Yellowstone Volcano

I remember we have previously had a few discussions here on the forums in some other threads regarding the volcanic activity, etc., at Yellowstone National Park in the USA. Always an interesting subject and now there has been a new discovery at Yellowstone of another big magma chamber:

http://www.msn.com/en-us/weather/topsto ... cid=AARDHP

I never thought much about Yellowstone until seeing a program on television one time talking about the volcano there and that if it ever did explode that it would destroy a great part of the United States. Whether that may ever happen or not remains to be seen but ever since seeing that program I pay more attention to any news I hear or see regarding Yellowstone's volcanic activity, etc.

In the end it's really not something to be concerned about, but I will admit that I do find it interesting. Really, if we're talking about dangerous volcanoes in the US Mt. Ranier is probably a bigger concern, but even that is hard to predict.

Years ago I was really into volcanoes, and I still hold a certain interest to this day. Thanks for reawakening a key interest of mine.

It's something that gets a lot of attention and unfortunately, a lot of scare-mongering misinformation about it. It is a truly fascinating thing, it really is. But it is sad that the fascinating aspect gets polluted with bad fear-mongering about how it's overdue, an eruption is imminent, etc. (and both of those things are, going by the current body of evidence, not true) that just serve to frighten people. The media doesn't help, as scare-mongering gets far more views than actual science.

Sharpen up your baloney detection kit, and always have the USGS site handy.

http://volcanoes.usgs.gov/volcanoes/yel ... ge_55.html

What Wolf Bird says can't be emphasized enough; considering how many 'documentaries' and docudramas over-emphasize the worse case scenario it easily turns into a money-making situation for them.

When you listen to experts who are actually given a chance to explain things you'll find out that there is no immediate danger from the caldera. If an eruption is imminent it won't be until quite a long ways from now.