Is the Yellowstone "super volcano" going to kill us all?

Hello, hello, hello, and welcome to another episode of Down the Rabbit Hole.

It's the midweek and you've got me, Brandon.

Woohoo.

Yeah.

So, good to be here.

I'm glad that you guys are all coming back still and checking out our episodes.

Yeah.

So, thank you all for listening.

Thank you for Fringe Radio Network for getting us out there to other people that way.

And yeah, it's been a fun ride and I can't wait to keep going with it.

This week I'm going to go a little different.

For people that know me know I love geology and I love stuff like that.

I also love crazy theories and stuff like that.

So this one kind of fit pretty much all my favorites.

So it's the idea of a super volcano underneath Yellowstone and that super volcano is going

to be the death of us all.

So basically I kind of wanted to go down the rabbit hole and figure out what this was

all about.

So first off, I want to kind of define what a super volcano is and all that and define

what it is.

And then talk about the fact that really everyone always talks about Yellowstone, but Yellowstone

is only one of the super volcanoes that exists.

And I would mention a few of the others and then we'll basically close it out with talking

about what would happen if one of these went off.

Specifically, we're going to focus on Yellowstone because that's the one that everyone thinks

of.

That's the one that most people know of is the Yellowstone called there are the Yellowstone

and you know, super volcano because that's the one that we always hear the fun theories

that Yellowstone is going to blow its top and take us all out.

So we're going to go through in this.

A lot of this information I'm getting is straight up the USGS.gov website.

So we're going to talk, you know, basically what they are.

And then like I said, we'll go through and talk about some of the major ones that exist.

Like I said, Yellowstone isn't the only one.

And actually it's not even the most recent wonder of a blown its top.

So the term super volcano implies a volcanic center that has an eruption of magnitude eight

on the volcano, explosivity index, meaning that at one point in time it erupted more than

1,000 cubic kilometers or 240 cubic miles of material.

In the early 2000s, 2000s, the term super eruption began being used as a catchy way to describe

volcano, explosive the index eight eruptions or BEIs is what we're going to go with.

Explosive events of this size erupt so much magna that a circular shape collapse feature

called a cauldera, which you'll hear.

Cauldera is something that I've heard in the past and I kind of know what it is just

from, you know, like I said, I love geology.

At one point in my career in my life, I actually started going to school for geology and then

switched it to a different major eventually going into safety.

But geology was something that has fascinated me for years.

So I've heard of a cauldera that's basically what you would call the, you know, multiple

different things, you know, basically a, yeah, an indent or, you know, collapse, as they

said, or, you know, a crater, something like that.

So that's kind of what a cauldera is.

So forms above the evacuated magma storage region.

So based on the magna explodes out, the, you know, all that area, you know, and the magna

had is gone and it caves in the earth above it.

So it's kind of like, you know, to put it in words for a fat person, think of a jelly-filled

donut.

You take all the jelly out of the donut, it's going to collapse in.

So same kind of idea.

So except it's earth and magma and lots of devastation.

So yeah, the largest eruption at Yellowstone was 2.1 million years ago and had a volume

of 2,450 cubic kilometers.

So yeah.

So that's over double what they consider a VEI-8.

So like many other cauldera forming volcanoes, most of Yellowstone's many eruptions have

been smaller than VEI-8 super eruptions.

So just confusing the categories, categorize Yellowstone as a super volcano.

So that's the big key here.

A lot of people automatically assume that because it is considered a super volcano, as they

call it, that it only produces super eruptions.

Yes, Yellowstone has had a major huge eruption 2.1 million years ago that, you know, created

pretty much that they consider a creative cauldera that now exists there.

But it's also had many smaller ones.

So that's the thing.

Just because it's super volcano, it means it's going to automatically have a super eruption.

It has the potential to have a super eruption, not that it will, if that makes sense.

Yeah.

Other cauldera forming volcanoes that have produced exceedingly large pyro-classic eruptions

in the past 2 million years include Long Valley in Eastern California, Valesco, Caldera

in New Mexico, Toba in Indonesia, and Tawapo in New Zealand.

Tawapo erupted 22,600 years ago, and is the most recent super eruption on Earth with

a volume of about 1,130 cubic kilometers.

Additional volcano canos, capable producing super eruptions include the large cauldera

volcanoes of Japan, Indonesia, and South America.

So cauldera systems is a worldwide family that is more than just Yellowstone.

So now cauldera systems, I think one thing that we think about too, and we think about

super volcanoes and everything else is we immediately go to Yellowstone partly because we are

living in the United States.

For me, anyway, that's me talking, that's why I immediately go to Yellowstone and think

of that.

It's also, you know, like when I think of volcanoes, I immediately think of like Mount

Rainier or Mount St. Helens because I'm originally from Washington State, and I grew up looking

at Mount Rainier, it was right out my back door.

I looked almost daily when there wasn't clouds.

You could see Mount Rainier, it was right there in the background.

Mount St. Helens, I've driven pilot, I've seen it, I've been up to it.

So those are ones that I think about because they're close, and I think that's the same

thing with like the Yellowstone Supervolcano idea, is most well think of Yellowstone because

it's so close to us, at least in my experience, I think of it in most everything else because

the one that people talk about, it's close to us, and it's the biggest ones close to

us.

But Yellowstone is a volcanic system, may seem unique with its history of huge explosive

eruptions and lava flows, but there are similar cold air systems spread all over the world,

and many of those that have far more volcanic activity than Yellowstone does.

The United States is home to three, large cold air systems that erupted in the last two

million years.

Yellowstone is one.

Longvalued cold air is in eastern California, near the town of Mammoth Lakes, is also well-known.

That cold air formed with a massive eruption, 760,000 years ago, and numerous high silica

lava flows have subsequently erupted within and near the cold air.

There's also a chain of silicate lava flows and domes that extends north from Longvalued

towards Mono Lake.

The most recent eruption along this Mono Inyo chain occurred about 250 years ago.

