What Happens if the Yellowstone Volcano Erupts?

What Happens if the Yellowstone Volcano Erupts?

Yellowstone National Park, located in the United States, is home to an extraordinary geological feature known as the Yellowstone Caldera. Beneath this picturesque landscape lies a sleeping giant—a supervolcano capable of unleashing an eruption of catastrophic proportions. First, we'll explore the initial stages of an eruption. We'll discuss the signs that would precede the event, including seismic activity, ground deformation, and changes in hydrothermal systems. You'll gain insights into the scientific monitoring techniques that help experts track volcanic activity, providing crucial warning signs. As the eruption unfolds, we'll examine the immediate impact on the surrounding region. We'll delve into the release of vast quantities of volcanic ash, toxic gases, and pyroclastic flows, which can devastate everything in their path. You'll learn about the potential for widespread destruction and the immediate threat to human life.

But the consequences don't end there. We'll also explore the long-term effects of a Yellowstone eruption, such as the alteration of global weather patterns and the injection of enormous amounts of ash into the atmosphere. This could lead to a significant drop in global temperatures, affecting agriculture, and ecosystems, and even triggering a volcanic winter.

[MasteringKnowledge]

Hey guys! Would you like to see more videos like this? What are some similar topics you’d be interested in?

[jamesgjerde]

Anyone here cuz of the geyser explosion?

[nayev]

who's here after the watching the Yellowstone "explosion" just now .

[psychosociety]

In the age of ai generated videos and content, this guy reading his script and having a human cadence is refreshing

[patrickomeagher]

A good friend of mine in college was a grad student in Geology from Switzerland. He chose Oregon State because of it's geology program, location in the Ring of Fire, and it was as close to Yellowstone as he could get. He did his doctoral thesis on the Yellowstone supervolcano and told me things that had me quacking in my boots, like how the ground level keeps rising every year (this was in the 90s). He eventually let me off the hook and said it was very unlikely to happen within our lifetime, but for a whole term I thought the end was near. I grew up in Oregon and saw Mt St Helens erupt in 81. I was pretty young, but I remember being able to see the ash plume from Salem, hundreds of miles away, and how the ash covered everything and turned the sky dark. My cousin lives in a neighborhood built on land that didn't exist before the eruption, made of mountains of ash washed down the river that permanently changed the river's course. St Helesn was a relatively small volcano, so I can't imagine how wild something as big as Yellowstone would be. The park itself is basically sitting in the massive caldera. Ironically enough, I live in southern Washington now and can see Mt St Helens and Mt Rainier from the end of my street, St Helens being the last to erupt and Rainier possibly being the next in the Cascade Range. I'm tempted to move to upstate New York. lol On a side note, one of the reasons NASA astronauts often train on volcanoes is because in many cases the ash is very similar to the reoalith found on the surface of the moon. It's like very fine broken glass.

[arklave]

One thing the video didn't go into detail about is how heavy the ash would be when it accumulates. Apparently only 4 inches of wet ash could cause the average roof to cave in. This means that the ash would poison all the lakes and rivers it touches, We cant use cars or planes in the affected area, and it would also destroy any shelter most people could find. The consequences would truly be dire and on a scale the country has never seen before.

[AJDZK]

I remember when Mt. ST Helen erupted in 1980. I specifically remember a one inch layer of ash all over everything all the way in Central Texas. At noon, it looked like it was midnight. The sky was filled with ash. It was very surreal.

[angrywaffle]

Covid made me a light prepper. It also made me realize prepping for minor disasters is enough. Anything severe will probably kill most of us quick.

[dogsaregreat]

I’ve been to Yellowstone in 1991
I didn’t feel safe, the ground was squirrelly feeling
Some areas I “ imagined” a faint rumbling feeling on my feet. My husband felt “nothing”. I also felt strange and the goosebumps rose on my arms. When we walked around the Old Faithful area. When Old Faithful erupted it was lots worse of course
After walking around the upper areas geysers I thought walking a few other areas would feel less rumbling
To say the least I was on edge the whole time.
What I know today
Yellowstone is only the caldera of a super volcano!
I also found out the Forrest Service decided to try and find an area around Yellowstone to cut another road.
They thought they had found another area they could possibly use.
Once they got into that area.
they found hot spots and trees smoldering.
Hence not suitable for a road.
Everyone must understand before hand.That you are walking on a Super Volcano’s Caldera
Not a strange mountain
No one knows just how large Yellowstone’s volcanic area really is.
Yosemite large?
Grand Canyon large?
No one KNOWS
Period
Not even the Government

[robertmartinjr.]

There are 2 other supervolcanoes in the United States. The Long Valley Caldera in California and the Valles Caldera in New Mexico. They aren't well known but They are monsters in their own right. And they are seismically active as well.

[tkoch]

One thing that I remember my geology professors explaining is that the Yellowstone super volcano is rhyolitic. Rhyolite has a much higher silica content than basalt or andesite. The higher the silica, the more viscous the magma, and the more viscous the magma, the more powerful the eruption. . Super volcano eruptions in Iceland are relatively calm because it is basaltic magma (very low silica). Eruptions in Indonesia are usually more forceful because the magma leans more towards basaltic-andesitic, which has a higher silica content. Also, the bentonite ash deposits throughout the mountain regions (Wyoming, Dakotas, etc) from former eruptions can be many feet thick, but even going east of the Mississippi there are significant ash accumulations from those eruptions. The ash fall would be truly devastating.

[Saganswrld]

The crazy thing is is volcanos are erratic and sometimes unpredictable.

[gabriel]

He didn't mention that the resulting quake would be between 9.0 and 10.4 and felt as far as Ohio or Pennsylvania.

[travist.]

The magma dome under Yellowstone has been moving gradually eastward (or, more to the point, continental drift has been moving the surface). The last eruption, 640k years ago, actually occurred near the present location of Arco, Idaho. The Craters of the Moon National Monument, near Arco, is the lava flow from that ancient eruption.

[subjidealist]

In Colorado, , , , I have my lawn chair and a bottle of bourbon ready to go lol

[PatriciaMadsen-cuwj]

In Eastern WA…when it blew it was a beautiful day.
I put my rabbits and dog inside…filled containers w/water (we had an open water source) and went to visit my mother.
A couple hours later it was pitch black and huge flakes of ash were falling.
My husband and I covered our kids, loaded in the car and drove about a mile home.
The next day it looked like a moonscape. I covered my face and went out and beat bushes and lower tree limbs…set out water for birds, squirrels.
The advice was put it in your garden…
Not only did it kill car engines…it was like a layer of cement in the soil for years. I scraped it off my garden…I think they must have picked up piles of it’s everyone had to get it off the roof. That was in May and it was a cool Summer….

[johnmiranda]

You KNOW BETTER!! Yellowstone has too many relief valves. At least, that’s what the volcano salesman told me.

[just_kos]

Two things: 1. the Yellowstone hotspot has been erupting for 55 million years, much more than just 3 times. 2. The "official" term for this type of volcano is a "resurgent dome caldera." The BBC came up with the word "supervolcano."

[DaLink]

I wonder: Would adding more venting routes for the molten rock placate Yellowstone(and other super volcanos)? People could adapt to the lava flow areas, and it sure would beat a giant eruption.

[diontaedaughtry]

This is the only video I've seen that said "we'll be ready for it". If it does Erupt in our lifetime I sure hope we're ready. Very insightful and informative, Great video 👍👍