear winter of sorts killing off mankind altogether.
Former NASA Advisory Council on Planetary Defense member Brian Wilcox said that NASA’s “risky” plan to drill the supervolcano’s magma chamber are dangerous and may result in a catastrophe of great proportions.
“If you drill into the top of the magma chamber and try and cool it from there, this would be very risky,” said Wilcox. “This could make the cap over the magma chamber more brittle and prone to fracture. And you might trigger the release of harmful volatile gases in the magma at the top of the chamber which would otherwise not be released.”
According to a report by Popular Mechanics: “NASA’s plan is to drill a hole into the side of the volcano and pump water through it. When the water comes back out, it’ll be heated to over 600 degrees, slowly cooling the volcano. The team hopes that given enough time, this process will take enough heat from the volcano to prevent it from ever erupting.”
Wilcox feels that Yellowstone poses a far greater threat to humanity than any asteroid.
The Yellowstone super volcano has been hit by 464 earthquakes since June 12, according to the United States Geological Service’s (USGS) Yellowstone Volcano Observatory.
Some of the quakes were relatively high on the Richter scale. One, on June 15, was 4.5.
“The epicenter of the shock was located in Yellowstone National Park, eight miles north-northeast of the town of West Yellowstone, Montana,” a USGS statement said.
“[The 4.5] earthquake is part of an energetic sequence of earthquakes in the same area that began on June 12,” the statement continued. “This sequence has included approximately thirty earthquakes of magnitude 2 and larger and four earthquakes of magnitude 3 and larger.”
Seismic activity, such as earthquakes, can be a sign of an impending eruption.
The Yellowstone super volcano is actually a vast pool of partially molten rock or magma underneath the national park. Estimates are that it is 14,000 cubic miles in size, or 14 times the size of the Grand Canyon.
Scientists say that if it erupted, it would cover most of the continental United States and much of Canada and Mexico with ash; some places would be a meter deep. An eruption would be larger than the most powerful volcanic eruption in recorded history — that of Mount Tambora in Indonesia in 1815. It darkened skies throughout the world and ruined harvests as far as Europe. Many places in the Northeast experienced snow.
One fear of the super volcano is that it would cause a nationwide or worldwide famine by blacking out the sun and covering fields with ash.
The good news: Yellowstone also experienced similar earthquake swarms in 2002, 2004, 2008 and 2010. Scientists say the likelihood that the volcano will erupt this time is low.
What do you think? Share your thoughts in the section below:
Shepard Ambellas