Longvalued is a very active seismically in large part because the caldera sits atop

the faults that have caused uplift to Sierra Nevada mountain range.

They're called there also deforms with more than 80 kilometers of uplift measured since

1980.

Some hot springs occur in the caldera, although not clearly at the same scale as at Yellowstone.

So that's another thing you see.

A lot of times when you see hot springs and stuff like that, it's because of seismic activity,

because of volcanic activity, because of something like this.

They're called there as and stuff like that.

California, that area also has other significance if you look into conspiracy theories and religions

and all that stuff if you know what I'm talking about.

If not, look it up.

So the third system is Valais Caldera located north of New Mexico near Los Alamos.

That caldera formed due to large explosions 1.61 and 1.25 million years ago, although

Valais also experienced numerous lava flow eruptions after caldera formation.

It's like Yellowstone and Long Valley.

It's not particularly active now, there's no significant seismic and no ground deformation

in only one small hot spring.

The most recent eruption occurred about 60,000 years ago.

There are many other caldera systems in the United States, although these are all much

older and long extinct.

The San Juan Mountains of southern Colorado host numerous calderas that were active about

30 million years ago.

And of course, there's a trail of calderas called thereas caused by a motion of the North

American plate over the Yellowstone hot spot and since buried by younger lava flows.

Forming the eastern snake river plain over the past 17 million years.

USA is hardly alone in playing posts to caldera systems though calderas can be found in volcanic

areas all around the world.

Nearly as famous as Yellowstone at Cappy, Flegri, Caldera near Naples, Italy experienced

violent explosive eruptions 39,000 years ago and almost 15,000 years ago, although neither

was anywhere near the size of the large explosion eruption from the Yellowstone system.

On the other hand, Cappy, Flegri, like Yellowstone experienced frequent earthquake swarms and even

outdoze Yellowstone when it comes to ground deformation, with several meters of uplift occurring

over the last century.

Cappy, Flegri, is most recent eruption formed the Montennovoi Cindercone in 1538.

And that's one thing a lot of people then, they talk about the ground deformation a lot

of that times is because of build up of magma, magma or lava under the ground that build

up actually pushes up.

It's like when Mount St. Helens blew, if you watch videos and watch stuff about Mount

St. Helens, the mountain actually got bigger and was expanding right before it blew.

It's really cool if you watch the time lapse.

You see that also with these calderas and stuff, they will start to rise.

Yeah, so it's kind of a neat thing to think about that the Earth will, and that's also something

we'll talk about later when we talk about whether or not it's what we do for another one.

So the Greek island of Santorini is also part of a caldera, having experienced a large

explosion about 3700 years ago and eruption that might, might be the source of the myth

of Atlantis.

There are many subsequent lava flow eruptions, the most recent 1950 during 2011 to 2012,

uplift and seismicity at Santorini demonstrated that the caldera is far from extinct.

Another restless caldera can be found in Chile, the Laguna del Mauele system.

There have been at least three caldera forming eruptions that are in the past 1.5 million

years and numerous lava flows have occurred in the last 25,000 years.

It started at Laguna del Mauele in the mid-2000s, reaching rates of up to 25 centimeters

per year.

That's 10 inches per year.

So in Japan, the era caldera in southern Caesu, Caesu, formed about 30,000 years ago and

is home to Sakarejima, which is one of Japan's most active volcanoes.

Towel in the Philippines is a caldera system that erupted earlier this year.

The caldera system in Papua New Guinea has been persistently active since the 90s.

Indonesia hosts many caldera systems, the most famous, which is probably Toba, which

experienced an epic eruption 76,000 years ago.

The Tawapa caldera system on the northern island of New Zealand might be the most similar

to Yellowstone, given the concentration of hot springs and geysers, as well as frequent

seismic activity and deformation.

The Tawapo's explosion, eruption explosive eruption 26,500 years ago, was larger than

Yellowstone's big eruption 631,000 years ago.

And Tawapo's last significant eruption occurred about 1800 years ago.

We tend to think of Yellowstone as unique and certainly it is with respect to the dense

concentration of hot springs, geysers, and mud pots found there in terms of volcanic

style.

However, there are many similar caldera systems around the world, some of which have

had larger eruptions and some smaller, some which are resistant, some dormant, all have

lessons to teach and to focus on volcanologists around the world.

So, I'm going to get a lot of this from USGS, that's where I got a lot of information

about what these are and the different caldera systems.

So, it's kind of one of those things, like I said, I feel that we, you know, me and other

people here see Yellowstone because that's the one that we've always been told, that's

one we've always talked about, that's the one as Americans, we know about, like it

points out though, New Zealand has one that's almost as, you know, the closest one to Yellowstone.

Yellowstone is special in the fact that one, it's, you know, there is densely packed

in hot springs and stuff like that, but they all come from because of the magma and the

lava and everything else is under the ground that's heating it up and the activity of the

caldera.

So, yeah, so that's a quick idea of what a super volcano is, a super eruption and, you know,

a caldera.

So, yeah, now I do want to point out on the USGS site, they do have an interesting article

that I want to read, and I'm going to read it pretty much word for word so as I'm reading

this, it's going to say, I and blah, blah, blah, this is actually from, from Mike Poland,

who is a geophysicist with the US Geological Survey and scientists in charge of the Yellowstone

volcano observatory.

So, and this is what he has to say, it's kind of long, but it's, it's quite interesting,

I think, on the idea of why we should not call them super volcanoes.

So, this is what Mike Poland has to say, I have a confession to make, I really don't like

the term super volcano, and I like to use this week's edition of Yellowstone called aerocronicles

to rant, rant about the topic, I'd also like to propose that we use a different term.

The first known use of super volcanoes actually from the mid 1900s, in 1925 Geologist Edwin

Hodge proposed that the three sisters volcanic region of central organ was actually the site

of one very large volcano, which is called Mount Multnomah.

This idea was later disproven by Geologist Howell Williams, the same scientist, his

scientist who deciphered geological history of crater lake in organ.

