A supervolcano is a volcano that erupts more than 240 cubic miles of lava and has the capability to destroy up to a billion lives. This is not a volcano that will disrupt the lives of people in surrounding cities, but a volcano that will disrupt the lives of people on multiple continents. This is not a volcano that will interrupt travel with a large ash cloud, this is a volcano that will make day-to-day life so difficult a vacation is not even an option. Most importantly, this is not a hypothetical volcano out in the middle of the ocean somewhere; this is a very real volcano underneath Yellowstone National Park.
The Yellowstone supervolcano is the largest known on the planet, and the magma chamber spans underneath the entire 37 by 25 mile park. Pressure from this chamber is released through earthquakes, smaller volcanoes, and geysers to keep the magma levels in check, but if there is not enough ventilation a massive eruption can occur.
First, a series of large earthquakes would break out around the Yellowstone area. One earthquake would finally shift the ground enough to create a vent from the magma chamber to the surface and would unleash all the pressure that had been building for hundreds of thousands of years. Magma would explode into the atmosphere with a force equal to 1000 Hiroshima atomic bombs every second. Within minutes, thousands in the surrounding area would be dead from the falling ash and the lava would destroy everything within miles of the eruption. The ash would coat most of the United States killing crops and livestock, almost instantly obliterating the entire nation’s food source.
After the destruction from the initial explosion, the ash cloud would coat the sky and block out the sun all over the world. Temperatures would drop a drastic 20 degrees or more globally and the earth would be cast in the equivalent of a nuclear winter for decades. Any rain that fell would be black with the poison and acid flung into the atmosphere and man would be pushed to the edge of extinction.
So What Are The Chances of an eruption of this magnitude happening? Could you Survive the Volcano? Stay tuned to find out! Don’t forget to check out the Top 5 Ways Our World Could Actually End.
Sources: Rense.com, Cracked.com, BBC
absolutely awesome
wow, nice page, very informative
oh come on! In the past week there has been 900 earthquakes! Which is alot more than noarml. The ground has started to swell to. It’s gotten to about 3 inches per year..now it could go down..it could burp , or it could explode. And I wouldnt leave the planet even if i could. Thats the way I dream of dieing! In a natural disaster!
awesome post, thanks!
I am currently sdtuent teaching, as well as finishing my Master’s in Education. We have signed up for different blogs for a technology class that we have to take this semester. I never realized there were so many resources for teachers!! Though I am not opposed to technology, my knowledge is not as extensive as it could be. I am glad you posted this because my sdtuents are currently doing a science project, and one of their topics happens to be volcanoes. Thank you for this!!
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While the eruptions have and will connutie to occur. there is nothing to say that a great caldera eruption is going to happen in the near future. The frequency of seismic swarms are no where near what they would be if an eruption were imminent. Watch the USGS website for earthquake frequency. When the quakes reach several thousand per month, you can start to worry. Until then, relax and quit frightening the young people.
My 2012 theory is this. We will be as close to galactic center as we get on 12 21 2012. The extra gravitational pull from the super massive black hole at our center will be enough to pull on the magma chamber and cause disruption and start the chain reaction that culminates with the eruption of not just Yellowstone but possibly many other volcanoes. Will this Happen??? NO but it’s more plausible than some theories I’ve heard.
When are you people going to quit whnniig about 2012 being the end of the world? Dude. Man up and think for yourself. The reason assholes keep saying that crap is because people like you keep believing anything you’re told. Well I’m the tooth fairy and I say I won’t let it happen. End of panic.
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