What's under Yellowstone National Park?

What's under Yellowstone National Park? Yellowstone is underlain by two magma bodies. The shallower one is composed of rhyolite (a high-silica rock type) and stretches from 5 km to about 17 km (3 to 10 mi) beneath the surface and is about 90 km (55 mi) long and about 40 km (25 mi) wide. The chamber is mostly solid, with only about 5-15% melt.

How much would the temperature drop if Yellowstone erupted?

Geologists believe the ash from the eruption would encircle the globe in as little as 48 hours, and make temperatures drop by a minimum of two degrees celsius for as long as 20 years. The cooling of the Earth could be catastrophic for the planet's fragile ecosystem, kicking off a chain reaction of extinctions.

What is the largest supervolcano in the United States?

Yellowstone is one of the world's largest active volcanic systems. Its history began 16.5 million years ago when present-day southeast Oregon sat over a hotspot—a massive plume of hot material upwelling from deep in the earth's mantle.

How deep is the crust at Yellowstone?

The Yellowstone Plateau region has crustal thickness of 47–52 km; this thick crust primarily manifests the Laramide age shortening associated with the Beartooth Mountains and the magmatic underplate that created the high-velocity lower crust beneath much of the Wyoming Province crust.

What are the 3 super volcanoes in the US?

Would Yellowstone cause an ice age?

No. A very large volcanic eruption would cause a severe cold period called a volcanic winter, but not an ice age. Volcanic eruptions cool the planet by creating a fine aerosol of sulfuric acid in the stratosphere. The highly reflective droplets prevent a portion of the sun's light from reaching and heating the surface.

What supervolcano is bigger than Yellowstone?

Which is bigger Mauna Loa or Yellowstone? Mauna Loa volcano is the largest volcano on Earth. It is over 30,000 feet tall from the seafloor where it was born to the summit, which is 13,684 feet above sea level.

What states would be affected if Yellowstone erupted?

Those parts of the surrounding states of Montana, Idaho, and Wyoming that are closest to Yellowstone would be affected by pyroclastic flows, while other places in the United States would be impacted by falling ash (the amount of ash would decrease with distance from the eruption site).

Where is the safest place to be if Yellowstone erupts?

A: For the most likely type of volcanic eruption in Yellowstone, everywhere would be safe except in the immediate vicinity of the advancing lava flow. In the highly improbable event of a large catastrophic eruption, the great the distance from the eruptive center, the safer it would be.

How deep is the supervolcano?

A new 3-D model shows the 45-mile-wide (72-kilometer-wide), 410-mile-deep (660-kilometer-deep) plume of hot, molten rock rising under Yellowstone's supervolcano.