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Haliphron
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21 Apr 2009, 12:14 am

Anyone here been to Yellowstone park or know anything about why there are all those geysers, mud vents, and mineral rich hot springs(complete with bacterial mats) clustered there? That is because it is the site of a 35 mile wide caldera who's most recent eruption 600,000+ years ago was 1000 times as powerful as Mt St Helens. And its also the MOST geologically active volcano in terms of tremors(some can be VERY strong earthquakes)in the contiguous US. Presently it is the largest volcano in the WORLD. 8O When it erupts it will have an explosive force of 10,000,000 x greater than hiroshima and spew hundreds(maybe even up to 1000)of cubic miles of ash into the atmosphere-enough to cause a full-blown volcanic winter in the Northern Hemisphere. Crops in the midwest will be totally wiped out(as will the population of Wyoming)as the ash cloud will reach the gulf of mexico and the atlantic. The magma chamber beneath yellowstone park is 40 miles wide! But only 4 miles underground and so that should give you an idea how massive an eruption this volcano will produce.



DNForrest
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21 Apr 2009, 12:29 am

Not to mention that it's hundreds to thousands of years overdue to erupt. But this is semi-old news, or at least to the people that watch the History Channel (or those similar) on a regular basis.

Yet another reason I'm glad I don't live in Wyoming anymore, 20 years was far too long of a stay.



Haliphron
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21 Apr 2009, 1:08 am

DNForrest wrote:
Not to mention that it's hundreds to thousands of years overdue to erupt. But this is semi-old news, or at least to the people that watch the History Channel (or those similar) on a regular basis.

Yet another reason I'm glad I don't live in Wyoming anymore, 20 years was far too long of a stay.



Actually, within the last 2 years there has been an unusual increase in the earthquake swarms but not enough to convince geologists that old yeller is ready to blow up. I can hardly imagine what the start of the eruption would look like from an airplane flying 40,000 overhead. What DOES worry me is the ash fallout over the the PNW, Im sure portland WILL get plenty of it but its likely the most lethal ash will rain down over the midwest. Old news? Who cares! Its still as relevant now as it was then.



DNForrest
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21 Apr 2009, 1:29 am

Yeah, I've been hearing things about that the past few years, but it's yet to be at the levels where I drive to my grandparents' farm in the country with a stockpile of food and ammo. If anything, it's probably just the local geologists "massaging" the data or making a big deal of something that's immaterial to get more funding.

Fortunately, the Rocky and Cascade Mountains will provide some decent shielding for the people in the PNW (and the proximity to the ocean will also help with surviving), it's the Great Plains folks that are the thoroughly screwed ones when it does happen.



Haliphron
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21 Apr 2009, 1:35 am

DNForrest wrote:
Yeah, I've been hearing things about that the past few years, but it's yet to be at the levels where I drive to my grandparents' farm in the country with a stockpile of food and ammo. If anything, it's probably just the local geologists "massaging" the data or making a big deal of something that's immaterial to get more funding.

:roll:

And what yould YOU know about that?


What I honestly wonder is which will erupt first: Mt Rainier or Mt Shasta. Mt Rainier will be QUITE a spectacle to witness even though the result lahars will wipe a few towns like Orting, Enumclaw and Auburn off the map. But it certainly wont come CLOSE to being as grand and as devastating as Yellowstone.



DNForrest
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21 Apr 2009, 2:00 am

Haliphron wrote:
And what yould YOU know about that?


Which one? Massaging the data/making a big deal out of the immaterial or the increases in earthquakes?

I'm an engineer/scientist, so that pretty much covers the knowledge of the severely unethical practice of massaging of data for your own profit (all OSU engineers are required to take a course on ethics in their field), and my interest in keeping up to date with current science news. And of course they're going to try to get as much funding as possible by using the population's fear, that's just being a good salesperson (I see academic researchers/scientists/engineers doing this all the time). Saying there's an increase in earthquakes and also saying that there really isn't any reason to worry about it is a good way to get more funding without getting a serious investigation into how severe it actually is.

But regardless, I am disquieted by the lack of any national or international plan of what to do when it does happen (though hopefully this'll change soon).



Haliphron
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21 Apr 2009, 2:28 am

DNForrest wrote:
Haliphron wrote:
And what yould YOU know about that?


Which one? Massaging the data/making a big deal out of the immaterial or the increases in earthquakes?

I'm an engineer/scientist, so that pretty much covers the knowledge of the severely unethical practice of massaging of data for your own profit (all OSU engineers are required to take a course on ethics in their field), and my interest in keeping up to date with current science news. And of course they're going to try to get as much funding as possible by using the population's fear, that's just being a good salesperson (I see academic researchers/scientists/engineers doing this all the time). Saying there's an increase in earthquakes and also saying that there really isn't any reason to worry about it is a good way to get more funding without getting a serious investigation into how severe it actually is.

But regardless, I am disquieted by the lack of any national or international plan of what to do when it does happen (though hopefully this'll change soon).



Oh? Are you a geologist by any chance??



DNForrest
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21 Apr 2009, 2:35 am

Haliphron wrote:
Oh? Are you a geologist by any chance??


No, but what does that have to do with anything? I'm just pointing out a possibility, not claiming to be an expert on the subject (of which we seem to have a similar interest).

