Week 4 Blog Yellowstone Volcano

I have lived near Yellowstone National Park nearly my entire life.  I have countless memories of the beautiful geysers, mountains, and animals around the park.  But the one thing that I have always found the most interesting is that the entire park sits on one of the geographically largest active volcanoes in the world.  The reason this was of such interest to me was because I was constantly hearing about the potential consequences of a Yellowstone eruption. 

Although some of those that I was hearing this from were certainly speaking hyperbolically, there are very real dangers that must be looked at. Dana Hunter of the scientificamerican.com says that "...rumors of Yellowstone's impending catastrophic mega-eruption have been exponentially exaggerated. Don't fall for the hype." This is far from the 'end of human civilization' talk that I was hearing throughout my childhood. Research has shown us that of the three mega-eruptions of Yellowstone's past, the have been approximately 700,000 years apart, and the last Yellowstone eruption was around 600,000 years ago.  Volcanologists (I didn't know that was a real title either) tell us that an eruption in the near future would result in light lava flow and small amounts of ash, but with the tech we have patrolling active volcanoes today, we could foresee this and perform the necessary measures to lighten the damage significantly.

As far that the geographic location of Yellowstone, Brittanica explains, "Yellowstone is situated in a region that has been volcanically and seismically active for tens of millions of years.  Tectonic movement of the North American Plate has thinned Earth's crust in the area, forming a hotspot."  With Thanksgiving this week, I feel it is appropriate to express my gratitude for the beautiful memories I have of the park and how thankful I am to have been raised near such a true national treasure.




https://www.britannica.com/place/Yellowstone-National-Park
https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/rosetta-stones/will-yellowstone-erupt-soon-and-kill-us-all/