Geyser "Erupts" at Yellowstone; Boardwalk Destroyed, Citizens run for safety - July 23, 2024
- Jul 22, 2024
- 2 min read
July 23, 2024
Video below shows something which has never happened before: A Geyser at Yellowstone National Park "Erupted" today, spewing ash, rock, smoke, steam, and dirt, in such quantities that nearby park visitors ran for their lives.
The park Boardwalk, on which hundreds of thousands have safely watched the geysers over many years, was completely destroyed.
Park Rangers have closed off the area. No reports of any injuries.
Yellowstone Caldera Most people do not know that there is a volcanic caldera in Yellowstone National Park in the United states.
The “Mega Volcano” under Yellowstone National Park is actually the Yellowstone Caldera, a supervolcano that has experienced three major eruptions in the past 2.1 million years. The caldera is a 30-mile-wide (45 km) depression in the Earth’s surface, formed when magma was withdrawn or erupted from a shallow underground reservoir.
Characteristics
The Yellowstone Caldera is one of the world’s five “super volcanoes,” capable of producing massive eruptions that expel over 1,000 cubic kilometers (240 cubic miles) of material.
The caldera is situated over the Yellowstone hotspot, where hot and light magma from the mantle rises towards the surface.
Volcanic activity in Yellowstone is relatively recent, with calderas formed by large eruptions occurring 2.1 million, 1.3 million, and 640,000 years ago.
Current Status
According to scientists, the Yellowstone Caldera is not overdue for an eruption. Volcanoes do not work in predictable ways, and their eruptions do not follow predictable schedules.
The USGS and Yellowstone Volcano Observatory (YVO) closely monitor the caldera’s activity, including earthquakes, ground deformation, tilt, temperature, and geothermal discharge.
While there is ongoing geothermal activity, including earthquakes and ground uplift, there is no evidence to suggest a catastrophic eruption is imminent.
Interesting Facts
The Yellowstone Caldera is large enough to cover the entire state of Texas, and its eruptions could affect the entire United States.
Scientists have analyzed crystals from Yellowstone’s lava and found that the magma reservoir can reach eruptive capacity and trigger a super-eruption within decades, not centuries.
NASA has proposed a method to prevent a catastrophic eruption by cooling the magma chamber by 35% through high-pressure water injection 10 kilometers underground.
It is said that Yellow Stone's Caldera could erupt between 2024-2026 based on estimations.
