Again, I thought the whole point of a caldera was that the gases and lake of magma are sitting and boiling for so long that WHEN they blow it all comes out. I don't call The Discovery Channel special ever talking about anything less than a full-scale eruption, which lead me to the conclusion that when dealing with these kinds of volcanoes, there was none.
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Ah shit, Yellowstone classified as 'high eruption threat' ... get ready for death
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Almighty_Chocobo
Member
Less than "full-scale" eruptions do not = ratings.
I wouldn't put it past them...
I wouldn't put it past them...
I thought the movie was reasonable in it's portray of a yellowstone eruption--- the eruption could be smaller scale (maybe Mt St helen's like), or bigger scale. Throughout the movie they talked about single vent/multiple vents. Single Vent being comparable to regular volcano. Of course the movie itself is going to portray worse case.
BatiGOOOOOOL
Member
And boom goes the dynamite!
Or the volcano, should I say?
Or the volcano, should I say?
Burger
Member
"In the 1960's a man names Bob Christiansen of the USGS became puzzled about something that, oddly, had not troubled anyone before: he couldn't find Yellowstone National Park's volcano. It had been known for a long tome that Yellowstone was volcanic in nature - that's what accounted for all its geysers and other steamy features - and the one thing about volcanoes is that they are generally pretty conspicuous. But Chrisiansen couldn't find the Yellowstone volcano anywhere. In particular, what he couldn't find was a structure known as a caldera.
By coincidence, just at this time NASA decided to test some new high-altitude cameras by taking photographs of Yellowstone, copies of which a thoughtful official passed on to the park authorities on the assumption that they might make a nice display for one of the visitor centres.
As soon as Christiansen saw the photos he realized why he had filaed to spot the caldera: virtually the whole park - 9000 square kilometers - was caldera. The explosion had left a crater nearly 65 kilometers across - much too huge to be percieved from anywhere at ground level. At some time in the past Yellowstone must have blown up with a violence far beyond the scale of anything known to Humans."
Wow.
Thats from Bill Brysons "A Short History of Nearly Everything".
Oh, and also, Yellowstone blows about every 600,000 years. It last did this 630,000 years ago.
By coincidence, just at this time NASA decided to test some new high-altitude cameras by taking photographs of Yellowstone, copies of which a thoughtful official passed on to the park authorities on the assumption that they might make a nice display for one of the visitor centres.
As soon as Christiansen saw the photos he realized why he had filaed to spot the caldera: virtually the whole park - 9000 square kilometers - was caldera. The explosion had left a crater nearly 65 kilometers across - much too huge to be percieved from anywhere at ground level. At some time in the past Yellowstone must have blown up with a violence far beyond the scale of anything known to Humans."
Wow.
Thats from Bill Brysons "A Short History of Nearly Everything".
Oh, and also, Yellowstone blows about every 600,000 years. It last did this 630,000 years ago.
The way I see it though, the yellowstone area is very active now , maybe after the last time it blew its top it left all sorts of cracks and holes that vent its pressure just enough that it won't ever blast its top to that scale ever again?
You also have the fact that the mantle that supplies all this magma by tunneling slowly through the earths crust , if vented in one spot will likely die down in others a bit. Yellowstone is awful close to mount saint helens on a worldwide scale and it popped its top pretty heavily 25 years ago , for all we know some of these volcanoes perhaps weren't around 620,000 years ago but are now after that massive blast.
Something to think about atleast, the thing that most annoys me about these doomsday scenarios is that if it happens were all fucked , why worry about it? Honestly.
You also have the fact that the mantle that supplies all this magma by tunneling slowly through the earths crust , if vented in one spot will likely die down in others a bit. Yellowstone is awful close to mount saint helens on a worldwide scale and it popped its top pretty heavily 25 years ago , for all we know some of these volcanoes perhaps weren't around 620,000 years ago but are now after that massive blast.
Something to think about atleast, the thing that most annoys me about these doomsday scenarios is that if it happens were all fucked , why worry about it? Honestly.
WordAssassin
Member
And Santa Barbara narrowly escapes!
Luckily I'll either be up in Berkeley, Seattle, or somewhere in Europe before this thing blows.
Or dead. I'd be happy if this didn't happen in my lifetime.
Luckily I'll either be up in Berkeley, Seattle, or somewhere in Europe before this thing blows.
