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.
The 19th C had 2 major eruptions Tambora in 1815 and Krakatoa in 1997, both in Indonesia. The 20th C had none. Doesn’t mean that the pressure is building up & something big is inevitable but certainly our experience of what something big would be is coloured by the last century.
It seems that the glacier at Mt. St Helens has not been named. I propose that this large and growing glacier be named Glacier Gore.
Eloise (16:39:00) :I used to watch docos on the Discovery Channel, and some about Volcanoes, and they basically said Yellowstone could errupt at any given time
I’m thankful for WUWT to out-document the docos.
BTW, what proportion of our planetary temperature comes from the heat way down below, and not from the Sun? How big a factor is it in global warming/cooling …?
“Does anyone have any news about the glacier on Mt St. Helens?”
The two arms (east and west) merged last summer. Once in a while the CVO will post pictures here.
Currently there is a series of pictures for comparison.
George Bruce (10:31:48) :
Obviously we need to reconsider human sacrifice……….
Burn the witch .. !! Burn the witch!!
Oh wait that’s me:P
Honestly most of you folks are sounding like a Yellowstone erruption movie I saw on the Sci fi channel once:P The fact that its wiggling and shaking might indicate a release of pressure. I wonder has the bulge on that side of the lake dropped at all? I think they put gps instruments in at one point, be interesting to see.
If you are afraid, educate yourself. This site will show you all the earthquakes in the world and you can zoom down to smaller areas and even see a running 7 day animation of earthquakes.. they happen often but are rarely distructive.
http://earthquake.usgs.gov/eqcenter/recenteqsus/
And.. there are usually no less than 15 active volcanos around the world at any given time. Some are regulars on the list some are new. I think the biggest scientific discovery of our current time is that there is no such thing as a dormant volcano:)
http://www.volcano.si.edu/reports/usgs/
They burp, they spew ash into our atmosphere, they release pressure from our plate movements. Get used to just being along for the ride because you arent at the wheel when it comes to the sun, the earth or the weather:)
Can we do anything about super volcanoes?
May seem like a dumb question, but perhaps it isnt.
Presumably a super volcano blows when it builds up a certain energy level, which is too much for the crust above it to hold back. That energy level builds up over thousands and thousands of years, so when it blows, it gives off a massive amount of energy in an eruption.
But what if we put lots of geothermal powerstations on these volcanos? That would take away some of the energy that is building up there. If you were able to take enough energy away, then in theory, as long as you take it away from the right place, the volcano shouldnt blow.
And it would produce a lot of cheap energy as a by-product.
Can someone tell me if I am talking rubbish here?
It seems to me that at the very least, an eruption could be delayed if you take away some of the volcano’s energy. Maybe by only a short time, but I would quite like every extra second I could get thank you.
Dave, I believe that was done on Pompeii by the aliens….now where did I see that? Oh, yeah, it was a Dr. Who episode!
TonyB
I hope when everybody can see that there is no global warming people will want answers. I hope every paper wil be turned. I hope Hansen and everybody else with “Bad Karma” will be revealed to the world for what they are.
I hope for full justice in court. If Hansen and others have something to hide, only then do i understand their fever like GW claims. I see desperation.
Want to play “Volcano Trivia”?
Name the only city in the US with an active volcano inside the city limits.
Ooops!
After some fact-checking, I need to revise that earlier post:
1. It should be “Continental US”
2. It depends on one’s definition of “Active”. There are two cities with volcanoes within their limits, but from what I’ve read, one is considered “extinct”.
Dave (14:07:22) :
The buildup isn’t steady. The current Yellow earthquake swarm isn’t associated with movement of magma. If magma were moving, we’d see “harmonic tremors” in the seismic data, and we don’t.
I’m not sure how deep the hotspot under Yellowstone is. Perhaps you can look it up and let us know. You’d certainly want to tap the energy in the hotspot, just tapping the energy in the topmost several miles might harden that, but that might lead to a bigger explosion when if fails. Of course, cracking due to cooling might leave it weaker and hasten the eruption.
Geotthermal areas that are tapped greatly weaken features like geysers, hot springs, etc. It would be a shame to lose the best parts of Yellowstone to something that won’t make things safer.
And it would produce a lot of cheap energy as a by-product.
Not so cheap – geothermal water is quite corrsive and mineral laden. Cheap enough, though.
So, where has your research concluded is the safest place to live and have you moved there?
Mike Bryant (10:43:35) :
It is called Crater Glacier and I presume that’s an official name. It’s been interesting watching it be pushed around by the 2004-2008 eruption. A pretty good photo of the east and west arms the dome is the first one at http://vulcan.wr.usgs.gov/Volcanoes/MSH/Images/MSH04/crater_dome_eruption_july_2008.html .
http://vulcan.wr.usgs.gov/Volcanoes/MSH/NatMonument/PointsInterest/lava_dome.html is from 2006, not how far apart the to arms are. Also note how filthy the glacier is thanks to ash, rockfalls, etc.
Steve Moore. Los Angeles is one. I believe.
crosspatch:
The Sun is expected to reach its hottest surface temperature (~5900K) in ~3GY (7.5GY age +/- .3). After that it will cool.