In a review of Williams 1948 book on organ volcanoes referred to Hodges Three Sisters

Hypothesis as a super volcano.

The term laid dormant, pun intended for decades, and was mostly absent from scientific literature

until the 2000s.

The term super eruption had been used, however, to describe some of the largest known eruptions

on earth, like that of Toba, Indonesia, 74,000 years ago.

By the early 2000s, super volcano started creeping into scientific articles.

More general and widespread use of the term exploded, so to speak, following the 2005 release

of the British Canadian Doc Udrama, super volcano, a disaster television film that centered

around a hypothetical large eruption of Yellowstone.

Ever since use of super volcano has blew up, okay, okay, I'll stop with the volcano

puns now.

Again, like I said, I'm reading this word for what he says, so don't get mad at me for

the volcano puns.

This is all on Mr. Poland here.

It seems innocent is a really downside to the term, after all it does conjure an eruption

of incredible size, which is something that modern humans have fortunately never witnessed.

But it also oversimplifies the process and causes misunderstanding.

I have three main reasons for disliking the term, first, it's right.

Remember back in the 2000s, when people used uber in front of a herb word to mean very,

the pizza wasn't just delicious, it was uber delicious.

The summer wasn't hot, it was uber hot, it was so uber annoying.

Fortunately, the fan fadfated, the same can be said, for super volcano, adding super

boi is a complex and important aspect of volcanology, down into something that sounds like a catchy

phrase.

Icaramba.

Again, these are his words, not mine, so back to what he said, second, it's misleading.

Calling something a super volcano makes it sound like a volcano that only has massive

eruptions.

Of course, this is not true.

Most Yellowstone eruptions that involve magma reaching the surface are lava flows.

In fact, there have been about 80 lava flows of varying compositions in and around Yellowstone

since the last time the system experienced a catastrophic explosion.

Yellowstone is a lot more than just explosions and calling it a super volcano is a gross

oversimplification.

And see, that is something that I had mentioned earlier, if you remember, I had said that

it's not just super explosions.

There are other smaller ones along the way.

So that's kind of the thing here that he's saying, super volcano makes you assume that

it's only super explosions and super eruptions, which is not the case.

So back to what he said, third, it's misapplied.

Volcanologists have come to refer to super eruptions as those that have generated 1,000 km cube

of ash and other volcanic products.

This is equivalent to an eight on the volcanic explosivity index scale, which sort of like

a vector scale for volcanic eruptions.

That means a BEI equals eight eruption generated 10 times more material than a BEI equals seven

eruption.

And 100 more times than a BEI-6 eruption.

For reference, the 1980 Mount St. Helens eruption was BEI-5.

The 1991 eruption of Pentatubu Philippines was BEI-6, so a BEI-8 is truly epic.

Why is it then that volcanoes that have never had BEI-8 eruptions are called super volcanoes?

For example, the largest eruption of Campi Flegri, Italy, occurred about 39,000 years

ago, and was BEI-7.

Yet Campi Flegri is often called a super volcano.

Is it a super volcano if it has never had a super eruption?

My wise colleague Dr. Jamie Ferrell, assistant research professor at the University of Utah,

and chief seismologist of the Yellowstone volcano, volcano observatory likes to say that

there are no super volcanoes, only volcanoes that have super eruptions.

And I couldn't agree more.

So I have a suggestion.

Let's ditch the overused misrepresentation and misapplied super volcano term, and

said, let's call them called Dera Systems.

This would refer to any volcano that is experienced in explosion, massive enough that the surface

has collapsed into partially emptied magma chamber.

Campi Flegri, crater lake, and Yellowstone would all qualify.

And if you must use super, use it when referencing specific eruptions, like the massive explosions

from Yellowstone 631,000 years ago.

That was a BEI-8 super eruption that occurred from a called Dera System.

See, doesn't that sound better?

Okay, rant over, have a super day.

So that's kind of what he's saying there, and I couldn't agree more.

Is that's the big thing that I even had misrepresentation or misunderstanding about this when I first

looked into it, that a super volcano only produced super eruptions, and that's not true.

They do produce other smaller eruptions, lava flows, stuff like that.

So I do like the idea of a called Dera System, and that is one thing, crater lake is actually

a called Dera.

It's from a massive eruption.

So a lot of people don't realize that a lot of people in crater lake is actually from

an impact, and it's not, it's a called Dera.

So, which I've always wanted to go there, I've heard it's gorgeous.

Growing up in the Northwest, I always talked about crater lake, and I never got a chance

to go down there.

Okay, let's mention some of the, the Edder quote unquote, super volcanoes are called Dera

Systems, which I do actually like that saying, but it's just, it's not as, as he said,

it's not as Uber, as he mentioned it, so the called Dera Systems.

Some of these we mentioned already, as we were talking about different things, but we'll

kind of go through, and this is a list, basically on a geology science site, it talks about

the top 10 quote unquote, most powerful super volcanoes.

So we've got Tobacol Dera in Indonesia.

The Tobacol Dera, situated in Indonesia on the island of Samatra, is renowned for hosting

one of the most colossal volcanic eruptions in Earth's history, approximately 74,000

years ago, this super volcano unleashed an apocalyptic explosion rushing at a magnitude

of eight on the VEI.

The eruption produced an immense volume of volcanic material, including ash and gases,

which blanked into the skies and plunged into a volcanic winter.

The aftermath of the Tobacol eruption significantly impacted global climate, potentially leading

to dramatic cooling period and playing a pivotal role in shaping human evolution and migration

pattern during a time of profound environmental change.

The catastrophic event, etched in geological records, continues to captivate scientists

and researchers, as they strive to comprehend its far reaching consequences on our world.

And that's the big thing that we'll talk about here in a bit if we're going to talk

about what would happen if one of these blew now.

And what it would mean for us as a people and the Earth as a planet.

So unlike it mentioned there, it caused a volcanic winter and caused major climate changes

and stuff like that.

