Mobile UPI  |   About UPI  |   UPI en Español  |   UPI Arabic  |   UPIU  |   My Account
Search:
Go

Yellowstone volcanic hotspot studied

|
|
 
  
Published: March. 1, 2007 at 9:00 AM
Advertisement

SALT LAKE CITY, March 1 (UPI) -- A 17-year U.S. study shows the power of the huge volcanic hotspot beneath Yellowstone National Park is much greater than thought.

The $2.3 million, 1987-2004 University of Utah study revealed the approximately 300-mile-wide underground plume of molten rock known as the Yellowstone hotspot exerts itself forcefully even when not triggering eruptions and earthquakes.

"The Yellowstone hotspot has had a much bigger effect over a larger area with more energy than ever expected," said University of Utah geophysics Professor Robert Smith, who led the study.

"We're seeing large-scale deformation of the Earth's crust in the western United States because of the effects of the Yellowstone hotspot," added Christine Puskas, a geophysics doctoral student and the study's first author.

The research -- conducted by Smith, Puskas, postdoctoral fellow Wu-Lung Chang and former Utah researcher Chuck Meertens -- focused on the Yellowstone caldera, a gigantic volcanic crater formed by a catastrophic eruption 642,000 years ago that was 1,000 times bigger than the 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens.

The research is to appear in the March 2 issue of the Journal of Geophysical Research -- Solid Earth.

Topics: Robert Smith
© 2007 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Any reproduction, republication, redistribution and/or modification of any UPI content is expressly prohibited without UPI's prior written consent.

Order reprints
  
Join the conversation
Most Popular Collections
Protesters, police clash at NATO summit Notable deaths of 2012 2012 Billboard Music Awards
The 137th Preakness Stakes Annual Solar eclipse occurs in U.S. Chen Guangcheng arrives in the U.S.
Additional Science News Stories
1 of 29
Members of the Army's Old Guard place flags at Arlington National Ceremtery
View Caption
U.S. flags are seen in the rucksack of a soldier with the Army's 3d U.S. Infantry Regiment, The Old Guard, as he places flags at gravesites in Arlington National Cemetery as part of the Flags-In Memorial Day ceremony on May 24, 2012 in Arlington, Virginia. American flags were placed at each of the more than 220,000 grave markers in honor of those who served and Memorial Day. UPI/Kevin Dietshc
fark
Crimefighter who rides a chopper. In Afghanistan. And is a female. Don't mess with her
Daily Show writer partners with Slate to crowdsource ideas for amending and rewriting the Constitution....
Canada's national archives is being dismantled and scattered, who needs to remember the history...
Man disappears in Niagara Falls whirlpool; presumed to be spinning in his grave
Woman swallows toothbrush while brushing her teeth. Surgeons remove it before Oral B becomes Anal...
MSNBC Host Chris Hayes: I'm 'Uncomfortable' calling fallen military 'Heroes'