Some worrisome news from Greg Laden’s Science blog, also in the running for Best Science Blog
Note: Image below was not part of the original story
Seismic Activity at Yellowstone by Greg Laden
Anyway, I’ve got a few resources for you in case you want to explore this further. To begin with, I recommend a look at my earlier post on this matter:
As you have surely heard, the Yellowstone Caldera … the place where Old Faithful and the Geyser Basin reside … has been undergoing increased “activity” including some earthquakes and a rising up of the land. Is this a big problem? Should the evacuate? Should those of us living only a few states away start wearing earplugs?
My sister, Elizabeth, publishes a newspaper in the vicinity of Yellowstone and they’ve got a very comprehensive piece on he caldera. In fact, my sister’s nickname is Caldera Girl. So she really knows her Calderas.
Tracking Changes in Yellowstone’s Restless Volcanic System
…Since the 1970s, scientists have tracked rapid uplift and subsidence of the ground and significant changes in hydrothermal features and earthquake activity. In 2001, the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory was created by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), the University of Utah, and Yellowstone National Park to strengthen scientists’ ability to track activity that could result in hazardous seismic, hydrothermal, or volcanic events in the region…
Finally, we’ve got this somewhat hokey but still fun to watch movie of how we are all totally doomed (h/t Caldera Girl).
The good news is, if this sucker blows, global warming is not going to be a problem.
I am personally keeping close watch on the seismic activity in the area and if I see anything ominous I’ll let you know. As soon as I finish packing and driving about 2,000 miles to the south of here.
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30 years of monitorization and already we are witnessing the signs of a super-bang that only happens once every 50/100 thousand years?
What’s next? Gonna call the recent earthquake activity “unprecedented” and somehow glue it to a human behaviour?
Pfff, chill. You people are suffering from over-consciousness to the chaotic world we’re living in.
I just happened to been there just between December 26th and January 2nd. When I took the snowmobile to Yellowstone Lake the ranger station (read: warming hut 🙂 ) they had this picture also printed out. Other than that It shows that most of the shocks are from under the lake. See also the dots. There is already longer suspicion that something is out there (and it ain’t Ness borther 🙂 ).
Still no worries according to the experts. There is not enough magma (yet) to cause a new supervulcano.
I found this a little more reassuring
http://volcanoes.usgs.gov/yvo/publications/2009/09swarm.php
The Yellowstone super volcano would totally re-define the term major disaster if it decided to blow in modern times. It would certainly test the hypothesis of global cooling due to volcanic ass injection into the atmosphere.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Huckleberry_Ridge_Tuff
The Ash Fall fossil bed site in Nebraska tells the tale of an earlier eruption from that hot spot some 12 million years ago, that dumped volcanic ash feet deep in Nebraska.
http://ashfall.unl.edu/ashfallstory.html
There have been a couple of similar episodes, in Yellowstone. Uplift was noticed in the north end of the lake some years back when they realized the shore line was changing in odd ways that were best explained by the whole lake basin tilting.
There was also a ground bulge scare in California. The Mammoth lakes region near the old Long Valley Caldera, also experienced ground inflation. That volcano has a very similar eruption history to Yellowstone.
The so called Palmdale bulge appeared about the same time period, but it was believed due to stress building up for a potential release of a major earth quake.
http://www.fieldwerks.com/yellowstone_lake.htm
http://www.ireport.com/docs/DOC-172706
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,914086,00.html
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=950DEEDE163AF936A35751C1A96F948260
Larry
Na, you are thinking of a Stromboli type volcano, with a firehose nozzle ready to squeeze out the lava and pyroclastic whatnot in a spectacular fountain.
That’s not the way Yellowstone operates.
Yellowstone’s caldera covers 1500 square miles. It might burb. You ever see a kettle of sourmash fermenting with the slow motion bubbles rising to the surface? Burb …. burp …. burp. – Like that but with 800,000 years between burps – that’s what Yellowstone will do if it erupts.
All the rest of it, “2500 times bigger then mount St Helens”, ” covering North America in 3 feet of ash” that stuff is just sweeps week packaging for the weather channel. Geologists doing a “booga, booga” at the public.
I’m not afraid of no Yellowstone Boogerman.
But if Mount Shasta starts having tremmors, then I’ll join you down in Cabo San Lucas for margaritas.
typo correction should read — volcanic ash injection into the atmosphere.
Ooops
Larry
You can see 5 old yellowstone-hotspot calderas in this satellite picture.
