Yellowstone super vulcano ready to erupt?

[Fish]

http://www.earthmountainview.com/yel...ellowstone.htm

Satellite images acquired by ESA's ERS-2 revealed the recently discovered changes in Yellowstone's caldera are the result of molten rock movement 15 kilometres below the Earth's surface, according to a recent study published in Nature.

Using Synthetic Aperture Radar Interferometry, InSAR for short, Charles Wicks, Wayne Thatcher and other U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) scientists mapped the changes in the northern rim of the caldera, or crater, and discovered it had risen about 13 centimetres from 1997 to 2003.

http://www.unmuseum.org/supervol.htm

Reasons to Worry?

Scientists have known about Yellowstone's explosive history for quite some time, but events in the fall of 2003 suddenly had people concerned about the possibility of another massive explosion.

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releas...u-yr103007.php


Volcano inflating with molten rock at record rate

This digital elevation map of Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks was overlaid with elevation change data (colors) from Global Positioning System receivers and satellite measurements. A University of Utah...
Click here for more information.
The Yellowstone “supervolcano” rose at a record rate since mid-2004, likely because a Los Angeles-sized, pancake-shaped blob of molten rock was injected 6 miles beneath the slumbering giant, University of Utah scientists report in the journal Science.

[Letum]

Something to watch out for in the next few thousand years.

As a geologist I would like this to happen in my life time, but towards the end of it so I don't suffer with the rest of the world.

[Fish]

Originally Posted by Letum

Something to watch out for in the next few thousand years.

As a geologist I would like this to happen in my life time, but towards the end of it so I don't suffer with the rest of the world.

No family/kids?

[Letum]

Originally Posted by Fish

No family/kids?

If it happens close to my death then I may have 2 children and say...7 grandchildren.

If it happens in 3500 years time, than I cound have many, many thowsands of great great great great great great Grandchildren.

The later it happens, the more of my family die.

[Fish]

Originally Posted by Letum

The later it happens, the more of my family die.

Hmm, good point.

[STEED]

I saw a documentary some years ago which looked at this ring of volcano's erupting at the same time, to some up for us in England you got one year and the do-do hits the fan.

[Skybird]

It's not a volcano. Its the geological enforced end of all subsim debates in the forums. That's why Neal probabaly most politically uncorrectly hates the thing, despite the mild climate and although the area is protected as a conservation area.

[Skybird]

Originally Posted by STEED

I saw a documentary some years ago which looked at this ring of volcano's erupting at the same time, to some up for us in England you got one year and the do-do hits the fan.

You don't need a ring - one of these alone is enough to blow mankind off the map.

[STEED]

Originally Posted by Skybird

You don't need a ring - one of these alone is enough to blow mankind off the map.

Skybird,

Indeed they stated that, but they were looking at the whole issue if one went off there was a high chance this would trigger the rest and good night. The power of man is a joke next to the power of nature.

There was some documentary's about the super volcanoes a few years back - Yellowstone's erupted 3 or 4 times apparently (If you look at Yellowstone in a satellite image you can follow the line of calderas from the eruptions , basically the whole valley is the caldera).From what the documentary makers and the scientists are saying its not a case of if Yellowstone goes boom , its just when ,and if its not Yellowstone then apparently there's 1/2 a dozen super volcanoes to choose from.Anyone of them going boom would be enough to throw us into a nuclear winter scenario.

[Boris]

Yep, Yellowstone blowing will almost certainly reduce the Earth's population by a few billion, if not cause all out extinction of the human race, scary but absolutely true. But there's other things due to happen too... an asteroid hit is just as likely (statiscally speaking based on data from past hits) and will have a similar effect. La Palma is also due to erupt at some point and wipe out the eastern seaboard of the US in a never before seen massive tsunami that will make the one in SE Asia look like a ripple on a pond. At very least we have mass weather disasters caused by climate change to look forward to within our lifetimes (regardless of what's causing it).

[joea]

...for heaven's sake you all sound like grumpy old men, full of gloom. BTW the first links are quite dodgy if anyone bothered to check.

[baggygreen]

They may be dodgy, but the sentiment behind them is accurate. I'm just hoping im long gone by the time it happens...

[Oberon]

I know the film you're talking about Steed, I think rather than a ring of supervolcanoes it was a ring of eruption sites from the main magma chamber which then caused a collapse of the main chamber and a massive eruption, that's IIRC. It was a while back, pretty good film though.

So, if it's not Yellowstone then it'll be the Canary Islands Super-Tsunami, and if it's not that then it'll be an asteroid or some such.

Not a great deal we can do about it, save be ready and try to survive when it happens.

[XabbaRus]

I saw that drama documentary and my impression was that the USA north of the southern states was screwed and everyone ran down to Mexico, the rest of the world was OK.