By Jackson Smith Type of Volcano The Yellowstone caldera is a SUPERVOLCANO The Yellowstone Supervolcano is still very active but is not shooting out lava Its considered a Supervolcano because there is a much larger amount of magma in the magma chamber ID: 232834
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Yellowstone SupervolcanoBy: Jackson SmithSlide2
Type of VolcanoThe Yellowstone caldera is a SUPERVOLCANO!The Yellowstone Supervolcano is still very active, but is not shooting out lava. It’s considered a Supervolcano because there is a much larger amount of magma in the magma chamber.
The magma chamber is 40 by 80 kilometers and it sits in the middle of a continental plate.This is called a Hot Spot.Slide3
Instead, Yellowstone’s magma chamber heats the water and rock above it causing pressure to build. This pressure is released in the form of thermal features such as hot springs, mud pots, fumaroles, (steam vents) and geysers!Slide4
Size of the Yellowstone Caldera
The caldera formed when the explosive blast from the magma chamber caused the surface of the earth to collapse in on itself. Magma was blown out and the earth collapsed.
caldera rim
The caldera is about the size of Rhode Island measuring 65 km wide, 80 km long, and hundreds of kilometers deep.Slide5
Geographic LocationYellowstone is located inside Yellowstone National Park. The caldera rimis located in Wyoming
with only a small portion in Idaho and
Montana. Slide6
Nearest Cities to YellowstoneSince the caldera sits inside a national park, permanent homes are not located nearby.West Yellowstone, MT is the nearest city to the rim. It is approximately 18 -20 miles from the caldera’s edge. Other major towns are all outside the park. (Gardiner, MT; Cooke City, WY)Slide7
PopulationWest Yellowstone is a small gateway community with only about 1,271 people living there. (data 2010)Slide8
Most Recent and Most Destructive Eruption InformationYellowstone has been erupting for 2.1 million years.The first eruption was 2,500 times MORE powerful than Mt. St. Helens.
Scientist believe it could possibly be the largest, most violent eruption in history. Debris from the first eruption covered a large portion of the U.S. in 4 feet of ash. (Huckleberry ridge ash bed)
Three cataclysmic eruptions have occurred since.
Yellowstone’s most recent eruption was around 640 thousand years ago.Slide9
Ash Fall Compared with Long Valley and Mt. St. HelensSlide10
The most recent explosive eruption from Yellowstone was 640 thousand years ago.The three major eruptions spewed enough ash and debris to fill the grand canyon!About 80 smaller non-explosive eruptions have taken place since then.Many were small basalt and rhyolite lava flows (see pictures on the next slide)Slide11
Basalt columns were created during the last explosive eruption. Here, you can see evidence from two explosive eruptions.One eruption left columns.
Another eruption left a layer of smaller debris.Slide12
Sheepeater’s Cliff was formed by steady flow of basalt in a non-explosive lava flow.Slide13
Obsidian Cliff This area inside the caldera is a two mile long rocky hillside made almost entirely of obsidian. It was formed when hot lava came in contact with a glacier.Slide14
Events Associated with Past Eruptions
Past eruptions have caused:
A
bout 650 cubic miles of ash and debris was thrown into the air after the first eruption.
Made huge ash clouds that stretched all the way to Oklahoma
Buried the state of Wyoming in 3 feet of ash
One possible cause of the Ice AgeSlide15
Earthquakes of the RegionThe Hebgen Lake Earthquake of 1959
was 7.3 on the Richter scale. It killed 28 people and did $11 million in damage to roads and timber in an area north of West Yellowstone.
An avalanche with a huge amount of rocks, soil, and trees, fell into the Madison River.
After this earthquake, the park service noticed swelling in the ground inside the caldera.
New geysers began to erupt as well.
This was evidence that the volcano is not dormant.Slide16
Facts about the Yellowstone Supervolcano
There are about 10,000 thermal features in Yellowstone and most of them are inside the rim.Magma is usually 40 miles below the surface but the magma under Yellowstone is approximately 2 miles below the surface.
86% of rock in Yellowstone is volcanic and the rest is sedimentarySlide17
Facts about the Yellowstone supervolcanoMagmaChamberCrust aboveMagma
chamberSlide18
Websites and Resources Websites:http://
volcanoes.usgs.gov/volcanoes/yellowstone/yellowstone_sub_page_54.htmlhttp
://
www.city-data.com/city/West-Yellowstone-Montana.html
Other Resources:
Brad Bulin,
Instructor for the Yellowstone
Association Institute
Zack Pennington,
Geologist and Instructor for the Yellowstone
Association Institute
Dr. Charles Amlaner,
Kennesaw State University
Hope Smith,
Kennesaw State University’s Yellowstone Teacher Project