Is there a magma plume underneath all of Yellowstone National Park?

Is there a magma plume underneath all of Yellowstone National Park?

Mantle plumes may originate from the boundary between Earth’s mantle and core, nearly 3000 km (about 1850 mi) beneath the surface. They found evidence for a plume that is 350 km (about 220 mi) in diameter extending from the core-mantle boundary all the way to the base of the crust at Yellowstone.

What is found beneath the Yellowstone National Park?

Beneath Yellowstone National Park lies a supervolcano, a behemoth far more powerful than your average volcano. That could blanket most of the United States in a thick layer of ash and even plunge the Earth into a volcanic winter. Yellowstone’s last supereruption occurred 631,000 years ago.

Is the hotspot under Yellowstone moving?

Actually, the source of the hotspot is more or less stationary at depth within the Earth, and the North America plate moves southwest across it. The average rate of movement of the plate in the Yellowstone area for the last 16.5 million years has been about 4.6 centimeters (1.8 inches) per year.

How long has the plume been active under Yellowstone National Park?

When did the Yellowstone volcano last erupt? Approximately 174,000 years ago, creating what is now the West Thumb of Yellowstone Lake. There have been more than 60 smaller eruptions since then and the last of the 60–80 post-caldera lava flows was about 70,000 years ago.

How hot is the plume under Yellowstone?

How hot? Try 1,800 degrees. The heat produced by the scorching hot rocks — officially known as a mantle plume — was measured at 150 milliwatts per square meter. That’s not far from the heat produced under Yellowstone National Park, which is measured at about 200 milliwatts per square meter.

Is there a supervolcano underneath Yellowstone?

The Yellowstone Caldera, sometimes referred to as the Yellowstone Supervolcano, is a volcanic caldera and supervolcano in Yellowstone National Park in the Western United States. The caldera and most of the park are located in the northwest corner of Wyoming.

Is Yellowstone overdue for an eruption?

Yellowstone is not overdue for an eruption. Volcanoes do not work in predictable ways and their eruptions do not follow predictable schedules. In terms of large explosions, Yellowstone has experienced three at 2.08, 1.3, and 0.631 million years ago. This comes out to an average of about 725,000 years between eruptions.

What part of the Earth is the plume found in?

mantle plume
A mantle plume is an area under the rocky outer layer of Earth, called the crust, where magma is hotter than surrounding magma. Heat from this extra hot magma causes melting and thinning of the rocky crust, which leads to widespread volcanic activity on Earth’s surface above the plume.

Is there a plume beneath Yellowstone National Park?

A pair of researchers from the University of Texas has found what they claim is evidence of a plume beneath Yellowstone National Park. In their paper published in the journal Nature Geoscience, Stephen Grand and Peter Nelson further propose that the plume is part of a zone that runs to the park all the way from Mexico.

What type of magma is in Yellowstone National Park?

Magma, Hot Spots, and the Yellowstone Supervolcano. Magma (molten rock from below the earth’s crust) is close to the surface in the greater Yellowstone area. This shallow body of magma is caused by heat convection in the mantle.

What is the source of the heat beneath Yellowstone?

Some argue that a deep mantle plume sourced at the base of the mantle supplies the heat beneath Yellowstone, whereas others claim shallower subduction or lithospheric-related processes can explain the anomalous magmatism.

How big is Yellowstone’s Supervolcano?

A new 3-D model shows the 45-mile-wide (72-kilometer-wide), 410-mile-deep (660-kilometer-deep) plume of hot, molten rock rising under Yellowstone’s supervolcano. Past volcanic eruptions that have taken place at Yellowstone National Park have been global disasters.