Subscribe free to our newsletters via your
. Earth Science News .




SHAKE AND BLOW
No Yellowstone mega-eruption coming, experts say
by Staff Writers
Washington (AFP) April 27, 2014


Yellowstone National Park are fighting viral rumors of an impending, cataclysmic eruption of a mega volcano slumbering at the US Western preserve known for its geothermal features.

Volcanologists said reams of geological data have given them a deep of understanding of the Yellowstone Caldera -- and all signs point to calm.

Over the past several weeks, the Internet has been abuzz with speculation over worrying signs suggesting an explosive awakening for the so-called supervolcano, whose last catastrophic eruption was 640,000 years ago.

That eruption covered a good portion of North America in ash several inches (centimeters) thick, and had a long-lasting impact on the Earth's climate.

A video showing a herd of bison fleeing the iconic Wyoming park went viral.

And several days later, a 4.8-magnitude earthquake, the strongest in three decades, fed the rumor mill still further.

But Yellowstone spokesman Al Nash said there was nothing out of the ordinary in the animals' behavior.

"We do have bison, elk and other animals that have moved out of the park recently," he said.

"They tend to migrate at this time... to lower elevations, where they think they can get food, and then they come back."

- No cause for fear -

As for the quake: "It was the strongest in 30 years, but it was not that strong," said Peter Cervelli, a volcano expert at the US Geological Survey.

And such jolts are not exactly rare, with an estimated 1,000 to 3,000 quakes a year at the park.

Like many similar volcanoes in the world, Yellowstone's has a way of breathing, the magma trapped underneath lifting or subsiding in phases.

And because the earth's crust is just four to six miles (six to 10 kilometers) thick at Yellowstone, compared to an average of 18 miles, any pressure exerted by the magma is felt strongly.

"Recently, over the last six months, we are in an episode of uplift," Cervelli said. "This probably explains the recent earthquake."

But he rebuffed rumors that a big eruption was coming.

"I have not made yet an observation at Yellowstone that causes me to be afraid or causes me to wonder if an eruption was coming," Cervelli said.

"We are always prepared to be surprised, and we don't claim to understand everything perfectly."

But he predicted there won't be another major eruption "for the next ten thousands of years."

His confidence was based in part on the many instruments, including dozens of GPS receivers and seismometers, that monitor activity in the volcano whose giant magma chamber measures 55 miles long, 18 miles wide and nine miles deep.

Around a dozen experts are also permanently stationed at Yellowstone.

- Asteroid strike more likely -

Geologist Ilya Bindeman was equally confident, based on his isotopic analysis of the minerals in the volcanic rocks at Yellowstone.

"We know the behavior of the past, and we know at what comparative stage Yellowstone is right now," the University of Oregon professor explained.

And based on that analysis, the volcano is in the process of dying out.

"Caldera cycles go on for maybe several million years, and then it is done," he said.

"I don't think another major eruption is going to happen anytime soon -- at least not for another one million to two million years."

Such an eruption would destroy everything within a radius of several hundred miles and would cover North America in ash, putting an end to agriculture and cooling the Earth's climate for at least 10 years.

The last time the Earth experienced such an eruption was in Indonesia, 70,000 years ago.

But the experts were in agreement: it's nothing we will see during our lifetimes.

"We are more likely to see a major asteroid impact," Cervelli said.

.


Related Links
Bringing Order To A World Of Disasters
When the Earth Quakes
A world of storm and tempest






Comment on this article via your Facebook, Yahoo, AOL, Hotmail login.

Share this article via these popular social media networks
del.icio.usdel.icio.us DiggDigg RedditReddit GoogleGoogle








SHAKE AND BLOW
4,000 Peruvians evacuated from homes surrounding erupting volcano
Querapi, Peru (UPI) Apr 18, 2013
Regional governments in the south of Peru, as well as several local municipalities, have declared a state of emergency and begun evacuating more than 4,000 citizens, as the the country's 18,750-foot-tall Ubinas volcano continues to erupt. The volcano has been smoldering and slowly erupting for a couple weeks now, but yesterday the mountain top spewed a giant cloud of ash two miles into ... read more


SHAKE AND BLOW
Nepal counts cost of damaging Everest debacle

Italy cruise ship removal project halted: media

Captain says warnings over Korean ferry ignored

North Shore Deploys Mutualink's Emergency Communications Platform in 15 Hospitals

SHAKE AND BLOW
Engineering Breakthrough Will Allow Cancer Researchers to Create Live Tumors With a 3D Printer

Big data poses great challenges and opportunities for databases

Ames Lab researchers see rare-earth-like magnetic properties in iron

Mantis Shrimp Stronger than Airplanes

SHAKE AND BLOW
Oregon tuna found with Fukushima radiation still safe to eat

Microscopic Organism Plays a Big Role in Ocean Carbon Cycling

Some corals adjusting to rising ocean temperatures

Octillions of microbes in the seas: Ocean microbes show incredible genetic diversity

SHAKE AND BLOW
Krypton-dating technique allows researchers to accurately date ancient Antarctic ice

Concordia calling

Tourism main topic at annual Antarctic Treaty meeting

Cougars' diverse diet helped them survive the Pleistocene mass extinction

SHAKE AND BLOW
Study finds accelerated soil carbon loss, increasing the rate of climate change

Australian food group rejects Singapore-Hong Kong bid

Nitrogen pollution, climate and land use: why what we eat matters

Dutchman at heart of Europe's horse meat scandal charged in France

SHAKE AND BLOW
Odds of storm waters overflowing Manhattan seawall up 20-fold

No Yellowstone mega-eruption coming, experts say

Death toll in Afghan floods tops 100: officials

Fresh tremor rattles Papua New Guinea after 7.5 quake

SHAKE AND BLOW
EU CAR force operational, at Bangui airport: sources

Eric Newman - Walking Into South Africa

South Africa's defence minister admits military meltdown

South Sudan on brink of collapse as war rages

SHAKE AND BLOW
Genomic diversity and admixture differs for Stone-Age Scandinavian foragers and farmers

British designer Heatherwick seeks cities with 'human scale'

Prehistoric caribou hunting site discovered under Lake Huron

It's a bubble, but not as we know it




The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2014 - Space Media Network. All websites are published in Australia and are solely subject to Australian law and governed by Fair Use principals for news reporting and research purposes. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA news reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. Privacy Statement All images and articles appearing on Space Media Network have been edited or digitally altered in some way. Any requests to remove copyright material will be acted upon in a timely and appropriate manner. Any attempt to extort money from Space Media Network will be ignored and reported to Australian Law Enforcement Agencies as a potential case of financial fraud involving the use of a telephonic carriage device or postal service.