People in Arizona ‘Freaked Out’ About Possible Super Volcano

With global superpowers standing nose to nose, daring the other guy to blink, it seems we have enough to worry about.

As if humans aren't enough of a threat to each other, is the Earth getting ready to shake humans and other life off its back? I'm trying not to get freaked about this, but this is one more thing to keep me up at night.

What is a Caldera?

The Yellowstone Caldera, also called the Yellowstone Supervolcano, is a colossal volcanic feature in Yellowstone National Park. Most of the park is in Wyoming, but part of the national park is in southern Montana and eastern Idaho.

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According to Wikipedia, a caldera is a large, bowl-shaped volcanic depression. A caldera forms when the top of a volcanic cone collapses into the space left after magma is ejected during a violent volcanic eruption. It's essentially a fallen volcano.

The Yellowstone caldera is a supervolcano with a history of massive eruptions. Scientists have identified three separate times it's blown its tops, the most recent explosion happened about 640,000 years ago. Does that mean it's overdue for a massive eruption event?

The caldera is giant, spanning somewhere around 30 by 45 miles under Yellowstone Park, which is a significant part of the national monument.

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What Would Happen to Arizona if the Yellowstone Caldera Erupted?

Since it's been 640,000 years since the caldera's last major geological event, does that mean it's overdue for a massive eruption event? According to Real Clear Science, if the Yellowstone caldera were to erupt, the park would be completely wiped out.

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"[T]he magma would burst through the ground in a titanic eruption that would discharge the toxic innards of the Earth to the air. It would continue for days, burying Yellowstone in lava within a forty-mile radius of the eruption."

Arizona is far enough south that it wouldn't be directly affected by the lava flow. However, that doesn't mean the Grand Canyon state would be out of the woods.

Volcanic ash would fill the skies, blocking out the sun. This would lead to cooler temperatures, and have a terrible impact on air quality, water sources, our growing seasons, and agriculture.

We haven't even talked about the toxic gases that would be released into the air, which would impact life in our state and the surrounding states.

What Scientists Say: Will the Yellowstone Supervolcano Erupt Soon?

So, is an eruption of the Yellowstone caldera imminent?

Scientists can't accurately predict when the Yellowstone Supervolcano will erupt, but the good news is that it's not considered overdue for an eruption. So no, it probably won't blow its top anytime soon.

While the potential does exist, scientists don't consider it an immediate threat. Geologists continue to monitor the supervolcano for unusual behavior, though.

[Wikipedia.org | Britannica.org | USGS | Yellowstone.org | Mirror | Real Clear Science

Yellowstone Caldera Diagram: "Yellowstone Caldera." Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 15 Apr. 2024, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yellowstone_Caldera. Accessed 18 Apr. 2024. Public Domain.