Science on MSNBC.com: Huge volcano under Yellowstone Park rising
By Brett Israel
OurAmazingPlanet OurAmazingPlanet
updated 2/9/2011 2:06:01 PM ET 2011-02-09T19:06:01
Share Print Font: + - The huge volcano under Yellowstone National Park has been rising at an unprecedented rate during the past several years, according to a new study.
In the ancient past, the Yellowstone volcano produced some of the biggest-known continental eruptions, but the recent rising doesn't mean another doomsday eruption is looming, scientists say.
The recent rising is unprecedented for Yellowstone's caldera — the cauldron-shaped part of the volcano — but it's not uncommon for other volcanoes around the world. The new study has simply revealed a more active caldera at Yellowstone than scientists realized.
"It's pretty exciting when you see something that's five times larger than what you've seen in the past," said Charles Meertens, director of the nonprofit UNAVCO facility in Boulder, Colo., which aids geoscience research. Meertens is a former postdoctoral fellow under one of the study's authors, Robert Smith of the University of Utah in Salt Lake City.
In 2004, the caldera was swelling at 2.8 inches a year in some parts, but the uplift has since slowed to a low of 0.2 inches a year, according to the study, which was published in the December edition of the journal Geophysical Research Letters.
Calderas rise just like an inflating bubble. The inflating could either be caused by magma rising and pushing up on the caldera, or the magma could be heating gases and hydrothermal fluids (the same fluids that spew from Yellowstone's Old Faithful geyser) and pushing them against the caldera, Meertens told OurAmazingPlanet. Whatever the exact mechanism, a rising caldera is not enough to signal an eruption.
"It's not a portent of doom," said Erik Klemetti, a volcanologist at Denison University in Granville, Ohio, who was not involved with the study. "It seems like these restless calderas are always sort of rising and falling, but that by itself doesn't mean it's about to erupt."
Volcanologists look at several indicators when deciding whether an eruption is looming, Klemetti said. Warning signs typically include an increase in earthquakes under the volcano, changes in the gases being emitted, change in the volcano's shape, and steam and heat escaping from the top.
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This blog is updated - at a minimum - every Monday and Friday
Thursday, February 10, 2011
Iceland volcano professor hits back at eruption scare stories
Ice News: Iceland volcano professor hits back at eruption scare stories
The Icelandic geophysicist, Professor Pall Einarsson, whose words have caused something of an international volcano scare, says he is dumbfounded by how much his message has changed in translation. Pall Einarsson was interviewed by Icelandic broadcaster RUV in Icelandic about a series of earthquakes in the highlands.The interview was then translated and used by Britain’s Daily Telegraph, among others. Since then the message has morphed out of all recognition, Einarsson says.
“It is really strange how this news came into existence. I wasn’t even warning of a likely eruption at Bardarbunga [in the interview],” he told IceNews. “The things I emphasised in my interview with RUV’s Bjorn Malmqvist were that the earthquakes at Bardarbunga and Kistufell last week are not unusual, there are often movements there, and sometimes much bigger than this.
“In the long-term, we can see an increase in earthquake intensity at Bardarbunga. But it is still a lot less than between 1974 and 1996.
“And finally that Bardarbunga is an active volcano and could of course prove dangerous, which is why there is always reason to monitor it closely; which is why we do,” Einarsson explains.
Some foreign media sources have quoted Professor Pall Einarsson as saying that a massive eruption is about to begin that will make last year’s Eyjafjallajokull eruption seem tiny in comparison. The professor reiterates his confusion at such stories, telling IceNews that he did not say anything of the sort.
Volcanic eruptions are always possible in Iceland, Einarsson says. There have been at least 19 eruptions in just the last 40 years — the majority of which were small and caused very little damage.
Icelandic volcanoes are one of the reasons tourists visit the country and sometimes (as at Fimmvorduhals last year) the sheer number of visitors is more dangerous than the volcano itself. “There are few things more moving than to watch a volcano erupting from a safe distance,” Professor Einarsson enthuses.
Bardarbunga is located near the middle of the Icelandic ‘hot belt’. It was, however, not known as a particularly powerful volcano before 1971 when the first satellite images of the area were released. Eruptions connected to this particular volcanic system took place in 1477-80, shortly after 1700, 1862-4 and most recently in 1996. There are probably several historic eruptions missing from the list due to the sheer distance from the nearest human settlements, the professor adds. “Small eruptions at this remote volcano could easily have escaped people’s notice. They are no more dangerous than that.”