The other one, which we've mentioned quite a bit, is the Yellowstone Caldera, nestled

within Yellowstone National Park in the United States, among the most iconic super volcanoes

on Earth.

Though its last massive eruption occurred approximately 631,000 years ago, it remains

an active geological hotspot, this super volcano is characterized by its immense magma

chamber, which fuels the park's geothermal wonders.

While the likelihood of another VEI-8 eruption occurring in the near future is low.

The prospect of its immense power has led scientists to closely monitor this geological

marble, recognizing its potential to significantly impact not only North America, but the global

climate as well.

Lake Tuapo, New Zealand.

Lake Tuapo, located in New Zealand's North Island, is home to one of the world's most

powerful super volcanoes, with a history of colossal eruptions, the most recent of which

occurred around 26,500 years ago.

It ranks as a major geological force.

This VEI-8 eruption formed the Irani Caldera and released an immense volume of volcanic

material.

Re-shaping the landscape and leaving an indelible mark on the region, while Lake Tuapo

may appear serene to date, smote to this past reminds us of Earth's volatile nature, prompting

ongoing scientific scrutiny and monitoring to better understand and prepare for potential

future eruptions.

The Vales Caldera, nestled in New Mexico, is a testament to the Earth's dramatic geological

history, formed about 1.25 million years ago during a colossal VEI-8 eruption, it

stands as one of North America's most significant super volcanoes.

The Vales Caldera's eruption left behind the expense of Valley Grande Caldera, a striking

testament to the immense power of volcanic forces.

Although it has not experienced eruptions of such magnitude in recent history, its active

volcanic system demands ongoing scientific investigation and monitoring to understand

its potential for future eruptions and the impact it might have on the surrounding region

and beyond.

The Long Valley Caldera, nestled in Eastern California, is a prominent super volcano

marked by its tumultuous geological history.

Roughly 760,000 years ago, it experienced a major VEI-8 eruption that resulted in the

formation of its expansive Caldera.

This colossal event unleashed a torrent of volcanic material on pyroclastic flows, leaving

behind a landscape of striking natural beauty.

While it has been relatively dormant in recent history, the Long Valley Caldera remains

an active volcanic system, prompting ongoing scientific vigilance and research to

value its behavior and the potential impact of future eruptions on the surrounding region

and global climate.

Campi Vleguigi, Italy, situated in Naples, Italy, is a super volcanic system with a

tumultuous history of eruptions and volcanic activity.

It's known for its remarkable Caldera, which spans over 13 kilometers in diameter.

Over the centuries, Campi Vlegui has experienced numerous eruptions, with the most recent major

event occurring in 1538.

The Caldera has been the site of both explosions, explosive and non-exposive eruptions, making

a subject of great interest for volcanologists and geologists.

Its proximity to densely populated areas adds an element of urgency to ongoing monitoring

research to better understand its behavior and potential risks to the region.

Aira Caldera, Japan, AIRA.

Locating Japan is a volcanic caldera known for its historical and geological significance.

It encompasses the picturesque Kogoshima Bay and its home to several volcanic peaks, including

the iconic Sakurajima Sakurajima volcano.

Throughout history, Aira Caldera has experienced powerful eruptions, with the most notable

occurring in 1914, when Sakurajima Sakurajima had one of its largest eruptions in the

20th century.

The reasons volcanism has played a substantial role in shaping the landscape and influencing

local culture.

Continuous monitoring of the Caldera's activities essential due to its proximity to

populated areas, emphasizing the importance of understanding its behavior and mitigating

potential volcanic hazards for the surrounding communities.

Lagerita, located in southern Colorado, is an ancient super volcano that witnessed one

of the most colossal eruptions on Earth.

Approximately 27 million years ago, it experienced a staggering BEI-8 eruption that spewed out

the fish canyon.

One of the largest volcanic eruptions in the last several hundred million years.

This cataclysmic event occurred, covered vast areas with volcanic ash and left behind

a breathtaking landscape marked by dramatic geological features.

While Lagerita Caldera has long since ceased active eruptions, it serves as a reminder

of the immense forces that have shaped our planet's geological history and continues to captivate

scientists and geologists studying its past and its role in shaping the Colorado Plateau

region.

Isshia Italy.

Isshia, an island located in the Therianian Sea of the coast of Italy, is a lesser known

but significant volcanic hot spot in the Mediterranean.

It forms part of the flagrian islands and, like its neighbors, is characterized by its volcanic

activity.

Isshia has a history of eruptions, the most recent of which occurred in 1302.

While these eruptions have generally been relatively small and scale, it serves as a reminder

of the island's geological dynamism.

The thermal features and volcanic landscapes of Isshia have made it a popular tourist destination.

Tracting visitors with its hot springs, beautiful scenery and glimpse into the island's

volcanic past.

Continuous monitoring research are vital to understand the island's geological process

and mitigate potential risks to the local population and tourists.

So those are just kind of a quick rundown of some of the most well-known and, you know,

the biggest caldera systems in the world.

The biggest thing to note there is most of them, like they talk about the massive, massive

eruptions that they've had, but that isn't all that they do.

There has been smaller ones.

But the massive ones of what that damage they can do.

There's been other episodes where I've talked about how, you know, changes in the earth

and geology and stuff like that can have major impacts on us as humans and stuff like

that.

And these eruptions, especially one of that magnitude of a VEI-8 magnitude, can change

not only, you know, the people that are local and close to the eruption, but the world.

Remember, you know, in years back, Reykjavik, in Iceland, when that volcano was going,

they had to change air travel.

They had to change things.

There was people on the other sides of the planet that were getting ash from that.

Because once it gets up into the air and the stratosphere, it can travel quite a bit.

So it can affect more than just the local area.

And that's what a lot of people forget.

All right.

Now, let's talk a little bit about what would it look like if one of these went off.

What would it mean for us?

What would it mean for, you know, the world at large?

So, volcanoes are an ancient and amazing natural phenomenon that can cause chaos in the

destruction when they're blue.

So what about a super volcano?

