The US' Super-Volcano

Known only to a few academicians is the fact that the US contains a super-volcano. It is located in Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming and Montana has erupted 3 times in the past with devastating impact on everything within hundreds of miles and may have killed millions of forms of life around the world including some forms of homo-sapiens.

A super-volcano, unlike a regular volcano, has a magma stream rising through the earth's crust, but unlike a standard volcano that erupts and creates a surrounding cone of ash and molten rock, the magma is blocked from erupting through the earth's surface and collects in a pool below the earth's surface. This pool can be up to 20 miles wide and 10 miles long. When the pressure finally overcomes the surface above it, the explosion is catastrophic and the sound could probably be heard on the east coast and west coasts of the US. The ash layer deposited hundreds of miles in all directions would be 5 to 6 feet deep. Ash amounts of a foot or more would cover most of continental US.

The ash fired into the stratosphere would block sunlight from reaching the earth's surface for weeks, months and possibly years. Most plant life would die out and that would include all crops in the US and perhaps around the world. The likelyhood of humans surviving this catastrophy in large numbers isn't likely. This type of event has occurred every 600,000 to 800,000 years and the last was 600,000 years ago putting us on the edge of another occurrance. Possible terrorist attacks, that worry many in the US, would pale in comparison to this event should it re-occur in our lifetime. For more information see BBC Supervolcanos.

12/27/01 ( 1322 )
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