Oregon Is Growing A Mystery Bulge

nedwolf writes "LiveScience is reporting that a 100 square mile bulge has been rising in Oregon. First observed from a satellite using a relatively new technology called 'radar interferometry', some believe this to be the formation of a new volcano. I think it's just happy to see me."

Comments

New measurement technique != new geology

[Analogy Man]

They are now able to detect this swelling...how do we know it isn't normal. Maybe the Earth's crust swells and ripples all the time and it is only 5% of this activity that manifests itself in earthquakes and volcanos.

Pretty cool either way though. If there is a correlation it could be very useful predictive data.

Re:Super Volcano?

[mrchaotica]

Yeah, that's what I first thought upon reading this, too, since 100 square miles sounds pretty darn big. Then I looked it up, and realized that the Yellowstone caldera is an order of magnitude bigger (28 * 47 = ~1316 square miles), and that only includes the actual part where magma comes out. In comparison, this 100 square mile figure includes the entire area of uplift.