I have to ask, is there any reason you're attacking me? (If I gave off the impression I was attacking you initially, I apologize, I was just talking about the subject at hand)



Haliphron
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21 Apr 2009, 2:43 am

DNForrest wrote:
Haliphron wrote:
Oh? Are you a geologist by any chance??


No, but what does that have to do with anything? I'm just pointing out a possibility, not claiming to be an expert on the subject (of which we seem to have a similar interest).

I have to ask, is there any reason you're attacking me? (If I gave off the impression I was attacking you initially, I apologize, I was just talking about the subject at hand)


I wasnt intending to attack you personally, and the only impression you gave me was being dismissive but not assaultive.. But what exactly does "massaging data" mean? Furthermore, do you have some 3rd party information that the data is no accurate by any chance.... :?



DNForrest
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21 Apr 2009, 2:59 am

Haliphron wrote:
I wasnt intending to attack you personally, and the only impression you gave me was being dismissive but not assaultive.. But what exactly does "massaging data" mean? Furthermore, do you have some 3rd party information that the data is no accurate by any chance.... :?


Ah, sorry about that, it's probably some subconscious stuff coming off of me after the incident I dealt with earlier today after having to confront someone at a panel discussion about the roles (including the failures) and ethics of engineers involved with Katrina (they were making a lot of loud, derisive comments about the people involved in the discussion).

Massaging data's a fairly wide spread term, pretty much means just picking and choosing what you want to give you the results that are best for what you want (which includes only using the data that'll get you funding). In this case, it would be fairly difficult, unless they were to either move their scales to an area where the bison and other large, herding animals frequently run about, or something similar. So, in all probability, if they were just doing whatever they can to get more funding, it would be them telling people about something they'd otherwise ignore and/or consider immaterial. Again, I'm not saying this is exactly what's happening, I was just pointing out a possibility (my usage of the word "probably" is a combination of the incident earlier today, my misanthropic/cynical leanings, and the similarities between it and other cases of people trying to their funding by making a big deal out of the immaterial).



Haliphron
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21 Apr 2009, 3:42 am

I also read that 6 bison were killed from Volcanic Gas poisoning in yellowstone sometime between Jan 2008 and now. Im not sure if the release of volcanic gases like CO2 and Hydrogen Sulfide is a regular occurrence near volcanic "hot spots" or if this is a warning sign of looming volcanic activity. The VAST majority of CO2 on planet Earth is biogenic so I have to wonder where volcanic CO2 comes from.



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21 Apr 2009, 10:18 am

DNForrest wrote:
Not to mention that it's hundreds to thousands of years overdue to erupt. But this is semi-old news, or at least to the people that watch the History Channel (or those similar) on a regular basis.

Yet another reason I'm glad I don't live in Wyoming anymore, 20 years was far too long of a stay.


The dust and ash of an eruption of the Yellowstone Supervolcanoe will choke most of the people in the U.S. and Canada and perhaps even in the Western parts of Europe. It will be a disaster the likes of which has not been seen since Toba blew about 75,000 years ago. It probably will not render human-kind extinct but it will make a dent in civilized life.

ruveyn



androo4salez
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21 Apr 2009, 11:11 am

It has been said to be "over due", but I wonder if the data used for the prediction takes into consideration that all the Yellowstone geysers are releasing and relieving Yellowstone of it's volcanic pressure, and have been for a long while.


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Haliphron
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21 Apr 2009, 11:14 am

ruveyn wrote:
DNForrest wrote:
Not to mention that it's hundreds to thousands of years overdue to erupt. But this is semi-old news, or at least to the people that watch the History Channel (or those similar) on a regular basis.

Yet another reason I'm glad I don't live in Wyoming anymore, 20 years was far too long of a stay.


The dust and ash of an eruption of the Yellowstone Supervolcanoe will choke most of the people in the U.S. and Canada and perhaps even in the Western parts of Europe. It will be a disaster the likes of which has not been seen since Toba blew about 75,000 years ago. It probably will not render human-kind extinct but it will make a dent in civilized life.

ruveyn


Most of the heaviest ash fallout will be over the midwest and the ash cloud could extend as far away as the gulf of Mexico. What I wonder though is if the trade winds will carry most of it to the East North East over the great lakes and Ohio valley. But the Cascade and Sierra Nevade mountains will block much of the suffocating ash fallout from reaching the west coast.



Last edited by Haliphron on 21 Apr 2009, 3:43 pm, edited 1 time in total.

0_equals_true
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21 Apr 2009, 11:22 am

It would pretty brutal. However one plus may be that it will push up lots of sulphur high into the atmosphere which would cause global dimming (acid rain being a small price to pay). The only problem is it a balance you do not want too much dimming or the world would freeze over.



Haliphron
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23 Apr 2009, 12:09 am

0_equals_true wrote:
It would pretty brutal. However one plus may be that it will push up lots of sulphur high into the atmosphere which would cause global dimming (acid rain being a small price to pay). The only problem is it a balance you do not want too much dimming or the world would freeze over.


If the erruption does end up happening say, in the next 10 years or even the next few decades, I suspect that many muslims (as well as surviving Christian Fundamentalists)will proclaim that the destruction and death that will ensue from such an eruption was the "wrath of God" smighting America for "living in sin and embracing wickidness".... :roll: