A large reservoir has been discovered underneath Yellowstone’s supervolcano containing magma which could be filling the Grand Canyon 11.2 times. The reservoir, 12 to 28 miles underneath the volcano is filled with hot, sponge-like rock with pockets of molten rock.
The reservoir has been discovered by University of Utah seismologists who completed the first picture of the “continuous volcanic plumbing system under Yellowstone,” said postdoctoral researcher Hsin-Hua Huang. He also added, “That includes the upper crustal magma chamber we have seen previously plus a lower crustal magma reservoir that has never been imaged before and that connects the upper chamber to the Yellowstone hotspot plume below.”
Previously, only the upper crust chamber was known of and it could fill the Grand Canyon 2.5 times. It was emphasized by scientists that the research does not indicate that there is enhanced risk or that it is close to erupting. Advanced techniques to get hold of better picture of the system have been employed by them.
Co-author of the study, Jamie Farrell said, “The magma chamber and reservoir are not getting any bigger than they have been, it’s just that we can see them better now using new techniques.”
Author Fan-Chi Lin said, “It gives us a better understanding the Yellowstone magmatic system. We can now use these new models to better estimate the potential seismic and volcanic hazards.”
The scientists arrived at a detailed image when Huang developed a technique for combining two types of seismic information. One had been data from quakes which has been identified in Utah, Idaho, the Teton Range and Yellowstone by the University of Utah Seismograph Stations. The other is data from even more distant quakes detected by the National Science Foundation-funded EarthScope array of seismometers that has been employed to map the underground structure of the lower 48 states.
The Utah seismic network has closely spaced seismometers which are enhanced in creating images of the shallower crust beneath Yellowstone, whereas EarthScope’s are more enhanced with deeper structures, “It’s a technique combining local and distant earthquake data better to look at this lower crustal magma reservoir,” Huang says.
The last three supervolcano eruptions at Yellowstone occurred 2 million, 1.2 million and 640,000 years back. According to researcher and emeritus professor Robert Smith, the annual risk of catastrophic eruption is around 1 in 700,000.
2 Comments
Iceland saved a harbor when a volcano erupted by quenching the magma, ego It has been done, to answer doubters. If you want to lessen the chance of a catastrophic eruption install massive amounts of geothermal units, again as in Iceland, to draw off as much heat as possible. Every bit helps and the energy will pay for the costs of the project many times over. Do we want a degraded Yellow Stone, no but and eruption will surely degrade even more. Get progressive - spin it green.
Excellent point, Joseph; the best way to lessen the chance of a catastrophic eruption is to install massive amounts of geothermal units. That was done in Iceland to draw off as much heat as possible; and, at the same time, to provide low cost energy for that country’s population.
Exactly, Just picture using all of that geothermal energy being generated by the vast quantities of magma under the Yellowstone supervolcano to generate electricity nationwide and to heat homes and businesses during the winter months. Millions - even billions (or trillions) of dollars could be saved by both businesses and communities by tapping into the geothermal energy produced by the magma, as is being done in Iceland.