Horrible:Yellowstone Volcano's Powerful Eruption Recorded Live, Impact Spreads Across the Americas

Learn why there may be movement beneath Yellowstone, but the chances of a major volcanic eruption there remain low. Park rangers at Yellowstone National Park are often asked to predict when the next major volcanic eruption will occur there. A team of USGS scientists surveying the park’s underground magma reservoirs recently confirmed the standard response, “probably not anytime soon.” But they have shown that the area where such activity is most likely to occur has shifted, according to a report in the journal Nature.

It’s not the usual pattern of major eruptions there; the area has only experienced three major events in the past two million years. Those events are labeled “caldera-forming,” because the molten rock that emptied the underground reservoir left behind a hollow space, which caused the land above it to collapse, eventually forming a bowl-shaped depression. Beneath that depression, called a “caldera,” is a reservoir of magma. Recent surveys suggest that the magma inside it isn’t standing still. It now appears to be shifting northeast of the Yellowstone Caldera. For the past 160,000 years or so, the magma reservoirs have largely been under the caldera.

But a number of geological factors suggest that, even if they do move, “the reservoirs are not likely to erupt,” the paper says. That doesn’t mean the region will be completely free of volcanic activity — just that it won’t be a big explosion like the Big Three before it. Yellowstone is a tourist destination largely because of its volcanic activity. Hot molten rock beneath the Earth’s crust fuels the geysers, hot springs and boiling mud pots that draw throngs of tourists to this corner of Wyoming.

How did geologists come to their conclusion? First, not all magma forms the same. Magma is made up of different types of melted rock. Some contain more silica, some more basalt. Some are richer in minerals like iron or magnesium, some are less so. These differences are important for two reasons. First, these different mixes of minerals emit different magnetic and electric fields — which geologists can measure. That’s what USGS scientists did — essentially mapping the magma reservoirs across the Yellowstone Caldera area.

Halo Guyss...! Don't Forget To Subscribe..!

Thank You♥