[Geology2] Re: Yellowstone Supervolcano 'Not a Portent of Doom'

Hello? Didn't I just say this last week? Huh.

Lin

--- In geology2@yahoogroups.com, robert-blau@... wrote:
>
> Glad to hear it . . .
>
> Yellowstone Supervolcano 'Not a Portent of Doom'
>
> The huge volcano under Yellowstone National Park has been rising at an
> unprecedented rate during the past several years, according to a new
> study. In the ancient past, the Yellowstone volcano produced some of the
> biggest-known continental eruptions, but the recent rising doesn't mean
> another doomsday eruption is looming, scientists say.
>
> The recent rising is unprecedented for Yellowstone's caldera -- the
> cauldron-shaped part of the volcano -- but it's not uncommon for other
> volcanoes around the world. The new study has simply revealed a more
> active caldera at Yellowstone than scientists realized.
> In 2004, the caldera was swelling at 2.8 inches (7 centimeters) per year
> in some parts, but the uplift has since slowed to a low of 0.2 inches
> (0.5 cm) per year, according to the study, which was published in the
> December edition of the journal Geophysical Research Letters.
>
> Calderas rise just like an inflating bubble. The inflating could either
> be caused by magma rising and pushing up on the caldera, or the magma
> could be heating gases and hydrothermal fluids (the same fluids that
> spew from Yellowstone's Old Faithful geyser) and pushing them against
> the caldera, Meertens told OurAmazingPlanet. Whatever the exact
> mechanism, a rising caldera is not enough to signal an eruption.
>
> "It's not a portent of doom," said Erik Klemetti, a volcanologist at
> Denison University in Granville, Ohio, who was not involved with the
> study. "It seems like these restless calderas are always sort of rising
> and falling, but that by itself doesn't mean it's about to erupt."
>
> Volcanologists look at several indicators when deciding whether an
> eruption is looming, Klemetti said. Warning signs typically include an
> increase in earthquakes under the volcano, changes in the gases being
> emitted, change in the volcano's shape, and steam and heat escaping from
> the top.
>
> Read more:
> http://ow.ly/3UG7R
>

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