Is there a magma chamber under Yellowstone?
Is there a magma chamber under Yellowstone?
Yellowstone is underlain by two magma bodies. The shallower one is composed of rhyolite (a high-silica rock type) and stretches from 5 km to about 17 km (3 to 10 mi) beneath the surface and is about 90 km (55 mi) long and about 40 km (25 mi) wide. The chamber is mostly solid, with only about 5-15% melt.
Is Yellowstone a VEI 8?
Yellowstone is said to erupt as a magnitude VEI-8 once every 600,000–700,000 years. The volcano erupted as a low-end VEI-8 some 640,000 years ago, and it ejected more than 1,000 cubic kilometres of ash, which is nearly 800 times greater than the Saint Helens eruption of May 18, 1980.
What is the source of magma in Yellowstone?
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. Plumes of magma rise through the mantle, melting rocks in the crust, and creating magma reservoirs of partially molten, partially solid rock.
Does Yellowstone have enough magma to erupt?
Yellowstone is not overdue for an eruption. The rhyolite magma chamber beneath Yellowstone is only 5-15% molten (the rest is solidified but still hot), so it is unclear if there is even enough magma beneath the caldera to feed an eruption. If Yellowstone does erupt again, it need not be a large eruption.
How deep has the magma pipe been imaged beneath Yellowstone?
April 23, 2015 – University of Utah seismologists discovered and made images of a reservoir of hot, partly molten rock 12 to 28 miles beneath the Yellowstone supervolcano, and it is 4.4 times larger than the shallower, long-known magma chamber.
What volcano has the biggest magma chamber?
Yellowstone Caldera
| Yellowstone Caldera | |
|---|---|
| Geology | |
| Age of rock | 2,100,000–70,000 years |
| Mountain type | Caldera and supervolcano |
| Volcanic field | Yellowstone Plateau |
Has there ever been a Vei 9 eruption?
According to the USGS, it is the largest known eruption since the Ordovician era, between 504 and 438 million years ago. It was so large, in fact, that in a 2004 report in the Bulletin of Volcanology, scientists recommended adding a ninth level to the VEI scale, and declared the La Garita eruption a magnitude 9.2.
What is a magma chamber?
The location beneath the vent of a volcano where molten rock (magma) is stored prior to eruption. Also known as a magma storage zone or magma reservoir.
How big is the magma chamber under Yellowstone?
How big is the magma chamber under Yellowstone? Yellowstone is underlain by two magma bodies. The shallower one is composed of rhyolite (a high-silica rock type) and stretches from 5 km to about 17 km (3 to 10 mi) beneath the surface and is about 90 km (55 mi) long and about 40 km (25 mi) wide.
What type of magma is found at Yellowstone?
Yellowstone is underlain by two magma bodies. The shallower one is composed of rhyolite (a high-silica rock type) and stretches from 5 km to about 17 km (3 to 10 mi) beneath the surface and is about 90 km (55 mi) long and about 40 km (25 mi) wide. The chamber is mostly solid, with only about 5-15% melt.
Are the magma chamber and magma reservoir full of molten rock?
Contrary to popular perception, the magma chamber and magma reservoir are not full of molten rock. Instead, the rock is hot, mostly solid and spongelike, with pockets of molten rock within it.
How deep is the magma reservoir at the bottom of Yellowstone?
— Hot and partly molten rock rises in dikes from the top of the plume at 40 miles depth up to the bottom of the 11,200-cubic mile magma reservoir, about 28 miles deep. The top of this newly discovered blob-shaped magma reservoir is about 12 miles deep, Huang says.