do you think Yellowstone National Park will erupt soon?

Answer 1

Yeah, sure. Why not? What's stopping it?

Answer 2

No one knows.

The simple truth is like any volcano predicting an eruption is immensly difficult. It is the goal of all vulcanologists to be able to accurately predict when a volcano will erupt as this would save lives and money.

With Yellowstone being a supervolcano and possibly able to bring an end to life as we know it being able to predict if it is about to erupt would be valuable as it could give humanity time to adjust and prepare for the big changes it would bring.

According to research Yellowstone is due for an eruption, having last erupted about 650,000 years ago. The evidence suggests it should erupt roughly once every 600,000 years. So it is a little overdue.

A BBC Factumentary a little while ago propesed that the effect on the US would be astonishing. Within 20 miles there would be 95% fatality, even as far away as Washington DC there could be a 50% fatality rate. As for the rest of the planet, the eruption would put so much dust and gas into the upper atmosphere the global climate would be dramatically changed, possibly irreversably for humanity, into a prolonged iceage.

It is now thought that while the asteroid was the killer blow it was another igneous event, the Deccan Trap Continental Flood Basalts, that caused the extinction of the dinosaurs and others. So it isn't hard to believe Yellowstone could wipe humanity out. But we are adaptable, which is our biggest survival trait, so we might just make it.

Answer 3

yellowstone is a massive caldera about 70 miles long and 40 miles wide. It last erupted about 70,000 years ago spewing rhyolitic magma which formed the yellowstone plateau that separates the Rockies. Although geologically still active, with hotsprings, geysers and land deformation, it is unknown whether an eruption is imminent. The land has risen and fallen by a metre over the past 60 years or so due to its sitting above a mantle hot spot, and this has given some cause for concern as it could be a sign that magma is forcing its way towards the surface. A hot spot is the term for regions of crust overlying a long lasting plume of ascending magma. Iceland is a famous example of continental crust formed by a rising plume. Other famous hotspots are the Hawaiin archipegalo. As the tectonic plates that form the upper crust move around the globe, a stationary hotspot forms a volcano. This spews out lava sufficient enough to form an island. As the crust continues to move, the volcano is moved forming another island.
Yellowstone lies over a hotspot.

Answer 4

I first heard about Yellowstone being due for an eruption 25 years ago. The warnings should be heeded but the thing is, no one can as yet, predict exactly when it will erupt. 25-50-100 years in the life of a volcano is not very long at all. It probably will erupt one day but no one can say when.

Answer 5

A little searching and I found a few articles about the possibility of a "supervolcano" underneath much of Yellowstone Park. Cobbling a few of the readings together, it seems to me that the BBC's "documentary" on the possibilty of an eruption was, according to experts, overblown (no pun intended). Apparently, the thing hasn't actually had a serious eruption in 640,000 years.

There is a lot of seismic activity around there, and, of course, the vents that cause the hot springs & geysers. Apparently, satellites have detected fluctuations in the level of the crust there, too. So, maybe there's something to this after all.

Not to worry: Yogi & friends live in JELLYSTONE, not Yellowstone. Yogi's 'smarter than the average bear,'
after all.

Answer 6

No. The National Park Service has assigned Rangers there to keep an eye on the tourists, so the park should remain peaceful.

If you're referring to the Old Faithful geyser, Old Faithful erupts more frequently than any of the other big geysers, although it is not the largest or most regular geyser in the park. Its average interval between eruptions is about 91 minutes, varying from 65 - 92 minutes.

Answer 7

All the facts and figures have been quoted endlessly, not always accurately, but there we are.

To those who were not aware (Stuart) that Yellowstone park lies over a super volcano, it's time to do a bit more reading!

To those who think that the dome goes up and down and is currently going down - it's going up!

To those that think that the longer an active volcano stays quiescent, the less likely a future eruption - think again!

Asker - define 'soon'.

I'd say 'eventually' but don't ask me to put a time-frame on it and I hope I'm in Australia when it goes off.

Answer 8

Geologists have discovered that the super-volcano which exists underneath Yellowstone Park erupts approximately every 60,000 years. The last major eruption occrred 60,000 years ago, so yes we are about due for a major eruption. Will it happen? Yes. Will it happen in your life-time no-one could say with any degree of certainty.

Answer 9

Anytime you have a collision such as that which created Yellowstone, there exists the possibility of an eruption. The probability of our lifetime? Very Low, but alas it is there.

Answer 10

If you are referring to the mega-volcano: The answer is "eventually" for sure, but no one can predict the short term. Even with the observatories at the Hawaiian volcanoes and at Mt Saint Helens, there is still a lot of "wiggle room" in their attempts to predict eruptions.

Answer 11

I beleive it will oneday erupt...movies have been made concerning Yellowstone.I also believe that it willl be a KATRINA.... in the concept of lives lost....people just do not think things will happen like this...all the evidence is there for a gigantic explosion.