The one on the bottom left, “the craters of the moon” caldera formed 11 million years ago. There are three more outside of this pic extending almost to California going back another 4 million years.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:SnakeRiver.jpg
I guess this is a new sunspot that will end the spotless streak…looks fairly legit.
http://sohowww.nascom.nasa.gov/data/realtime/mdi_igr/1024/latest.html
The “Tracking Changes….” link is subscription only.
JimB
This is an interesting post. A large event like this (God forbid it should actually happen) would raise a plausible “escape hatch” for AGW alarmist scientists who may need cover for a failed hypothesis. I was impressed by Sharon Begley’s article in the Jan. 3 Newsweek, which discusses the extreme reluctance of scientists to change their minds, or to admit changing their minds.
I’ve been miffed at Begley since her propaganda piece last spring about “The Denial Machine.” Now I wonder if she isn’t doing a lot of thinking about climb-down strategies for AGW alarmists. See http://www.newsweek.com/id/177740
Off topic but Nasa has A news story about how solar activity doosday possible in our future.Isn’t it ironic that now with the sun being blank for the 2nd most days every recorded in A year we now hear of possible solar problems.You know they were saying the very same thing about sun cycle 24 and look it still blank.I’ll guarantee Hathaway is involved in this story somewhere.
You really think 2000 miles will matter? Ok, so you will have sun for a few extra weeks, but that thing goes massively and ‘nuclear winter’ like effect for the planet will likely happen for years.
I have been watching and looking into different aspects of this earthquake swarm since it began. http://www.bnhclub.org/forums/showthread.php?t=506 I have lots of questions. Is the Lake Hotel Fault the same as the Outlet Graben? Could increased heat account for the increased flow out of Yellowstone Lake? Or would increased flow from underwater geysers be such a minuscule amount of increased heat that it wouldn’t make any difference?
I am sorry to report I don’t see the link or video that you refer to as Hokey but fun to watch.
If Yellowstone blows, at least one human will survive to carry on: click
It’s Friday… time to take a few seconds and cast another vote: click
From NWS FTW:
WE ARE IN STORE FOR A BIG CHANGE LATTER HALF OF NEXT WEEK AS A BROAD
TROUGH OVER MUCH OF NOAM SENDS COLD ARCTIC AIR DOWN INTO THE REGION.
RELIABLE COMPUTER MODELS ARE STILL HAVING A DIFFICULT TIME
DETERMINING JUST HOW COLD IT WILL BE. THE AIR MASS ORIGINATES IN
NORTHERN AND EASTERN ALASKA WHERE DAYTIME TEMPS HAVE BEEN MINUS 20
TO MINUS 45+ DEGREES. GIVEN THAT WE ARE NOW IN THE DEAD OF
WINTER…STRENGTH OF A RIDGE BUILDING OFF THE WEST COAST…A
MCFARLAND PATTERN SETUP NORMALLY RESULTS IN SOME OF THE COLDEST
TEMPERATURES OF WINTER…
Will a new tax make it quiet down?
Yes that looks like a sunspot, moreover the region in question yesterday is showing signs too.
I checked 3 browsers. Paul is correct. The video does not seem to be there. The original link from the html page source was:
John M Reynolds
Hello Austin, We are getting the same forecast for NE Alabama for the cold next week.
About Yellowstone. If that thing goes There will be no worry about warming. Just where the next meal will come from. With food supplies costing more and more on an almost daily basis now I wonder how bad it will be if most of the arable land in the northern hemisphere is covered in ash (which later will become fertile land) and nuclear winter for 5+years. I suspect that there will be some survivors and that they will be scattered around the globe. It would suit me just fine if the explosion were put off for a few hundred years. I just don’t want to witness it. There is certainly nothing we can do about it.
Wait didn’t we do this once before for Y2K?!!!!!!
Bill Derryberry
Heh, if this blows it will be like winter in Seattle year-round, everywhere.
We live 200 miles from Yellowstone and our ask beds are 20 feet thick i dought that any thing lived through that!!!
lol ash beds !!
TitiXXXX1892 (03:53:15)-
Absolutely hilarious!!!!!! Bravo!
Problem solved. In a newly-signed contract ($3 billion) between the U.S. Government and BM Energy, Inc., the thermal energy under Yellowstone will be concerted to electricity without any CO2 emissions. Models by scientists at BM show that the atmosphere will be cooled by .01 degrees F and Ohio will receive free electricity forever. Bernard Madoff is heading the new energy company.