Could Yellowstone Park Volcano Go Sooner Then Anyone Planned?

[eworden78]

I thought the same thing, why not drill some relief holes to vent the pressure but I guess its easier said than done. I've watched some videos and read some articles which apparently makes me an expert, but yea, vulcanologists say its not really a viable option with current knowledge and tech. I guess one of the dangers is that if you poke a hole in the wrong place the entire thing could release.

Yeah they have a USGS page with FAQ and that was one of them. One issue is trying to drill down into superheated rock is problematic(go figure!).

But I wonder if it gets desperate enough where they are pretty confident that it's gonna blow. Maybe a combination drilling and nuke option might be better than total devastation.

 

[Marimbondo]

Glad I live ten thousand miles to the south or north depending on your point of view.

 

[Kevin Rudd]

The other part of the equation is that Yellowstone is not the only super-volcano, the world has about a dozen of them. When one of them pops, and it will, chaos will ensue. I'm not even sure if some people in this thread know the difference between a regular volcano like Mt. Saint Helens and a super-volcano like Yellowstone.

Yellowstone = Mt. St. Helens X1000's. Its a possible extinction event if the entire 34X54 mile caldera unzips.

Mount St Helens was a completely different type of eruption than any other we've seen. Instead of blowing upwards, it blew a hole in the side of the volcano so essentially the eruption was horizontal rather than vertical which is why it caused so much carnage.

If a super volcano were to erupt normal as in vertically, initially it probably wouldn't be that bad. The subsequent nuclear winter would be what fucks us imo.

 

[MusterX]

Mount St Helens was a completely different type of eruption than any other we've seen. Instead of blowing upwards, it blew a hole in the side of the volcano so essentially the eruption was horizontal rather than vertical which is why it caused so much carnage.

If a super volcano were to erupt normal as in vertically, initially it probably wouldn't be that bad. The subsequent nuclear winter would be what fucks us imo.

It would be pretty bad man, the caldera is 34X54 miles or something like that. Let that sink in lol. Most normal caldera's are measured in feet......

I can't remember where, I'll look it up later to get the exact numbers, but I read somewhere that Yellowstone would send ash some ridiculous number of miles into the atmosphere. It would be like something out of a movie.

 

[HIMBOB]

Planned???

Come on now TS.


It blows when it blows, no one knows when it will happen just like most seisemic events, they happen when they happen.

 

[Kevin Rudd]

It would be pretty bad man, the caldera is 34X54 miles or something like that. Let that sink in lol. Most normal caldera's are measured in feet......

I can't remember where, I'll look it up later to get the exact numbers, but I read somewhere that Yellowstone would send ash some ridiculous number of miles into the atmosphere. It would be like something out of a movie.

Your second paragraph would be the one which caused the most damage in terms of human casualties imo, induced climate change etc. The ash would stay in the atmosphere for years.

When Krakatoa erupted in 1883, the following year temperatures dropped by 1.2degrees celcius and there was a shitload of suphuric acid which went into the atmosphere and the subsequent result was acid rain:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1883_eruption_of_Krakatoa#Global_climate

 

[Wolveswithkeys]

If you can't trust a Russian news source reporting a South African study, on an American volcano...who can you trust?!

 

[91 seconds]

It may have happened before but it hasnt happened with tons of nuclear power plants. Its bad enough when it happens but modern man has thrown a lot of dangerous new factors into the storm

 

[eworden78]

It may have happened before but it hasnt happened with tons of nuclear power plants. Its bad enough when it happens but modern man has thrown a lot of dangerous new factors into the storm

Huh? What would nuclear power plants have to do with a volcanic eruption in Wyoming?

 

[91 seconds]

Huh? What would nuclear power plants have to do with a volcanic eruption in Wyoming?

Google it and find out. The tons of ash that will spread wide and far for thousands of miles can clog the cooling systems in the reactors and with all the crazy shit happening at once it would be a tough thing to get under control

 

[RIPWarrior]

Huh? What would nuclear power plants have to do with a volcanic eruption in Wyoming?

