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Yellowstone Supervolcano Making Strange Rumblings

Posted by Zonk on from the if-you-need-me-i'll-be-in-the-netherlands dept.

Frosty Piss writes "Supervolcanoes can sleep for centuries or millennia before producing incredibly massive eruptions that can drop ash across an entire continent. One of the largest supervolcanoes in the world lies beneath Yellowstone National Park. Significant activity continues beneath the surface. And the activity has been increasing lately, scientists have discovered. In addition, the nearby Teton Range of mountains is somehow getting shorter. The findings, reported this month in the Journal of Journal of Geophysical Research, suggest that a slow and gradual movement of a volcano over time can shape a landscape more than a violent eruption."

4 of 411 comments (clear)

  1. How do they know it is increasing? by sphealey · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Per the article, geoscientists only have detailed large-scale measurements for the last 17 years (which would roughtly correspond to the increasing availability of reasonably-priced GPS and comm units I should think). So how do they know that activity is increasing (or decreasing) on any kind of historical scale?

    sPh

  2. Why be scared? by LWATCDR · · Score: 4, Insightful

    What can you do about it.
    Odds are very good that it will not happen in your life or you children's, or their children's. It may never happen.
    This is a great example of an unreasonable fear.
    You are far more likely to die in a car accident than from Yellowstone erupting as a super-volcano.
    If you want make an effort to live a long happy life the best things you can do are.
    Exercise at least 30 minutes a day.
    Eat a good diet.
    Don't smoke.
    Don't drink and drive.
    Don't drive late at night.

    Oh and put aside money for your retirment and stay out of debt. That is for the happy part a long and happy life.

    You should fear a sedentary life style and tobacco a lot more than volcanoes.

    --
    See my blog http://ilovecookes.blogspot.com/ for light hearted technical information.
  3. Re:I'm scared by DragonWriter · · Score: 5, Insightful

    If this happens during the winter, they might need to scrape off some ash, pile it by the side of the field, or take and put it in a big pile someplace
    We're not talking about a thin layer of ash, but something that is feet thick near (and when the outer limits are the whole western US, "near" can be pretty far) the eruption site.

    You can't compare the clearing of a massive wreck of twisted metal and concrete full of remains to clearing a field.
    You also can't you compare the clearing of volcanic debris from the entire Western United States to clearing a field.
  4. Re:I'm scared by rujholla · · Score: 5, Insightful

    When Mt. St. Helens blew we had about 3 feet of ash over all our fields in Eastern WA. The problem was you couldn't really scrape it. It was too light and fluffy -- at least till the first rain fall then it was like concrete. In the end it was a combination of like he said scraping and plowing it under.

    The big problem was what it did to engines -- that stuff is super corrosive well ok more correct would be super abrasive -- you have to have special filters on all your air intakes and they have to be cleaned frequently.

    While not as easy as the GP makes it out to be -- farmers for the most part have the equipment to clear the fields and it can be done fairly quickly.