Or dead. I'd be happy if this didn't happen in my lifetime.
The 24 hour watch sounds great, but how much warning can they provide? What kind of time span are we talking about here? I get the impression that we won't know in advance...we'll just know when it's actually happenning.
Here's a solution. Put a large funnel on top of it. It will increase the pressure as it's coming out, and squirt the lava in the air even further. Point the funnel so the lava lands in the Pacific Ocean.
That idea could land me a job in the White House. Bush would love to have me as a Natural Disaster Advisor.
Here's a solution. Put a large funnel on top of it. It will increase the pressure as it's coming out, and squirt the lava in the air even further. Point the funnel so the lava lands in the Pacific Ocean.
That idea could land me a job in the White House. Bush would love to have me as a Natural Disaster Advisor.
MrAngryFace
Banned
YELLOWSTONE HARBORS A WMD!!!!!!!!!! YELLOWSTONE = MEMBER OF AXIS OF EVIL!
Space Age Playboy
Banned
The solution is simple. We must leave earth and colonize non-volcanic planets as soon as possible. First stop: moon base. See you there, GAF.
I want there to be a volcano winter so that I can, when the dust settles, start my motorcycle gang.
I live near Mt. St. Helens... when it did its little hiccup a little bit ago I got a phone call from my mom telling me ash was coming and I need to find shelter (lol). It never came. Then again, she was here when the thing blew up in 80 so..
I live near Mt. St. Helens... when it did its little hiccup a little bit ago I got a phone call from my mom telling me ash was coming and I need to find shelter (lol). It never came. Then again, she was here when the thing blew up in 80 so..
ManDudeChild
Member
AB 101 said:
Sure, until the collapse of the U.S. economy takes its toll on the rest of the world.
Optimistic
Member
Scrow said:
And guess who made them a success? AMERICANS. Don't blame us for Hogan dammit! :lol
Outdoor Miner
Member
And I inch even closer to making my dream of becoming a drunk Northeastern fisherman reality.
Almighty_Chocobo
Member
Wildlife dead.
Plantlife dead.
Water sources turned to poison.
There isn't enough canned food and bottled water to keep everybody in the US fed for long.
Plantlife dead.
Water sources turned to poison.
There isn't enough canned food and bottled water to keep everybody in the US fed for long.
DeEJaYMiND
Member
Dice said:
LOOOOL :lol :lol :lol :lol :lol ... and people are looking at me :lol :lol :lol :lol
Just to make it clear ther is NO escaping the effects of a super volcano eruption. The dust in the atmosphere and the sulpur in the air means that very little if anything can grow WORLDWIDE for several years if not decades. It's impact on America would be beyond imagining, effectively most of the country wouldn't exist. Such an event had reduced the human race to near extinction in the past. Imagine the Mount St helens eruption times 10,000 it that big.
Outdoor Miner
Member
It's ok, we'll just send Joe to whoop it's ass.
rs7k said:You will not be fine if that shit erupts. None of us will be
None of us? Well, if it erupts right now, some like I would indeed be screwed. But if it'd take a few decades to do so, I'd be safe. Be aware that I've come aware of such a threat, nuclear winter, and my abodes are going to be made safe from such an eventuality, it's called a contingency plan, it's one of the things those like I tend to do. A few millions, an apt location along with the advances in engineering, etc to come, should be enough to achieve this I'd say.
Maybe that's why some'd say that I'm a bit paranoid. But, as the saying goes "better safe than sorry", and I'm pretty sure my peers'd certainly regret their decision should such an event take place, while'd be going on a long vacation
.
Hollywood said:
"Why is the center of the Earth so hot?
It's a combination of radioactivity (the radioactive materials in the Earth generate heat) and the residual heat from the formation of the Earth. When all of the matter that created the Earth fell together, it picked up kinetic energy falling in. When it stopped at the proto-Earth, the kinetic energy was turned into heat. The Earth hasn't cooled yet. The Moon, being much smaller, has had time to cool and probably has a solid core."