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This blog is updated - at a minimum - every Monday and Friday
The Icelandic geophysicist, Professor Pall Einarsson, whose words have caused something of an international volcano scare, says he is dumbfounded by how much his message has changed in translation. Pall Einarsson was interviewed by Icelandic broadcaster RUV in Icelandic about a series of earthquakes in the highlands.The interview was then translated and used by Britain’s Daily Telegraph, among others. Since then the message has morphed out of all recognition, Einarsson says.
“It is really strange how this news came into existence. I wasn’t even warning of a likely eruption at Bardarbunga [in the interview],” he told IceNews. “The things I emphasised in my interview with RUV’s Bjorn Malmqvist were that the earthquakes at Bardarbunga and Kistufell last week are not unusual, there are often movements there, and sometimes much bigger than this.
“In the long-term, we can see an increase in earthquake intensity at Bardarbunga. But it is still a lot less than between 1974 and 1996.
“And finally that Bardarbunga is an active volcano and could of course prove dangerous, which is why there is always reason to monitor it closely; which is why we do,” Einarsson explains.
Some foreign media sources have quoted Professor Pall Einarsson as saying that a massive eruption is about to begin that will make last year’s Eyjafjallajokull eruption seem tiny in comparison. The professor reiterates his confusion at such stories, telling IceNews that he did not say anything of the sort.
Volcanic eruptions are always possible in Iceland, Einarsson says. There have been at least 19 eruptions in just the last 40 years — the majority of which were small and caused very little damage.
Icelandic volcanoes are one of the reasons tourists visit the country and sometimes (as at Fimmvorduhals last year) the sheer number of visitors is more dangerous than the volcano itself. “There are few things more moving than to watch a volcano erupting from a safe distance,” Professor Einarsson enthuses.
Bardarbunga is located near the middle of the Icelandic ‘hot belt’. It was, however, not known as a particularly powerful volcano before 1971 when the first satellite images of the area were released. Eruptions connected to this particular volcanic system took place in 1477-80, shortly after 1700, 1862-4 and most recently in 1996. There are probably several historic eruptions missing from the list due to the sheer distance from the nearest human settlements, the professor adds. “Small eruptions at this remote volcano could easily have escaped people’s notice. They are no more dangerous than that.”
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This blog is updated - at a minimum - every Monday and Friday
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
Tuesday Tidbits: Taiwanese volcanoes, Terraces for sale, Erebus ice and more
BigThink: Tuesday Tidbits: Taiwanese volcanoes, Terraces for sale, Erebus ice and more
Happy Birthday to Jules Verne, even though traveling to the center of the Earth via Snæfellsjökull (and exiting via Stromboli) might not be the best idea.
Some news for February 8, 2011:
Taiwan: Most people don't realize that the island of Taiwan has potentially active volcanoes. One such volcanic center is the Datun (as known as Tatun) Group, a series of domes that are believed to have last erupted in ~4,100 BC and the current manifestation of the magmatism are hot springs and solfatara. The National Science Council of Taiwan will be setting up volcano monitoring system for the Tatun Group - seismometers and tiltmeters it appears - and the data sounds like it might be readily available online when the installation is complete.
New Zealand: Well, after all the excitement over the (re)discovery of the Pink Terraces in Lake Rotomahana - thought lost after the 1886 eruption of Tarawera - it seems that humans can't stand not making money. A fellow in New Zealand is selling what he claims is a vial of pre-destruction terrace and the bidding for the vial is already up to, if you can believe it, ~$1.1 million (NZ - approximately $847,000 US). Now, there is a lot of question of the authenticity of the sample but in New Zealand, it is legal to sell such relics, so as always, buyer beware!
Yellowstone: The caldera in Wyoming is still making the news, even if they are still talking to quacks about it.
Antarctica: In a little bit of eye candy, there is a set of images taken from the ice caves on Mt. Erebus in Antarctica, the most southerly active volcano (that we know of) on the planet. Some pretty stunning ice, including layer of ash from Erebus locked into the deep freeze. Ice caves are common on active volcanoes (with ice on them) thanks to the abundant heat and you can find them in places less remote than Antarctica, such as Washington's Mt. Baker.
