News Nugget

Yellowstone’s “Super Plume” of Molten Rock Bigger Than Originally Thought

By Courtney Lowery, 12-16-09

	University of Utah image.

Scientists studying the the so-called “super plume” beneath the supervolcano that is Yellowstone National Park say the column of molten rock is at least 410 miles deep—20 percent deeper than researchers originally thought.

The revelation comes from new images collected by researchers at the University of Utah and recently published in the Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research. Geophysicist Robert Smith, who led research, says the new information proves that the earth’s mantle beneath Yellowstone is in motion.

As a press release in Science Daily points out, previous research led scientists to believe that the volcanic features in Yellowstone were fed by convection happening at 185 to 250 miles beneath the surface, but Smith’s research, which used data from more than 800 quakes, shows it’s more likely caused by a banana-shaped column of molten rock that goes much deeper and spreads much wider. In fact, the deepest section of the plume, now believed to be 45 miles wide, is directly below the town of Wisdom, which is some 150 miles from the park.

Here’s a cool video from National Geographic showing the new images:

Researchers say, the new images prove that the Yellowstone caldera holds more fuel for a “supereruption,” than originally thought, but Smith tells National Geographic that it doesn’t necessarily mean that eruption is imminent.

“This [plume] is the source of Yellowstone’s volcanic system,” he said. “It doesn’t say anything about the probability of a big eruption. [That is] a very rare thing.”

Scientists say the Yellowstone caldera has erupted three times in its history and each eruption happened 700,000 years apart. The last eruption is suspected to have happened 642,000 years ago.

Yellowstone’s supervolcano has been the subject of much conspiracy. In fact, in the latest doomsday movie, 2012 (which I just saw last week—If you’re up for a good laugh...), centers on the earth’s demise as it stems from the Yellowstone caldera.

But, scientists warn that there is no way to predict the next eruption. In a story from the Salt Lake Tribune this week (which does a very good job of explaining the new research, by the way), writer Brian Maffly puts it this way: “Scientists have no way of predicting the next event, which would bury much of the West in ash.”

So, not to worry you or anything…

Here’s a sampling of the eruption would look like, through Hollywood’s eyes anyway:

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