Is the Yellowstone Volcano overdue for an eruption?
Volcanoes do not work in predictable ways and their eruptions do not follow predictable schedules. Even so, the math doesn’t work out for the volcano to be “overdue” for an eruption. In terms of large explosions, Yellowstone has experienced three at 2.08, 1.3, and 0.631 million years ago.
How big was the eruption of Yellowstone Caldera?
Subsequent activity has been focused within the area of the National Park, and another huge eruption 640,000 years ago formed the Yellowstone caldera as we now see it. The three caldera-forming eruptions, respectively, were about 6,000, 700, and 2,500 times larger than the May 18, 1980 eruption of Mt. St. Helens in Washington State.
How old was the Yellowstone hot spot eruption?
The earliest products of Yellowstone Hot Spot volcanism are from ~17 million years ago, but may be as old as ~32 Ma, and include contemporaneous eruption of voluminous mafic…
How often does a hydrothermal eruption occur in Yellowstone?
Every few thousand years, a hydrothermal explosion will form a crater as much as a few hundred meters across. Though the worst-case scenario for a giant Yellowstone eruption is indeed bad and could have global implications, most past eruptions at Yellowstone were not highly explosive.
How old is the volcano in Yellowstone National Park?
Illustration depicts sixteen million years of movement of the Yellowstone-Snake River Plain volcanic system. The youngest activity of the hot spot is the caldera system in Yellowstone. The location of Yellowstone’s three calderas and two resurgent domes.
When was the Absaroka volcano in Yellowstone formed?
During the Cenozoic era (approximately the last 66 million years of Earth’s history), widespread mountain-building, volcanism, faulting, and glaciation sculpted the Yellowstone area. The Absaroka Range along the park’s north and east sides was formed by numerous volcanic eruptions about 50 million years ago.