Yellowtone Supervolcano Research Paper

● The Yellowstone Supervolcano

The first part of this memo is going to discuss the Yellowstone supervolcano. For years people have traveled regularly to Yellowstone to enjoy the beauty of its 300 geysers and thousands of mud pots and steam vents that bubble and boil at the service. These tourist are completely oblivious to the massive supervolcano deep underneath the surface of Yellowstone. For decades scientists specializing in the world of geophysics have studied the Yellowstone volcano. It has not been until recently that these scientists have made several scientific breakthroughs using seismic technology which has shown that the volcano underneath Yellowstone is much larger than originally thought.

To understand what an eruption

These tectonic plates “float on a hotter, softer layer in its mantle.” (Volcano) Tectonic plates are divided into two major categories - divergent plate boundaries; and convergent plate boundaries. A divergent plate or a mid-oceanic ridge is created when two tectonic plates split from each other and form a new oceanic crust when the hot molten rocks cools down. These plates are generally pretty thin and makes them very susceptible to volcanism. If these volcanos are formed near the oceans surface, they are called volcanic islands. A good example of a volcanic islands is

When a tectonic plate goes over a hotspot, the volcano associated with the hotspot tends to become dormant. Eventually this hotspot will be reformed and will cause land masses such as the Hawaiian Islands. It is also believed that the Yellowstone Caldera was also created in this same manner. Volcanoes contain different types of features which tell scientists what type of volcano it is. The Hawaiian Islands and Iceland are generally shield volcanoes. They have lower levels of silica in their mix. The lava that comes from these volcanoes tends to be a less sticky, thick and adhesive which gives the lava the ability to flow a greater distance. It is generally not expected to have a major catastrophe from this type of eruption. It is believed that the volcanoes in Iceland have similar