Researchers Discover Concealed Volcano Gradually Progressing Towards Eruption in the US

Buzzline

Geologists observing the Yellowstone supervolcano alongside other volcanic systems in the western United States have noted significant ground deformation, higher gas emissions, and a series of minor earthquakes that could suggest magma movement. The magmatic system beneath Yellowstone is among the largest in North America, and experts caution that the existing monitoring and early warning systems throughout the US volcanic arc are insufficient considering the magnitude of the possible danger. The USGS is advocating for greater investment in seismic and gas monitoring efforts.

Transcript

00:00Scientists have identified alarming new activity beneath a dormant volcanic system in the western

00:05United States, activity that suggests a major eruption could be closer than anyone previously

00:11realized. Geologists monitoring the Yellowstone supervolcano and adjacent volcanic systems in the

00:17Pacific Northwest have detected increased ground deformation, elevated gas emissions, and a cluster

00:24of small earthquakes that may indicate magma movement at depth. Yellowstone alone sits on top

00:30of one of the largest magmatic systems in North America. A full caldera eruption would represent

00:36one of the most catastrophic natural events in human history. Affecting not just the western U.S.

00:43but the entire country, scientists are careful to note that Yellowstone erupts on very long

00:48geological timescales, and current activity does not necessarily predict an imminent eruption.

00:54However, they also warn that monitoring and early warning systems across the U.S. volcanic

00:59arc are inadequate compared to the scale of the threat. The USGS is calling for significant

01:05investment in expanded seismic and gas monitoring networks across the western United States.

01:11What we know for certain, these systems are alive, active, and building pressure. The question

01:17of when, not if, is what scientists are now urgently trying to answer.

01:21What we know for certain, these systems are not necessarily the same, the same, the same, the same, the same,

01:21the same, the same, the same, the same, the same, the same, the same, the same, the same, the same,

01:21the same, the same, the same, the same, the same,

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