Yellowstone National Park, largely located in northwest Wyoming, claims the title of the world’s first national park and is famous for its diverse spread of wildlife and geological features.
Beneath the park’s surface hides an even more astounding feature, however: the Yellowstone supervolcano.
For years, theories have spread over the internet that the famous volcano is due to erupt and that its impacts would be devastating for everyone across North America. While it’s true that research has shown past eruptions from the volcano have been catastrophic for the land around it, research also shows that it’s unlikely we’ll be seeing the next major event happen in our lifetimes.
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Although there are no signs currently indicating an eruption is imminent from Yellowstone, researchers have recently discovered where the next eruption will likely take place.
Beehive geyser in Yellowstone National Park erupting – USGS
Tourists from all over the world visit Yellowstone National Park to witness its famous geysers, which are fuelled by the region’s volcanic activity. (Image courtesy of the U.S. Geological Survey)
By measuring the electrical conductivity of the silicate materials present in the magma’s melt (the liquid part of magma) below the Earth’s surface, researchers were able to map the areas throughout Yellowstone National Park with the highest amounts of rhyolitic magma storage.
The study, published in the academic journal Nature, suggests that the next eruption to happen will most likely occur in or around the volcano’s northeastern section.
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Here, they found basaltic melt—which is more fluid and contains less silica than rhyolitic melt—moving towards a rhyolitic magma pocket in the northeast.
The basaltic melt, which sits deeper in the Earth, will serve to heat the rhyolitic melt sitting on top of it. With hundreds of thousands of years of heating, it is possible that the amount of magma and pressure in the pocket could eventually increase enough to cause another eruption.
Other magma pockets found around the volcano site do not reach the basalt melt below, which means they will likely cool and be unable to erupt.
Thumbnail image courtesy of the U.S. Geological Survey