All that ash, lava and doom will cause damage to plants in the area and might even prevent people from maintaining others miles away. There

 

[eworden78]

Google it and find out. The tons of ash that will spread wide and far for thousands of miles can clog the cooling systems in the reactors and with all the crazy shit happening at once it would be a tough thing to get under control

Well heh, didn't think of that, derp. cooling water clogged with ash...that doesn't sound good.

 

[RIPWarrior]

 

[91 seconds]

The horsemen are drawing nearer, on leather steeds they ride, they've come to take your life. On through the dead of night, with the 4 horsemen ride, or chose your fate and die!

 

[MusterX]

Your second paragraph would be the one which caused the most damage in terms of human casualties imo, induced climate change etc. The ash would stay in the atmosphere for years.

When Krakatoa erupted in 1883, the following year temperatures dropped by 1.2degrees celcius and there was a shitload of suphuric acid which went into the atmosphere and the subsequent result was acid rain:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1883_eruption_of_Krakatoa#Global_climate

The explosion (Krakatoa) is considered to be the loudest sound ever heard in modern history, with reports of it being heard up to 3,000 miles (4,800 km) from its point of origin.

With an estimated Volcanic Explosivity Index (VEI) of 6,[2] the eruption was equivalent to 200 megatons of TNT (840 PJ)

 

[MusterX]

Huh? What would nuclear power plants have to do with a volcanic eruption in Wyoming?

This just posted about 6 months ago. When it pops it has the possibility of something beyond imagination.

Scientists have revealed the supervolcano lurking beneath Yellowstone National Park is twice as big as previously thought

5 months ago December 12, 2013 1:24PM

IT'S the awe-inspiring pride of the United States - and it harbours a deadly power that could kill us all.

http://www.news.com.au/travel/world...eviously-thought/story-e6frfqc9-1226781381769

 

[2014Classic**]

The explosion (Krakatoa) is considered to be the loudest sound ever heard in modern history, with reports of it being heard up to 3,000 miles (4,800 km) from its point of origin.

With an estimated Volcanic Explosivity Index (VEI) of 6,[2] the eruption was equivalent to 200 megatons of TNT (840 PJ) —about 13,000 times the nuclear yield of the Little Boy bomb (13 to 16 kt) that devastated Hiroshima, Japan, during World War II, and four times the yield of Tsar Bomba (50 Mt), the most powerful nuclear device ever detonated.

Now imagine that Yellowstone could conceivably make Krakatoa look like a black cat firecracker man.

If Yellowstone goes, it's not going to be one big heap though. Their will be multiple eruptions. Cumulatively it will make it look like a black cat.

 

[ralphc1]

I wonder if they eruption became imminent, if they could use nukes or something to drill a small pressure release vent.
I'd imagine a small continuous vent would be much less destructive than one big pop.

The magma is like a huge bubble of molten rock. When you boil water, it bubbles because it is turning to steam at the bottom of the pan and that steam rises to the surface because it is less dense than the water it is in. When it starts to boil, you can see bubbles form and start toward the surface but they disapate before they reach the surface because the water cools the steam. When all the water is near boiling temperature, it can't cool the steam bubbles so they start making it to the surface. If you put something in the water, like a wooden spoon, it will provide a path to the surface that doesn't allow full contact with the water so the bubbles make it to the surface easier around the spoon.

Making any kind of contact with the magma, whether drilling or a bomb, would provide the path to the surface. Once the magma starts to flow, the pressure will force more magma to flow and the weight of the crust on top of the magma will act like fingers popping a pimple sending magma high into the sky. Any hole would be like a hole in a dike that quickly gets larger. About like popping a ballon.

 

[PEB]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencet...plan-case-Yellowstone-megavolcano-erupts.html

More people covering it the government going to have to respond I would imagine if anything to quite fears.

 

[Kevin Rudd]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencet...plan-case-Yellowstone-megavolcano-erupts.html

More people covering it the government going to have to respond I would imagine if anything to quite fears.

Respond how? Yes we know there is a super volcano at Yellowstone but have no way to know when it will erupt and can do fuck all about it anyway?

Unless they are planning on evacuating to the moon I don't see how any evacuation plan would work. The whole planet will be in trouble.