Yellowstone Eruptions in History — The last big volcanic eruption was 70,000 years ago. That was lava coming out of the center of the caldera similar to the island of Hawaiis periodic volcanic eruptions. — The last big caldera explosion was 640,000 years ago. The difference between a volcanic eruption and caldera blowing up is size and power. The volcanic eruptions with lava flow are confined to a smaller area inside the caldera that is 34 miles by 45 miles in size. But the caldera-forming explosions were catastrophic — literally pouring enough molten magma from inside the Earth to cover the entire state of Texas 5 feet deep. That kind of destructive force has happened only three times: — the first was 2.1 million years ago; — the second was 1.3 million years ago; — the third and last time was 640,000 years ago. Geologists average that timeline out to a major caldera-forming event every 730,000 years. So if Mother Natures clock kept up a regular cycle in the mantles eruptions, Yellowstone should be safe for another 70,000 to 90,000 years from now. One geophysicist who spends his life studying Yellowstone gas chemistries, geysers, melting roads, seismic swarms and up and down rise of park land is Jake Lowenstern, Ph.D., Research Geologist for the U. S. Geological Survey and Scientist-In-Charge at the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory based in Menlo Park, California. This week I asked him why there are these repeating catastrophic caldera blasts in Yellowstone and whether he expects any dramatic eruptions in the park during this 21st Century.
Posted on: Wed, 23 Jul 2014 16:09:22 +0000
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