I think most people have at least some knowledge about the massive caldera that lies underneath the surface of Yellowstone National Park. It’s one of those bits of infotrivia that gets trotted out by the media whenever they need to pad out some story about how we’re all dooooooomed. The caldera has indeed had several massive explosions over the millennia, though nothing for the last half a million years, give or take, which obviously must mean that we are due for one ANY MINUTE NOW. But, doomsday porn nothwithstanding, if it does erupt again, the area of devastation would indeed be staggering:
And that’s just the projected ashfall.
So, geologists and seismologists and volcanists, and every other rock geek imaginable has had something to say about the increase in surface uplift being caused by the caldera since it started getting significantly larger six or seven years ago. Where the surface uplift used to be just a few tenths of a centimeter per year, it has been as much as 7 centimeters a year in the past decade.
Not to worry, says Erik Klemetti at Big Think.com. He reports that despite the flogging from such sensationalist media outlets as the Daily Mail and Gawker, the growing consensus is that the activity from the caldera is sufficiently deep enough below the surface to not signify any immediate danger, and that an eruption in the near future would not be catastrophic.
So please go back to worrying about other more likely doomsday scenarios like the Palin-Bachmann 2012 Presidential campaign, or the new season of Jersey Shore. Thank you
