Will Yellowstone Erupt Soon? Scientists Are Using New Techniques to Find Out
www.smithsonianmag.com

... Each year, Yellowstone National Park attracts millions of visitors who are eager to see its explosive geysers, steaming hot springs and burbling mud pots. These famous natural landmarks result from the park's unique geology: It sits atop an active supervolcano, which has produced three large, explosive eruptions in the last 2.1 million years.

The most recent eruption at Yellowstone took place roughly 70,000 years ago, when thick lava burbled up to the surface and flowed across the landscape. The last major explosion occurred around 631,000 years ago, creating a massive crater known as the Yellowstone Caldera.

Many curious onlookers have wondered whether -- and when -- Yellowstone might next erupt. Now, scientists are using new techniques to help answer these questions.

A new analysis published last week in the journal Nature suggests Yellowstone is unlikely to experience another big eruption -- at least, not anytime soon --- because the magma lurking beneath its surface is split across a web of distinct chambers.

Due to the large total amount of magma present, Yellowstone will remain volcanically active. But "nowhere in Yellowstone do we have regions that are capable of eruption," says study lead author Ninfa Bennington, a seismologist at the U.S. Geological Survey's Hawaiian Volcano Observatory, to the Washington Post's Sarah Raza. "It has a lot of magma, but the magma is not connected enough." ...