Who doesn't know the famous and colorful Yellowstone National Park? It's visually gorgeous, but it's a potential volcanic time bomb. Now, in addition, a research group at the University of Utah has just verified that the magma chamber is 2.5 times larger than expected.
By studying the speed of movement of seismic waves through the ground, researchers have been able to better understand the size of the magma-filled cavity below Yellowstone. To do this, the scientists used the network of seismographs located around the park and verified the speed at which the waves traveled after an earthquake. As Jamie Farrel of the University of Utah explains, "the waves travel more slowly through the hot, partially molten material, allowing us to measure what's underneath ."
Exactly the magma chamber that is found under the soil of Yellowstone has a depth of between 2 and 15 kilometers and occupies an area of about 90 kilometers long by 30 kilometers wide. That is, a volume twice what is expected. However, these gigantic dimensions do not pose a greater risk to Yellowstone, according to the researchers.
So far three major eruptions of the volcano are known . One occurred 2.1 million years ago, another 1.3 million years ago and another 640.00 years ago, which makes researchers suppose that, taking into account the frequency of the eruptions, the next would take place in about 60,000 years. .