At that time the luminosity is estimated to be 26% higher than today, based on a 70% proto-Sol ignition Luminosity
Funny thing that,
4.57 GYa at ignition, Sol was somewhere betwen .7 and 1.07 times as luminous, depending on what paper you read concerning solar evolution, and how to resolve the warm young earth with a 70% as luminous Sun. Some theorists posit a huge mass loss early-on , some posit an ignition luminosity of 85% that of present, and some 70%
IF we take the middle road, which is just as valid as the others, that gives us an increase in luminosity of 15% relative to today’s luminance. That works out to 3.2% per GY (15%/4.56GY).
At that rate it would take 3GY to approach the +10% flux limit proposed by some scientist to result in a highly water vapor saturated atmosphere, and stratospheric loss of water — losing the oceans to space, assumptions largely based on the same science used to construct the highly accurate (cough, snicker) climate forecasting models used by the IPCC and other charlatans.
Dave (14:07:22) :
Can we do anything about super volcanoes?
May seem like a dumb question, but perhaps it isnt.
Presumably a super volcano blows when it builds up a certain energy level, which is too much for the crust above it to hold back. That energy level builds up over thousands and thousands of years, so when it blows, it gives off a massive amount of energy in an eruption.
But what if we put lots of geothermal powerstations on these volcanos? That would take away some of the energy that is building up there. If you were able to take enough energy away, then in theory, as long as you take it away from the right place, the volcano shouldnt blow.
And it would produce a lot of cheap energy as a by-product.
Hmm, some engineering problems here. Just for fun:
First of all to release the pressure build up one would have to dig down to the magma layer, since the pressure builds up because the main outlet gets blocked. You would need wells, like oil wells.
Suppose one could go down to the magma feeding the volcano, the probability it would blow there and then where the well is should be very high.
On the other hand, if one had a way of seeing the magma then making ten or a hundred such wells might do the trick.
In any case, this means that money and effort should be spent in studying these possibly real dangers , instead of chasing the shadow of CO2.
Jeff Alberts:
The only ones I know of are Mt. Tabor in Portland ,Oregon, and Pilot Butte in Bend, Oregon.
Bend is not a place I’d want to live. It’s located between the Sisters and the Newberry Caldera — both active areas.
Steve Moore, I thought LaBrea was considered a mildy active volcano. Or maybe I watch too many movies 😉
Lol, you’re right Steve, I do watch too many movies. La Brea isn’t associated with volcanism at all.
Maybe this time it would be the Mexicans closing their borders to the scourge from the North?
Poetic justice?
If only it would happen in Israel as well!
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Dave (14:07:22) :
Can we do anything about super volcanoes?
May seem like a dumb question, but perhaps it isnt.
Presumably a super volcano blows when it builds up a certain energy level, which is too much for the crust above it to hold back. That energy level builds up over thousands and thousands of years, so when it blows, it gives off a massive amount of energy in an eruption.
But what if we put lots of geothermal powerstations on these volcanos? That would take away some of the energy that is building up there. If you were able to take enough energy away, then in theory, as long as you take it away from the right place, the volcano shouldnt blow.
And it would produce a lot of cheap energy as a by-product.
Can someone tell me if I am talking rubbish here?
********
Not a bad idea if done on a large scale — ala Iceland. Wouldn’t have to drill to the magma — just above it would be sufficient. The amount of steam heat that generates electricity could be significant.
But if destructive elk can’t even be thinned because of the envirowackos, do you think any industrial activity would be allowed in Yellowstone? Never happen.
I really doubt the hypothesis that this increase in activity in the Yellowstone Caldera is being caused by population concentrations in the US coastal regions.
Anyone with an ounce of savvy would understand that it was unquestionably caused by the “no-bid” contract Bush and Cheney gave to EvilHaliburton to create waterfront property near the huge inland sea which will be created when they engineer the super-eruption.
This information was gleaned from a definitive follow-up New York Times report after the one detailing how GWB and “Darth Vader” Cheney steered Hurricane Katrina directly into New Orleans because – as reported by Kanye West – Mr. Bush doesn’t care about black people.
The curiousity of a layman wonders about all those huge volcanoes on Mars and the fact that Mars still has a molten core. What are the chances that a huge simultaneous eruptions eons ago ripped the atmosphere to shreds and are responsible for the cold dead rusty planet we have now? Mt. Olympus looks like a planet devouring monster! Maybe when Mars blew up the alien hamsters evacuated to earth and evolved into humans.
Frank Lansner (15:11:26) :
TonyB
I hope when everybody can see that there is no global warming people will want answers. I hope every paper wil be turned. I hope Hansen and everybody else with “Bad Karma” will be revealed to the world for what they are.
I hope for full justice in court.
I expect it to be just like the discovery that tri-stearate does nothing to cholesterol, yet trans fats will kill you. Go the grocery store. Look at the margarine. Many are still 1/3 trans fat. OK, so how many people died of heart attacks from eating ‘heart healthy’ trans fat laden margarine as the experts instructed? Where is all the press release saying “Oh, nevermind, we were wrong. Sorry.”? AGW will be just like that. It will just quietly fade away and Hansen will get a nice retirement package and life will wander on to the next ‘crisis’…