I have occasionally covered news about Yellowstone National Park. As a reminder, it lies on top of a huge magma chamber and is classified as a super-volcano.
In fact, Yellowstone is essentially one big volcano.
While geologists do not anticipate significant volcanic activity for the next few thousand years, the park sometimes dishes out a little surprise that does more than simply entertain and inspire the tourists.
On Tuesday, a hydrothermal vent exploded at Biscuit Basin, which is located just north of Old Faithful.
Biscuit Basin, its parking lot and boardwalks – about 2 miles northwest of the Old Faithful geyser – are temporarily closed for safety reasons, officials added in the post.No injuries were reported after the incident, which occurred near the Sapphire Pool around 10 a.m. local time. Investigators have yet to determine how much damage has occurred.“Hydrothermal explosions are violent and dramatic events resulting in the rapid ejection of boiling water, steam, mud, and rock fragments,” according to the US Geological Survey.They “occur where shallow interconnected reservoirs of fluids with temperatures at or near the boiling point underlie thermal fields. These fluids can rapidly transition to steam if the pressure suddenly drops. Since vapor molecules take up much more space than liquid molecules, the transition to steam results in significant expansion and blows apart surrounding rocks and ejects debris,” the agency says.
Usually, visitors are happy to see a geologic show at the park, though usually not so up close and personal. It turns out the Yellowstone area has about 2 of these hydrothermal explosions a year, though not normally in the sections popular with the public.
Explosions like the one on Tuesday happen when water suddenly turns to steam in the underground “plumbing” beneath the park’s hydrothermal system, [Michael Poland, the scientist in charge at the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory] said. The change can be caused by a major event like an earthquake. “That’s not the case here,” he said. “Instead, what we had was a very localized change in this plumbing system. Pressure can build and you can get an explosion like this.”Similar explosions took place in the Norris Geyser Basin earlier this year and at Biscuit Basin in 2009.In a statement, U.S. Geological Survey officials assured that the episode was not connected to a change in volcanic activity, either. (Yes, Yellowstone also has volcanic activity).Hydrothermal explosions in the park are fairly common — taking place as often as twice a year, frequently in the backcountry — but can go undetected other than by monitoring equipment, according to Mr. Poland. This explosion, however, was fully documented by tourists with smartphones. “It’s really quite dramatic,” Mr. Poland said of the footage.
Though no tourists were injured, the boardwalk in the area took a serious hit.
The explosion might have been surprising, but geologists assure us it is not a sign of an impending eruption — its more like the localized pressure buildup. And while it will erupt again, there will be ample warnings.
“Yellowstone will reawaken someday to host more eruptions. But volcanoes like Yellowstone don’t erupt without warning. We’d expect months of intense activity prior to any future eruption.”The YVO is watching closely for that activity. The team includes staff from a variety of different universities, along with federal and state geological agencies, who have considerable experience forecasting eruptions at volcanoes around the world. In fact, the volcano program at the USGS has a twenty-person unit that specializes in forecasting volcanic eruptions.“At any given time, 10 to 20 volcanoes are erupting somewhere on Earth. Typically, volcanoes give weeks to months of warning prior to their initial eruption. Volcanoes like Yellowstone typically take even longer.” explained Lowenstern.“Our monitoring network measures earthquakes, ground deformation, tilt, temperature and geothermal discharge. We use instruments like seismometers, GPS antennas, thermistors, and satellite technologies including LANDSAT and interferometric radar.”
The super=volcano has erupted twice in history, and covered the region in 250 cubic miles of debris — enough to cover the state of Texas in 5 feet of debris.
Fortunately, it does not seem to be poised to erupt soon, forcing a cancellation in the November election or any other national crisis.
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