The supervolcano lie in wait for beneath Yellowstone National
Park could be getting ready to explode, an eruption that could be shattering to
life on Earth. It could take as little as a human lifetime for a dormant
volcano to wake up and make itself for an immense eruption, scientists say. As
far as Yellowstone, such super-eruption last happened more than 600,000 years
ago, after magma filled the empty chambers below the Earth’s surface some decades
before it blew. Earlier it was supposed that this build up took thousands of
years, but the new research suggests the timeframe was much tighter. The
Yellowstone supervolcano, if it erupts, likely transforms the Earth’s weather
into a volcanic winter. Even more concerning is the fact that we might not be
given enough time to prepare for such a disaster. The latest findings were the
result of a study carried out by a team from Arizona State University.
Researchers believed, such Yellowstone supervolcano is
capable of unleashing abundant ash and rock into hundreds of cubic miles at one
time into an eruption radius large enough to cover most of the united states in
a thick fog and affect the environment of the entire planet. However, it’s not
the only supervolcano there is. In Italy the “Campi Flegrei” is another example
of one of these natural monsters that could be devastating if it were to erupt.
In 1538, the Campi Flegrei, last blew, has experienced earthquakes and ground
uplifting that has made room for magma to build up beneath it. The top level
indicates that an eruption released 250 cubic miles of magma.
However, it is predicting a volcanic eruption is difficult, though
volcanologists are trying to crack the code. This latest research, the
scientists found during an analysis of material that after magma filled up the
area beneath Yellowstone all those thousands of years ago, temperatures and
other conditions changed quickly, over the course of just decades, leading to
an eruption. Therefore, it is really shocking how little time is required to
take a volcanic system from being quiet and sitting there to the edge of an
eruption. Moreover in the recent times, Yellowstone has experienced ground
uplifting, a major sign of activity that could possibly warn of an eruption
because of the magma buildup that takes place beneath the swelling surface.
According to the U.S. Geological Survey, the last eruption at
Yellowstone was 640,000 years ago. Yellowstone National Park doesn’t hold a
classic image of a volcano, with a mountain looming high in the sky, but it is
still home to a gigantic volcano structure. The most of park is within the
Yellowstone caldera, the crater created when the magma from the supervolcano
erupted and the Earth’s crust collapsed into the empty space it left behind. Thus,
some of its main attractions, including the geyser Old Faithful and the Grand
Prismatic Spring are signs of the site’s volcanic activity. However, according
to new research, it would only take decades, considerably reducing the expected
preparation time that we would have for the disaster.
