Although volcanic activity seems a natural phenomenon far removed from America’s mainland, disaster could be sitting literally at our back door. According to the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory, Yellowstone National Park is the site of the world’s largest collection of natural thermal features. Scientists have termed Yellowstone a potential “supervolcano,” meaning that the geological formations and features are capable of an eruption of magnitude 8, where more than 1,000 cubic kilometers of magma (lava) are erupted.
While Yellowstone experiences several small to medium earthquakes and geyser type eruptions per year, Observatory scientists are confident that the Yellowstone “supervolcano” is in no danger of a massive eruption in the near future. The last major caldera-forming eruption occurred 640,000 years ago, and Yellowstone Observatory scientist monitor all activity within the park in hopes of analyzing when another disaster will occur.
This scientific assurance of a giant eruption being at least several centuries into the future if at all is not enough to keep the doomsday theorists at bay. One website, cuttingedge.com, features an article that quotes one scientist saying, “a major eruption event [at Yellowstone] is in its early stages.” Although this quote does not specify how long these early stages will take before actual eruption, the site predicts Pompeii like disaster for a 600 mile radius from the central eruption point.
Although a giant eruption of the Yellowstone “supervolcano” would be disastrous to the Western half of the continental United States, Yellowstone scientists are confident that they can predict an eruption days, weeks, even years before eruption actually occurs. The Observatory offers monthly updates on the activity of Yellowstone’s geological landscape, including the answers to frequently asked questions about the “supervolcano” in our own back yard. For more information visit www.volcanoes.usgs.gov/yvo/.
Western State Writers Spring 2009 