What's going to happen if, for example, Yellowstone blutes top?

Yellowstone is one of the most famous and closely studied volcanic regions on Earth.

And that is the one thing to remember, too.

Most of these that we're talking about, and we mentioned it in most of the articles, these

are studied at length.

There's major like, you know, people on site studying these at pretty much all times

because of the history and what it could mean if they went.

So, Yellowstone's located primarily in northwestern Europe, Wyoming, in the USA, and covering

around 3,500 square miles.

The super volcano sits in a national park and attracts nearly 3 million visitors each

year.

Tourists come to see iconic features as the old faithful guys, the colorful hot springs

and dramatic landscapes, which most of those landscapes are because of the caldera and

because of the history of the region.

Beneath this scenic landscape, however, lies a massive geological system, a hidden sleeping

giant inside Yellowstone National Park.

While earner volcanoes can kill thousands of people and destroy entire cities, it's

thought a super volcano could devastate continents and claim up to a billion lives around the

globe, with a super eruption being equal to the force of 1,000 Hiroshima atomic bombs exploding

every second.

Don't worry though, the chances aren't very likely, but it could happen.

And that's one thing too.

Like for me, you know, I mentioned earlier that I grew up pretty much in the backyard

of Mount Rainier.

Mount Rainier was right behind us.

One of my sons for years called Mount Rainier Murder Mountain because pretty much, you

know, he'd heard from me for years that if it ever popped, we were in trouble.

But you could study the lahar flows, and I made sure that pretty much wherever we lived,

we were on top of a hill and with the lahar flow flows, which those that don't know lahar

flows is pretty much the debris that comes off of a volcano when it explodes, whether

it be mud.

It's not always just, you know, most people worry about the lava.

Lahar flow is going to be, you know, the water that's melted from the ice caps and everything

else coming down through, you know, valleys and stuff like that, usually falling rivers.

And the lahar flows from Mount Rainier are very obvious if you look them up.

And I made sure that we were not in living on one of those lahar flows.

But one of the cities that, you know, was right by us, I could hear every, the first

Monday of every month at noon, they did a lahar siren.

And the kids were taught what to do if there was a lahar siren actually went off.

They pretty much met the mountain and blown its top and get to high ground.

Because the city was built, you know, in a river basin and lahar flow would go right

through it.

So, so yeah.

So we mentioned this earlier, but the term Supervolcano is first used in the 40s, and

it's now widely accepted by a scientific community.

It's categorized by the volcanic explosive index in a volcano qualifies if it can, can produce

a magnitude eight eruption, discharging more than 1,000 cubic kilometers of material.

These eruptions are the biggest and most explosive of all.

So that's one thing to remember too.

Like I've mentioned before, it's not that it will or that it's going to, but it has the

potential to be, you know, vi8, vi8 eruption.

So it has that potential.

So unlike traditional cone-shaped volcanoes with steep sides, Supervolcanoes are difficult

to identify.

They usually appear as broad depressions in the ground rather than towering mountains.

So that's one thing a lot of people think about.

Like Mount Rainier is a volcano, but it's a huge mountain that you can see where pretty

much like Yellowstone, it's just a depression in the ground.

It's the caldera.

In Yellowstone's case, an eruption 640,000 years ago caused magma stored miles beneath

the surface to be expelled so forcefully that the ground above collapsed forming the

massive caldera that we see today.

A Yellowstone Superruption would be far more explosive than anything in recorded human

history.

Past volcanic events offer unsettling clues as to what a superruption could be like.

In 2010, the bite not being a Supervolcano, the eruptions of Iceland, which I'm not even

going to try and pronounce that, OK, lucky I could pronounce Reykjavik.

So there's way too many vowels, and yeah, I asked for La La Colola, I don't know, E-Y-J-A-F-J-A-L-L-A-J-O-K-U-L-L.

That's how you spell it.

So if you can ever pronounce that, awesome, because I can't.

Had far-reaching consequences.

These huge plumes of ash grounded European air travel for weeks.

The eruptions spewed ash high into the atmosphere between 20,000 and 50,000 feet, a space where

commercial airplanes operate.

So that's the big thing to remember.

Again, it's going to shoot up into the air and it's going to affect everybody.

And that wasn't even a BEI-8.

That was a smaller eruption.

So volcanic ash moves around the globe primarily via high altitude wind currents, particularly

at the eruption plume reaches the stratosphere.

As a result, these vents can be far-reaching and more destructive than the initial blast.

If you also had a super eruption, global effects would be a cataclysmic.

Computing models predict that there could be as much as around 1,000 cubic kilometers

of ash and gas from the eruption.

There's many thousand times larger in volume than the ash and gas plumes which erupted

from Iceland in 2010.

According to UK Met Office Computer for Gas Commission by the BBC, a fine dusting of ash could

reach as far as Europe around three to four days after the event.

And that's one thing to think about, too.

And the ash that we're talking about, and that's what a lot of people don't really realize

as well.

It's toxic in itself.

And a lot of times, it's silica-based and a lot of things and very damaging to the lungs

and throat and the nasal passage, if it's breathed then.

Because the silica quartz, you know, crystalline silica, which is basically quartz, but very

small and finite and airborne, when you breathe that in, it cuts the throat, it cuts the lungs,

it does major damage.

So things that you don't think about, it's basically an essence for lack of a better

way of explaining it.

It's basically your breathing in small shards of glass.

So a lot of times when you're breathing in that ash and everything from a volcanic event.

So if there's a volcanic event, you know, that's the time to wear a mask and make sure

it's a good one.

You need an N95 mask, it's been bit desicc, correctly, if there's a volcanic event, or

a half-faced rash parade or something, because that's going to be, it's going to be harsh

on the lungs.

But the problem we're going to run into, there's going to be so many particles in the

area and everything else, so that mask is going to jam up and plug up very quickly.

And isn't going to last very long before it's unbreedable to breathe through it.

So yeah.

So the 1815 eruption amount, Tim Bora in Indonesia, which injected sulfur into the atmosphere

and caused what is known as the year without a summer.

