many people think space is full of
fearful things which is true however you
don't need to hop on a space rocket to
find something that will scare the
living daylight out of you because
they're about here on earth and because
they're here on this planet many of
these terrifying things can affect you
one huge example is the latest
terrifying thing that scientists just
uncovered at the yellowstone national
park
what is it and how does it affect you
anywhere in the world that you might
live
join us as we dive into the scientists
terrifying new discovery at yellowstone
national park
the u.s is a truly huge place covering
3.8 million square miles within that
large landmass are uncountable natural
attractions that receive visits from
millions of people worldwide they
include lakes waterfalls deserts and so
forth however among these attractions
the government has carved out some for
special attention because of their
importance these are the national parks
really vast wonders of nature the us
congress made yellowstone the first
national park in america in 1872
in the years that followed
environmentalists lobbied for wilderness
preservation throughout the american
west to create several more national
parks and monuments and in 1916
president woodrow wilson established the
national park service to consolidate
america's federal park lands management
under one agency today the national park
service manages 84 million acres across
all u.s states and territories an area
bigger than the whole territory of
germany these parks numbering
423 have served as a model for countries
around the world
out of all the parks designated as
national in the u.s the yellowstone was
the most visited in 2020 with almost 4
million visitors there are enough
attractions in the yellowstone to keep
people coming back sprawling across a
battled plateau in the northwest corner
of the state of wyoming this magnificent
wilderness area spills into neighboring
idaho and montana it forms the heart of
the greater yellowstone ecosystem one of
the world's largest and best preserved
temperate zone ecosystems as one of
wyoming's top attractions this park is
famous for its spectacular scenery
diverse ecosystems and fascinating
geothermal wonders yellowstone is home
to the world's largest number of active
geysers and offers a window into the
powerful forces deep beneath the earth's
crust the same forces that shaped this
park and its dazzling and dramatic
landscapes the scenery ranges from
snaking rivers and sweeping green
valleys to vast lakes canyons thundering
waterfalls and hissing lunar-like
landscapes each season paints a
dramatically different scene from the
lush greens and sparkling blues of
spring and summer when you can spot
herds of bison and elk grazing along the
riverbanks to falls fiery reds oranges
and golds when fearsome grizzlies and
black bears gorge on berries to the
white wonderland of the freezing winter
a visit yellowstone is not complete
without a stopover the guys are known as
old faithful it is named for the
regularity with which it erupted
shooting columns of water high up into
the air from between 35 minutes to 120
minutes with an average interval of
about 92 minutes not far from the old
faithful is the black sand basin one of
the most colourful spots in the park you
can also hike on the mount washburn
trail or take in the sights of the
awe-inspiring grand canyon and the upper
and lower falls however one of the
biggest attractions in yellowstone is
the volcanic system and this is where
things get scary many visitors to
yellowstone might not know this but the
volcanic events in the park can affect
everything in every part of the planet
as you shall soon see we begin our story
of the yellowstone volcanic system about
66 million years ago when the cenozoic
era started the area now occupied by the
park was sculpted by widespread mountain
forming volcanic events however
rumblings have continued underneath our
feet to this day
magma the molten rock that you find
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
consequently plumes of magma rise
through the mantle melting rocks in the
crust and creating magma reservoirs of
partially molten partially solid rock
mantle plumes transport heat from deep
in the mantle to the crust and create
hot spot volcanism these hot spots leave
a trail of volcanic activity as tectonic
plates drift over them as the north
american plate drifted westward over the
last 16.5 million years the hot spot
that now resides under the greater
yellowstone area left to sway the
volcanic deposits across idaho's snake
river plain the heat rising from the
mantle plume has melted rocks in the
crust and created two magma chambers of
partially molten partially solid rock
near yellowstone's surface the heat from
the shallowest magma chamber caused an
area of the crust above it to expand and
rise stress on the overlying crust
resulted in increased earthquake
activity along newly formed faults
eventually these faults reached the
magma chamber and magma oozed through
the cracks when the magma escapes it
released pressure within the chamber
allowing volcanic gases to escape and
expand explosively in a massive volcanic
eruption the eruption spewed an enormous
amount of volcanic ash and gas into the
atmosphere and produced fast super hot
debris flows or pyroclastic flows over
the landscape with the underground magma
chamber emptying the ground above it
collapsed and created the first of
yellowstone's three calderas this
