If I detonated a nuke a mile underground in NW Wyoming, would it set off the Yellowstone supervolcano?

Question

The Yellowstone supervolcano supposedly erupts every few hundred thousand years, and we're about due for another explosion. Would a well-placed nuclear bomb hurry the process along?

The supervocano is much more powerful than any piddling little thermonuclear bomb. It'd blow a state-sized chunk of Earth's crust into space and cover half of North America in ash and dust, and create a "winter" that lasted five years.

Answer 1

i don't know, why dont you try it?

Answer 2

Are you planning to take over the world with this nuke? If so, I think James Bond is going to foil your plans.

I don't have any good citations but I think the scientific consensus is that nothing we can do given our current technology is going to make a difference in behavior of a large volcano, particularly a supervolcano. All we can do is to get out of the way or, in some limited circumstances, redirect or at least slow down some surface lava flows. If we did have that much power we could probably use it to set off catastrophes even more destructive than a supervolcano eruption if we wanted to.

Answer 3

You have got to stop taking National Geogrpahic Channel so seriously!! (What a sad turn for what was once a fine organization...all they care about now is getting ratings through hype and sensationalism.) There was so much downright BAD science in that show it wasn't funny. I think the whole thing was produced just so they could show that snazzy graphic ten thousand times in one hour. My Dad was a geologist and was surely rolling over in his grave because of it.

That said, yeah, Yellowstone is a big volcanic caldera. It could erupt again. It would not do so without a LOT of warning and there is ZERO *scientific* evidence that we are "about due for another explosion." That prediciton was based soley on a guess of time periods and then hyping the odds that it *could* occur. And it sure as heck would not explode in the manner they showed either...that was just plain RIDICULOUS!

Excuse me while I go wretch. That show was just the tip of the iceberg on some of the crap they try to pass off as science on that channel and others.

Answer 4

I wouldn't use the term "If I" If I were you. The way you have phrased your question sounds as if your conspiring to commit a tarriest act. Just the act of conspiring is punishable by jail time in this so called free country.
To answer your question..... a geothermal nuclear detonation placed strategically could very likely cause volcanic activity. The research needed for the exact placement of such a charge would be very extensive. I would estimate the cost in excess of several millions of dollars in just research alone. In short, yes it could.
Check out the link below for some related facts.

Answer 5

About the blowing the chunk into space thing, I haven't heard there was that kind of pressure. Besides, is there a mile of ground between the magma chamber and the surface? I thought it was closer to the surface than that.

Answer 6

it does not have even set off a typical volcano... by capacity of how do you recognize what's a great volcano?? This component is one thousand situations greater than a typical one and can wipe out the full planet... they say that we are as a results of get one quickly...

Answer 7

a mile's not enough to set the supervolcano. it might just ruining the surface.

you have to go deeper. about 20-50 mil underground.

Answer 8

OK, kid. Where did you get this nuke? If you don't stop fooling around with things like nuclear weapons, you could get into real trouble.

Answer 9

if you have a nuke a super volcano maybe the least of our worrys.

Answer 10

It might, if you want to see some cooll pictures, see my yahoo photos at this site:
http://www.geocities.com/shakwa/index.html