Global temperatures dropped, harvest failed and famine spread across Europe and North America.

And that's the other thing that you don't think about it.

That ash gets up in the air, it blocks out the sun.

It causes cooling that we weren't expecting, that is colder than normal.

It causes, you know, gets into the water, gets into the ground, gets into everything.

And you also have, you know, like it said, year without summer where harvest has failed,

you have famine, now we have food problems, the stuff getting into the water is killing

the fish, all sorts of things that people don't think about.

People think about the initial explosion and everything else.

But then what do you do after, you know, in one of the episodes that I did a while back,

I talked about, you know, a comet hit and what it would do, or if the earth suddenly

changed direction, what would happen, and then the massive event at first would be horrible.

But then also, what about those that survive?

So, and this one that I talked about, 1815, Mount Tim Bora in Indonesia, it's not even

a super event.

It was a large, large one, but I mean, it was, wasn't even a V, V, I ate.

So super volcano eruptions blast magma into millions of scorching hot particles, including

ash that can travel thousands of kilometers away, permanently changing the region's

landscape, swallowing forest rivers and mountains.

So you got to figure that magma that's flying through the air is also super hot, so it's

going to burn people, it's going to burn your throat if you breathe it in, it's also going

to be starting fires.

So now not only do you have magma, but now you have forest

fires, you have other things going on as well.

So now we're getting even more issues.

So ash is the biggest killer in sciences that's made that yellowstone could really

surround 2000 million tons of sulfur high into the stratosphere.

The ash then forms sulfuric acid aerosols that reflect sunlight back into space.

Climate models suggest that as a result of this global temperatures could fall by as much

as 10 degrees Celsius.

The northern hemisphere cooling by up to 12 degrees Celsius for 6 to 10 years.

For those Americans, that's a change of 18 to 22 ish degrees.

So 20 degrees, so about a 20 degree drop in temperature for 6 to 10 years.

And it's going to drop 20 degrees.

So think about that.

For me here in Texas, I mean, it's going to suck, we'll get down in the freezing a little

bit more in the winter, but it's not going to be, it's going to be horrible, but for others,

it would be a lot worse.

So that's a lot.

That's a big change in temperature.

So much of the globe was plunged into volcanic winter.

The effects would extend far beyond the claps to roofs and destruction seen in Pompeii

from 79 AD after the eruption of Mount Vizuvius.

Along with this, there could be widespread crop failures, famine, contaminated water

supplies, darker skies, potential ecosystem collapses, and altered weather patterns to

name a few.

Then we're not even done.

It continues.

Then there's a likelihood of fast moving pyroclastic flows, which could reach up to 100 kilometers

in the surrounding area of our Yellowstone.

There's a dense searing cloud of ash, gas, and rock traveling it over 300 kilometers per

hour.

It would obliterate almost everything in its path.

That is insane.

And that's just like the beginning, like I said, 10 years or so of 20 degree less weather.

Think about how many things, like there's certain crops and stuff that can grow here,

but not in, say, Washington, because of the temperature differences.

Now all of a sudden, those aren't going to grow here because the temperatures dropped

20 degrees.

Suddenly crops that are grown constantly aren't going to grow because of the drop in temperature.

And then the contamination of the soil, the contamination of the water.

I mean, this is all stuff.

And we're not talking just in Wyoming or Montana or just in the U.S.

This could cover the entire planet and change everything if there's a massive event like

they're talking about.

That is what I think a lot of people forget is that a massive event like this would affect

everybody.

I mean, the ash in the air, I think about a super event like this.

Like a super eruption, you know, over Iceland in 2010, it stopped air travel out of the

Europe for a couple of days, a week, a couple of weeks, whatever.

Now imagine this is worldwide.

Yellowstone goes off.

You can pretty much guess that air travel is going to be down for a while for a long

while because that dust and everything else gets into the engine to get into everything

else you're going to have plans going down.

You know, there's a lot like travel is going to be down there.

There's going to be all sorts of issues.

So scary, right?

But despite all these dramatic possibilities, scientists do emphasize that Yellowstone is

not.

No matter how much they keep telling you and you hear this from so many people, Yellowstone

is not.

I repeat, not, not, overdue for a super eruption.

Yellowstone's magma changer is mostly solid.

If it erupts again, it will most likely be a small event.

A super eruption remains possible someday.

However, but the chance of it happening anytime soon is extremely low.

With the USGS estimated annual probability at about 730,000 to 1, so about 0.0014% chance.

Not very much.

So in part of the thing too is because these things are so massive, there would have to

be plenty of build up to this, to build up the pressure, to build up the magma, everything

else.

And since we're not seeing that, we're not seeing the caldera bulge.

We're not seeing anything like that that would show that there's massive volcanic activity

besides the smaller volcanic activity that we see all the time that gives us, you know,

old faithful, the geyser, and all the hot, the spas, and all that stuff, the hot springs.

All of that are because of the volcanic activity, but not.

It's not a lot of volcanic activity.

So scientists are working hard to monitor the super volcano.

In fact, the clearest picture yet of Yellowstone's underground magma system has been mapped

by scientists at USGS.

Understanding where magma is located is essential for predicting volcanic activity and keeping

the public informed about potential risks.

Research suggests that Yellowstone is only 5-15% molten, so it is unclear if there's

even enough magma beneath the caldera to feed an eruption.

Yellowstone is active, however, in experiences between 1-3,000 small earthquakes each year,

most two weeks to be felt.

These quakes help scientists track the movement of magma and fluids on the ground, offering

vital clues about what is happening beneath the surface.

Even with the uncertainty, missions are taking place to prevent such an eruption.

If there are signs that Yellowstone will erupt, NASA plans to drill in to the caldera and

fill it with cold water to cool it down, preventing the heat from the magma below from ever

reaching the top of the chamber, much like how our radiator works in a car.