eruption happened 2.1 million years ago
and easily ranked among the largest
volcanic eruptions known to men it
covered
5790 square miles with ash reaching as
far away as missouri for context the
total volcanic material ejected is
estimated to have been six thousand
times the volume of material ejected
during the 1980 eruption of mount saint
helens in washington a second
significant volcanic eruption would
occur about eight hundred thousand years
later however it was smaller and
occurred within the western edge of the
first caldera a third and last massive
volcanic eruption occurred 631 000 years
ago and created the present 30 by 44
mile wide yellowstone caldera since then
80 minor eruptions have occurred and the
one that happened about 174 000 years
ago created what is now the west thumb
of yellowstone lake
during and after these explosive
eruptions massive lava flows of viscous
rhyolitic lava and less voluminous
basalt lava flows partially filled at
the caldera floor and surrounding
terrain the youngest of these lava flows
is the 70 thousand-year-old pitchstone
rail light flow in the southwest corner
of yellowstone national park
since the last of three caldera forming
eruptions pressure from the shallow
magma body has formed two resurgent
domes inside the yellowstone caldera
magma may be as little as three to eight
miles beneath sour creek dome and eight
to 12 miles beneath mallard lake dome
and both domes inflate and subside as
the volume of magma and hydrothermal
fluids changes beneath them the entire
caldera floor lifts up or subsides too
but not as much as the two domes in the
past century the net inflation has
tilted the caldera floor toward the
south as a result yellowstone lakes
southern shores have subsided and trees
now stand in water and the north end of
the lake has risen into a sandy beach
and fishing bridge is the yellowstone
volcano active today the answer is yes
remarkable ground deformation has been
documented along the central axis of the
caldera between old faithful and white
lake in pelican valley in historic time
surveys of suspected ground deformation
began in 1975 using vertical motion
surveys of benchmarks in the ground by
1985 the surveys documented
unprecedented uplift of the entire
caldera above a meter later gps
measurements reveal that the caldera
went into an episode of subsidence or
sinking until 2005 when the caldera
returned to an episode of extreme uplift
the most significant vertical movement
was recorded at the white lake gps
station inside the caldera's eastern rim
where the total uplift from 2004 to 2010
was about 27 centimeters however what
happens if yellowstone's volcano erupts
again the picture isn't pretty the
effect will be felt worldwide but of
course the closer you are to yellowstone
the more you are affected this event can
be 1000 times more powerful than a
regular volcanic eruption eject at least
240 cubic miles of material and last
weeks or months the lava flows
themselves will be contained within a
relatively small radius within the park
say 40 miles or so in fact only about
one third of the material will end up in
the atmosphere however the main damage
will come from volcanic ash a
combination of splintered rock and glass
this will shoot miles into the air and
scatter around the country a super
eruption can conceivably bury the
northern rockies in three feet of ash
basically devastating large swathes of
wyoming idaho colorado montana and utah
meanwhile the midwest will get a few
inches of ash while both coasts will see
even smaller amounts this volcanic ash
is toxic and can kill people plants and
animals it will even crush buildings
even a few inches of ash can destroy
farms clog roadways cause severe
respiratory problems block sewer lines
and even short out transformers air
travel will stop in much of north
america
what about globally a big volcanic
eruption in yellowstone will
significantly affect the global climate
volcanoes can emit sulfur aerosols that
reflect sunlight back into the
atmosphere and cool the climate these
particles cannot survive for long in the
atmosphere so the effect is only
temporary but it can still be dramatic
for example when pinatubo erupted in
1991 it cooled the planet by one degree
celsius or 1.8 degrees fahrenheit for a
few years the tambora eruption in 1815
was worse because it cooled the earth
enough to damage crops around the world
likely causing famines in some areas
bear in mind that those were relatively
tiny eruptions compared to what a super
volcano in yellowstone is capable of
globally the eruption will cause
trillions of dollars worth of damage
however you don't need to fear or fret
because of a yellowstone volcanic
eruption right now there's no sign of a
pending eruption sure yellowstone park
continues to get earthquakes and the
ground rises and falls but that is
nothing out of the ordinary yellowstone
has been behaving like that for the past
140 years the odds are very high that
yellowstone will be eruption free for
the coming centuries also if you look at
the past three eruptions the odds of
yellowstone erupting in any given year
are north point nought nought nought
lower than the odds of getting hit by an
asteroid from space but even that is not
a good estimate because it's not certain
the yellowstone erupts on a regular
cycle or that it's overdue for another
eruption in fact there might never be a
big eruption in yellowstone again let's
hear what you think of a potential
yellowstone supervolcanic eruption in
the comment section