Dr. Eric Christian
http://helios.gsfc.nasa.gov/qa_earth.html#hot
That answer may be correct, but it seems intuitively wrong to me. The material at the center of the Earth is under extreme pressure from the weight of everything above it, and pressure is directly proportional to temperature. Although the other factors he mentions are certainly things to consider, I would expect that pressure heating would be by far the dominant term.max_cool said:
Somebody also seriously put forth a theory that the earth's core is a giant breeder reactor, cycling through periods of uranium-rich and uranium-poor material. Now, whether or not this is true I have no idea as it was a long while ago and I haven't seen a followup, but it at least sounds interesting.
But regardless, gravity plays a huge role.
But regardless, gravity plays a huge role.
Space Age Playboy
Banned
What are you going to do?Divus Masterei said:None of us? Well, if it erupts right now, some like I would indeed be screwed. But if it'd take a few decades to do so, I'd be safe. Be aware that I've come aware of such a threat, nuclear winter, and my abodes are going to be made safe from such an eventuality, it's called a contingency plan, it's one of the things those like I tend to do. A few millions, an apt location along with the advances in engineering, etc to come, should be enough to achieve this I'd say.
Maybe that's why some'd say that I'm a bit paranoid. But, as the saying goes "better safe than sorry", and I'm pretty sure my peers'd certainly regret their decision should such an event take place, while'd be going on a long vacation
Space Age Playboy said:
Tons of fuel, termally(chemical/biological/radiation isolation/protection, just in case too) isolated facility to be located in the most favorable place. Years supply of food(for various individuals, I ain't planning to survive it alone), lots of water, and water purification capacity, edible plants with artificial sunlight bulbs and nutrients(for long term survival if the food supply is exhausted we'd need to farm.). Eventually the sun'd come out, and I'd relax on the fuel usage, using future solar collectors, and energy storage solutions(with multiple spare parts to essential components) I'd be able to keep making my own food. Substantial Oxygen supplies and purification system'd also be kept in hand. In essence a facility capable of becoming self-contained and lasting for extremely prolonged periods of time(earthquake/hurricane proof).
I've come to realize that the more power I acquire the easier it is to misuse it, at significant peril. Should one come to gain the capability to acquire such protection without significantly compromising one's wellbeing, it should be acquired, IMHO(It's better than wasting 10-20million on some ultra-large mansion.). Suffice it to say, that I'd also try to get others in on the deal(Let's face it, I don't want to finance that stuff alone), I'm sure many'd certainly like to have such a capability, and we could'll enjoy the company of each other(and make the facility bigger and with far more features and luxuries than one created by almost anyone going at it alone.)
Almighty_Chocobo
Member
Divus Masterei said:Tons of fuel, termally(chemical/biological/radiation isolation/protection, just in case too) isolated facility to be located in the most favorable place. Years supply of food(for various individuals, I ain't planning to survive it alone), lots of water, and water purification capacity, edible plants with artificial sunlight bulbs and nutrients(for long term survival if the food supply is exhausted we'd need to farm.). Eventually the sun'd come out, and I'd relax on the fuel usage, using future solar collectors, and energy storage solutions(with multiple spare parts to essential components) I'd be able to keep making my own food. Substantial Oxygen supplies and purification system'd also be kept in hand. In essence a facility capable of becoming self-contained and lasting for extremely prolonged periods of time(earthquake/hurricane proof).
I've come to realize that the more power I acquire the easier it is to misuse it, at significant peril. Should one come to gain the capability to acquire such protection without significantly compromising one's wellbeing, it should be acquired, IMHO(It's better than wasting 10-20million on some ultra-large mansion.). Suffice it to say, that I'd also try to get others in on the deal(Let's face it, I don't want to finance that stuff alone), I'm sure many'd certainly like to have such a capability, and we could'll enjoy the company of each other(and make the facility bigger and with far more features and luxuries than one created by almost anyone going at it alone.)
You sound nuts but if something happens I'm moving in with you!
dskillzhtown
keep your strippers out of my American football
Cruel Bastard Mario said:
It was actually a good show. Not too sure about the reality of the science, but the government reactions to the issues seemed to be dead-on. Seemed like they presented the worst-case scenario on the movie though. If you have Discovery HD Theater, they are playing it all month in HD.
Mama Smurf
My penis is still intact.
I watched that Horizon documentary when it first aired, and I can safely say it was the most terrifying thing ever. They even spoke about the possibility of a terrorist setting off a nuclear warhead at the bottom of a lake in Yellowstone or something and triggering it. What a terrorist would gain from basically destroying the entire world though, I'm not sure.
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