So Yellowstone's super eruption would be one of the most consequential natural disasters

in Earth's history, capable of reshaping the climate, crippling global agriculture

and testing the resilience of human civilization itself.

Yet it remains a remote possibility on any human timescale.

Yellowstone is active, carefully monitored, and currently showing no signs of an

independent catastrophic eruption.

For now, it stands to remind of the immense power beneath our feet, something to be respected

and studied with sober understanding.

So that's the one thing to worry about.

If it was to ever go, it would cause major, major issues.

But again, the likelihood is very, very, very, very unlikely.

So here's kind of the finishes off, this is from the USGS site.

This is a breakdown of what they say.

So each year, millions of predators come to admire the hot springs and geysers of Yellowstone

and the nation's first national park, which by the way I never mentioned to this whole

thing, Yellowstone was the first national park in the United States.

Few are aware that these wonders are fueled by heat from a large reserve of partially

molten rock or magma, just a few miles beneath their feet.

As the magma, which drives one of the world's largest volcanic systems rises, it pushes

up the Earth's crust beneath the Yellowstone Plateau.

Stress is in the crust, produced movements on falls, causing earthquakes to occur.

Thousands of small crakes recorded each year by the seismographic network of the Yellowstone

volcano observatory, a partnership of the US Geological Survey.

The University of Utah in Yellowstone National Park, falls and fractures also allow surface

water to penetrate to depth and become heated.

Rising again to produce hydrothermal, hot water features such as geysers, steam and hot

water carry huge quantities of thermal energy to the surface from the magma chamber below.

Continuing up and down around motions on the Yellowstone Plateau, we reflect the migration

of both hydrothermal fluids and magma, below the surface.

Ground motions, earthquakes and hydrothermal activity are all current manifestations of

volcanic activity at Yellowstone, and the not so distant geological past, Yellowstone

has produced many major volcanic eruptions, which have repeatedly reshaped its natural

wonders.

The Yellowstone region has produced three exceedingly large volcanic eruptions in the past, 2.1

million years.

Yeah, in the past 2.1 million years, in each of these cataclysmic events, enormous volumes

of magma erupted to the surface and into the atmosphere, as mixtures of red hot pumice,

volcanic ash, small jagged fragments of volcanic glass and rock, and gas that spreaders pyroclastic,

fire broken flows in all directions.

Waterthraw of such large volumes of magma from the subsurface then caused the ground collapse,

swallowing overlying mountains and creating broad, cauldron-shaped volcanic depressions

called caulderas.

The first of these cauldera forming eruptions, 2.1 million years ago, created a widespread

volcanic deposit known as the Huckleberry Ridge Tuff, an outcrop of which can be viewed

at Golden Gate, south of Mammoth Hot Springs.

This titanic event, one of the five largest individual volcanic eruptions known anywhere

on Earth, formed a cauldera more than 60 miles across.

A similar smaller but still huge eruption occurred 1.3 million years ago.

This eruption formed the Henry's Fort Cauldera, located in the area of Island Park.

The west of Yellowstone National Park, and produced another widespread volcanic deposit

called the Mesa Falls Tuff.

The region's most recent cauldera forming eruption 640,000 years ago created the 35 mile-wide

50 mile-long Yellowstone Cauldera.

Pyro-classic flows from this eruption left thick volcanic deposits known as the Lava

Creek Tuff, which can be seen in the south-facing cliffs east of Madison, where they formed

the north wall of the cauldera.

Huge volumes of volcanic ash were blasted high into the atmosphere and deposits of this

ash can still be found in places as distance from Yellowstone, as Iowa, Louisiana, and

California.

Each of Yellowstone's explosive cauldera forming eruptions occurred when large volumes

of rarillitic magma accumulated at shallow levels in the Earth's crust, as little as

three miles below the surface.

This highly viscous, thick and sticky magma charged with these dissolved gas then moved upward

stressing the crust and generating earthquakes.

As the magma near the surface and pressure decreased, the expanding gas caused violent

explosions.

Eruptions of rarillite have been responsible for forming many of the world's cauldera,

such as those at Camilla National Park Alaska, which formed an eruption in 1912 at Long

Valley, California.

If another large cauldera forming eruption were to occur at Yellowstone, its effects would

be worldwide.

Thick ash deposits would bury vast areas of the United States, an injection of huge volumes

of volcanic gases into the atmosphere could drastically affect global climate.

Fortunately, the Yellowstone volcanic system shows no signs that is headed towards such an

eruption.

The probability of a large cauldera forming eruption within the next few thousand years

is exceedingly low.

More likely in Yellowstone than a large explosive cauldera forming eruption is eruption of a lava

flow, which will be far less devastating.

Since Yellowstone's last cauldera forming eruption 640 thousand years ago, about 30

eruptions of rarillitic lava flows have nearly filled the Yellowstone cauldera.

Other flows of rarillite and basalt of more fluid variety of lava also have been extruded

outside the cauldera.

Each day visitors to the park drive and hike across the lava that fill the cauldera.

Most of which were erupted since 260 thousand years ago, some as recently is about 70 thousand

years ago.

These extensive rarillite lava are very large and thick, and some cover as much as 130

square miles, twice the area of Washington DC.

During eruption, these flows ooze slowly over the surface, moving at most a few hundred

feet per day, for several months to several years, destroying everything in their path.

Today, most of the landforms within the Yellowstone cauldera reflect the shapes of these young

lava flows.

Cliffs surrounding the upper geyser base and near old faithful geyser are the cooled, steep

flow fronts of once slow moving rarillite lava.

Some narrow ridges and valleys on the Canyon Norris road are corrugations on the surface

of a hundred and ten thousand year old rarillite flow.

These roughly concentric ridges formed as the thick, pasty lava, slowly ooze north of

the eastward, wrinkling its surface.

In the cauldera, rivers and streams commonly are occupied by the gaps between individual

lava flows, and springs emerge at the edges of flows.

Any renewed volcanic activity in Yellowstone would most likely take the form of such

mainly non-exposive lava eruptions, and eruption of lava could cause widespread havoc in

the park, including fires in the loss of roads and facilities, but more distance areas

would probably remain largely unaffected.

