Yellowstone volcano, in the US State of Wyoming, is considered a “high risk” volcano by the United States Geological Survey.
Experts say if the volcano were ever to erupt again, the supervolcano could one day block out the sun and cause a volcanic winter. But the last major eruption at Yellowstone was 640,000 years ago, so is this an actual possibility?
Yellowstone saw major eruptions 640,000, 2.1 million and 1.3 million years ago, a more recent, less serious eruption occurred 70,000 years ago when lava flowed on the Pitchstone Plateau. But earlier this year, Yellowstone National Park’s geyser erupted three times in six weeks, sparking fears a huge volcanic eruption was brewing. Steamboat Geyser, which spewed water 91 metres high, erupted on March 15, April 19 and 25.
Crowds gathered in awe to watch the spectacle at the world’s largest active geyser based in Wyoming. But could this mean Yellowstone supervolcano will erupt in the near future?
USGS says Yellowstone’s “volcanic and hydrothermal history suggests the potential for various kinds of eruptions in the future”. However, the scientific agency predicts the most likely “explosions” to be steam or hot water bursts rather than lava.
Although its not possible to predict when exactly a volcano will next erupt, scientists are confident that there won’t be any life threatening explosions at Yellowstone any time soon.
Michael Poland, a scientist from US Geological Survey’s Yellowstone Volcano Observatory, said the geyser’s 2018 ramped-up activity was not a sign of a major volcanic explosion to come. Speaking at the time, he said: “There is nothing to indicate that any sort of volcanic eruption is imminent.” If Yellowstone were to erupt, it would likely produce lava flows of basalt or rhyolite rock. The latter could produce “significant volumes of volcanic ash and pumice”.
USGS states on its website: “The least likely but worst-case volcanic eruption at Yellowstone would be another explosive caldera-forming eruption such as those that occurred 2.1 million, 1.3 million, and 640,000 years ago.
“However, the probability of such an eruption in any given century or millennium is exceedingly low, much lower than the smaller eruptions mentioned above.”
In 2014, a group of scientist hypothesised what might a Yellowstone super volcanic eruption could look like. In the paper they produced, the team predicted the eruption would eject at least 240 cubic miles ash spreading across the United States, resulting in millions of people, animals and plants dying.
