… and God shall rain down destruction fire and brimstone upon the land and all that which remains will be blanketed in a smoldering silencing ash, hushing the wails of sorrow. While this all sounds very biblical and even whimsical, the scientific fact is that the western mountain and central sections of The United States face such a fate, but not at the hands of a deity or an antichrist.
The only question is “when?” not “if?”
A caldera is formed when a volcano suffers so massive an explosion and ejects so much magma, ash, and gas under pressure that it collapses of its own weight into the emptied subterranean chambers that fed it. The result is a huge pit as big as 50 miles in diameter and hundreds of feet deep in place of the usual majestic snow-covered mountain peak.
Such an event has happened in North America not once, but three times in a place you normally wouldn’t think of as a hotbed of volcanic activity. This particular renowned and famous tourist destination has a little-known periodic feature that is more deadly than Old Faithful and is ominously about 40,000 years behind schedule.
Of the three most massive volcanic eruptions in our continent’s geological history, Yellowstone National Park holds the first and second place records. The Long Valley California caldera comes in at number three. Yellowstone so far has had two mega-destructive events — 2 million years ago, 1.3 million years ago and a smaller one (for the sake of comparison, not severity) 600,000 years ago.
The area around, beneath and within our nation’s first national park is known in scientific circles as a “Super Volcano” and there’s a good reason for all that magnificent mountain scenery. Approximately two million years ago the first Yellowstone blast left a crater that has been estimated at 49.8 miles long by 40.5 miles wide. Geological records reveal a ballpark figure of the output of that eruption at 585 cubic miles of molten magma.
Article comments
— go to most recent comments1 - Jet in Columbus
Thanks to whomever published this, I didn't get a publish notice, but thanks regardless-Jet
2 - Jet in Columbus
Thanks Lisa McKay, I figured it was you... Jet
3 - gonzo marx
well now Jet... not being too gloomy here
heh
as you mention, the caldera is relatively old news for those who pay attention to such things
but like Pompeii.. who listens when the sun is shining, eh?
but it does make my choosing th ewoods of Maine to appear a bit more sane... never trusted anything west of the Mississippi river, such "young" country has so many growing Pains to still go through... not to mention the Issues with water
thought for ya.. geologically linked to the area you speak of, are the massive natural gas fields of Wyoming and the like... some Theories have that such deposits are part of the fuel for such devastating eruptions, or can suffer ignition due to same eruptions...
how's THAT fer some Scary in the Mix?
Excelsior?
4 - Ruvy in Jerusalem
Sounds like fun, Jet. Boy, am I glad to have moved from the States now. If the Iranians don't go boom! nature will.
It's not nice to fool with mother nature you know...
Hey guys, how about meeting in Jellystone National Park next year?
Ruvy,
who is smarter than the average bear
5 - Jet in Columbus
Thanks Gonzo, I'm glad someone feels safe in their own back yard. Appreciate your contribution.
Jet
6 - Jet in Columbus
Yeah Ruvy, we could take a well-timed photo of all the editors in front of "Old Faithful".
7 - Jet in Columbus
As for it being "old news" Gonzo, it was new to me so I figured it might be of interest to others as uneducated as myself. I guess this means I'll have to find yet another way to blow up the world.
(snickers sinisterly)
Jet
8 - gonzo marx
heh...old news is right...
i mean, even in yer article it clearly states that the caldera is about 40,000 years past due
so it stands to figure, it was a breaking Story about 39,000 years ago... but definately pushed to the back burner now
i mean, c'mon... a tad dated, eh?
heh... ya know i'm just messing with ya
and Ruvy, you bringing the pic-a-nic bas-ket?
Excelsior?
9 - Jet in Columbus
Gonzo: I know you were just messin' What isn't old news is the cluster of quakes in the zone July 10th which is why I thought it might become current news.
Why wasn't I invited, I make a mean potatoe salad.
Carus deus, quis have ego commissio?
Jet
10 - gonzo marx
invited?
Jet it was yer Party!!
and where'd ya learn ta spell potato? Dan Quayle?
but i digress...
Excelsior?
11 - Jet in Columbus
Does that mean I'd have to change party affiliations to answer that question?
12 - gonzo marx
nah.. just that ya might have "crossed the aisle" when it came to spelling...
and since Aaron is passed, all ya get is Tori..
heh
Excelsior?
13 - Victor Plenty
This may be "old" news to people who have studied geology or paid much attention to science publications, but there are still plenty of mainstream readers who know very little about it. A well-written article about the Yellowstone supervolcano is always timely, even if some may question its relevance to the fast-moving world of celebrity gossip and reality TV shows.
Let's all hope it stays that way. If the predicted event happens in our lifetime, there will no longer be any room for debating whether we need to care about it.
Those who survive the initial event will instead be debating how to survive the aftermath.
14 - gonzo marx
geeez. Vic.. so Literal...
i had thought it obvious i meant "old" for anyone under the age of 40,000 years...
but your Point is well stated, it is indeed something the vast majority of folks have either never heard of, or not thought of twice
hence, all props ta the Jetster fer burrowing out the molten Truth from the ash of informational deritus and Communicating it to us all in a steadily flowing magma of Prose that erupts with pertinent data and cools into an obsidian sheen of thinking and Reason...
Excelsior?
15 - Jet in Columbus
Gonzo#12 Well I AM a conservative trapped in a liberal's body!
16 - Jet in Columbus
I'm still waiting to see if they come up with and ad for a "volcano" ring tone up top (snicker)
17 - Jet in Columbus
Victor, thanks and welcome to the fray. this caught my attention when I was perusing the news and saw the multiple quakes news July 10th.
Thanks my friend.
Jet
18 - Jet in Columbus
Gonzo #14........uh huh
19 - Victor Plenty
Personally I think we ought to drill down underneath Yellowstone and start tapping as much geothermal energy from there as we possibly can.
Use the energy to manufacture ethanol, biodiesel, hydrogen, and any other fuel we could synthesize if we didn't care how much energy it cost. Generate electricity and hook it up to the continental grid. Drain as much energy from that puppy as human ingenuity can possibly drain.
Of course geologists today will say we could never drain enough to defuse the ticking time bomb. But our top scientists also used to think the oceans were a limitless dumping ground, too vast for human activity to significantly contaminate. They used to think the forests were too vast for humans to use up.
For centuries humans have been demonstrating the power to falsify predictions about various supposedly unlimited resources. Maybe for once we could use this power for good.
20 - gonzo marx
excellent Thought there Victor...
and mores the Pity that exactly that isn't being looked into by the so-called "energy industry"
start up the company...
i'd submit my resume
Excelsior?
21 - Jet in Columbus
I had the same thought Victor, but we'd have to get through the nuts screaming about destroying the natural beauty or the ecosystem.
22 - Jet in Columbus
Gonzo you'd give up arms dealing?
23 - gonzo marx
hey now.. that's a fragment of yer own feverish Madness....
i only have the 2 arms, no deals
but Victor's suggestion is an excellent Thought, and i'd sign up in a new york second
(for the Record: a New York Second is a classic euphamism for the shortest measurable unit of Time... the duration between a light turning green and a new york cabbie hitting his horn behind you)
Excelsior?
24 - Jet in Columbus
'nuff said Gonzo, Thanks for contributing
25 - gonzo marx
and he Thanks me.....?
mwahahahhHAHAHahaahHAHAhhaaHAHAHhaahahHAHHAHahaaa...
did i say that out loud?
Excelsior?