Earthquakes from one thousand to three thousand earthquakes typically occur each year within

Yellowstone National Park and its immediate surroundings.

Although most are too small to be felt, these quakes reflect the act of nature of the Yellowstone

region, one of the most seismically active areas in the United States, each year several

quakes and magnitude three to four are felt by people in the park.

Although some quakes are caused by rising magma and hot groundwater movement, many emanate

from regional faults, related to crustal, stretching and mountain building.

For example, major faults along the Teton, Madison, and Gallatin ranges pass through the

park and likely existed long before the beginning of volcanism there.

Moomins along many of these faults are capable of producing significant earthquakes.

The most notable earthquake in Yellowstone's recent history occurred in 1959.

Center near Hebgen Lake, just west of the park, it had a magnitude of 7.5.

This quake caused 11 million in damage, equivalent to about 70 million in 2005, and killed

28 people, most of them in a landside that was triggered by the quake.

Geologists conclude that large earthquakes like the Hebgen Lake event are unlikely within

the Yellowstone cold air itself, because subsurface temperatures there are high, weakening

the bedrock and making it less able to rupture.

However, quakes within the cold air can be as large as magnitude 6.5, a quake of about

that size that occurred in 1975 near Norris Geyser Basin was felt throughout the region.

Even distant earthquakes can affect Yellowstone, in November 2002, the magnitude 7.9 Denali

fall earthquake struck Central Alaska.

1,900 miles northwest of Yellowstone, because this quake's energy was focused toward the

active Yellowstone volcanic and hydrothermal system, it triggered hundreds of smaller

earthquakes there.

The region's hydrothermal system is highly sensitive to quakes and undergo significant

changes in their wake.

Earthquakes may have the potential to cause Yellowstone's hot water system to destabilize

and produce explosive hydrothermal eruptions.

Hydrothermal eruptions, the large magma reserve beneath Yellowstone may have temperatures

higher than 1,475 degrees Fahrenheit or 800 degrees Celsius.

And the surrounding rocks are heated by it, because of this the average heat flow from

the Earth's interior at Yellowstone is about 30 times greater than that typical for

areas elsewhere in the northern Rocky Mountains.

As snow melt and rainfall seep deep in the ground, they can absorb enough of this heat

to raise the temperature of the ground water close to the boiling point.

Laser basins and other thermal areas in Yellowstone National Park are placed where hot

groundwater has risen close to the surface.

Research showing Yellowstone in the 1960s confirmed that the groundwater beneath many of the

park's thermal areas is very hot.

At Norris Geyser Basin, water temperatures as high as 460 degrees Fahrenheit were recorded

at depth of only 1,090 feet.

Because the boiling point of water increases with increasing pressure and pressure increases

with depth, deep water can be hotter than boiling water near the surface.

If the pressure that combines this deep water is reduced quickly, pockets of water may suddenly

boil.

Causing explosion as the water is converted to steam, such activity drives the eruptions

of geysers like old faithful, which are repetitive releases of plumes of steam and water.

Rarely, steam explosions are more violent and can hurl water and rock thousands of feet.

And Yellowstone's geological passage by the events called hydrothermal explosions have

occurred countless times, creating new landscapes of hills and craters.

A recent and notable hydrothermal explosion occurred in 1989 at Pork Chop Geyser, Norris Geyser

Basin.

The remains of this explosion are still clearly visible today, as an apron of rock debris

15 feet across surrounding Pork Chop central spring.

In the 1880s and early 1890s, a series of powerful hydrothermal explosions and geysers

eruptions occurred at Excelsior Geyser in the Midway Geyser Basin.

Some of the explosions hurled rocks as far as 50 feet.

Much larger hydrothermal explosions have occurred at Yellowstone in the recent geological

pass.

More than a dozen large hydrothermal explosion creators formed between about 14,000 and

3,000 years ago, triggered by sudden changes in pressure at the hydrothermal system.

Most of these creators are within the Yellowstone Caldera or along a north, south, training

zone between Norris and mammoth, hot springs.

The largest hydrothermal explosion creator, documented in the world, is along the north

of the edge of Yellowstone Lake and an embankment known as Mary Bay.

This 1.5 mile diameter creator formed about 13,800 years ago and may have had several separate

explosions.

In a short time interval, what specifically triggered these very large events is not firmly

established, but earthquakes or a pressure release caused by melting glaciers or rapid

changes in lake level may have been a significant factor.

These very large and violent hydrothermal explosions are independent of associated volcanism.

None of the large hydrothermal events of the past 16,000 years has been followed by an

eruption of magma.

The deeper magma system appears to be unaffected even by spectacular steam explosions and

crater excavations within that overly hydrothermal system.

Although large hydrothermal explosions are a feature of Yellowstone's recent geological

history, most explosions in historical times have been relatively small and have left

craters at most a few yards across.

For example, in early 2003, a long-linear fissure appeared on a hillside near a nymph-like

north of Norris Geyser Basin, venting steam and throwing bits of rock on this ranting

hillside.

Although most hydrothermal explosions in the park are small, their remains can be noticed

by observant visitors and a test of the nearly continuous geological activity at the

Yellowstone.

So those are just some of the things about what a super volcano or a caldera system I

do like that word name better.

What a caldera system is, where they exist here and at the very end there, Yellowstone,

what different things happen there besides just the magma and explosions.

Some things to think about, definitely do your research on it.

I mean, it's one of those things that, you know, for pretty much most of my life I've

been told and read articles and everything that, you know, Yellowstone's going to blow

and we're all going to die.

And now that I've researched into it and gone down that rabbit hole, yeah, we're not.

It's not very likely that it's going to happen.

I mean, it would really, really suck if it did.

But the likelihood of it being a super explosion, a super, you know, eruption like the claim

it's going to be is very, very unlikely.

So at least in the near future.

Thank you all for listening.

We'll see you later.