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This blog is updated - at a minimum - every Monday and Friday
Happy Birthday to Jules Verne, even though traveling to the center of the Earth via Snæfellsjökull (and exiting via Stromboli) might not be the best idea.
Some news for February 8, 2011:
Taiwan: Most people don't realize that the island of Taiwan has potentially active volcanoes. One such volcanic center is the Datun (as known as Tatun) Group, a series of domes that are believed to have last erupted in ~4,100 BC and the current manifestation of the magmatism are hot springs and solfatara. The National Science Council of Taiwan will be setting up volcano monitoring system for the Tatun Group - seismometers and tiltmeters it appears - and the data sounds like it might be readily available online when the installation is complete.
New Zealand: Well, after all the excitement over the (re)discovery of the Pink Terraces in Lake Rotomahana - thought lost after the 1886 eruption of Tarawera - it seems that humans can't stand not making money. A fellow in New Zealand is selling what he claims is a vial of pre-destruction terrace and the bidding for the vial is already up to, if you can believe it, ~$1.1 million (NZ - approximately $847,000 US). Now, there is a lot of question of the authenticity of the sample but in New Zealand, it is legal to sell such relics, so as always, buyer beware!
Yellowstone: The caldera in Wyoming is still making the news, even if they are still talking to quacks about it.
Antarctica: In a little bit of eye candy, there is a set of images taken from the ice caves on Mt. Erebus in Antarctica, the most southerly active volcano (that we know of) on the planet. Some pretty stunning ice, including layer of ash from Erebus locked into the deep freeze. Ice caves are common on active volcanoes (with ice on them) thanks to the abundant heat and you can find them in places less remote than Antarctica, such as Washington's Mt. Baker.
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This blog is updated - at a minimum - every Monday and Friday
Ice volcanoes are all the rage this winter
Yahoo News: Ice volcanoes are all the rage this winter
How do you stimulate a regional tourist economy in the dead of a blizzard-battered winter? Simple: ice volcanoes!
The cone-shaped ice formations—known as cryovolcanoes in scientific circles—afford hardy winter adventurers with cozy, igloo-type shelter as they trek on the frozen surface of a body of water. And ice volcanoes are emerging as a key tourist draw on the frozen surface of the Great Lakes region this winter.
As the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports, many people are now scouring the bleak winterscape of the Great Lakes in February for an ice volcano of their very own. The paper reports that "winter enthusiasts" have been "flocking to Bradford Beach, the Doctors Park beach and other spots along the Lake Michigan shoreline since last week's blizzard to check out a bizarre lunar landscape of craters, boulders and rounded mounds carved from the shoreline ice shelf by wind and waves."
"It's pretty cozy in here; I'm not going to lie," Marna Lamson of Milwaukee told the paper after she huddled inside one such formation for a while. "It's very sheltered from the elements. The bottom is snow and ice."
So what exactly is an ice volcano? According to the Weather Notebook's Byron Yeaton, they're "water-spouting ice cones" that form during the winter along the Great Lakes. Geologists at Michigan Technical University maintain a website chronicling the ice volcanoes along the shoreline of Lake Superior. Here's their own expert account of how ice volcanoes come into being: "Cones begin to form at the leading edge of the ice shelf as it builds out into the lake. When the waves, driven by strong onshore winds, feel bottom they build and break onto the ice shelf. After the ice shelf has built out, waves continue to travel underneath the ice and are forced up through cracks and previously formed cones."
Nor are the exotic cold-weather confined to our own humble planet. Space explorers have spotted ice volcanoes on several of the more icy moons in our solar system, including most recently on Saturn's Titan moon. Below is a video detailing the find by NASA's Cassini spacecraft:
And there, it seems, is the perfect ad campaign for the Great Lakes tourism board: Why go to the moons of Saturn to behold the grandeur of an ice volcano, when you can just go to Wisconsin?
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This blog is updated - at a minimum - every Monday and Friday
How do you stimulate a regional tourist economy in the dead of a blizzard-battered winter? Simple: ice volcanoes!
The cone-shaped ice formations—known as cryovolcanoes in scientific circles—afford hardy winter adventurers with cozy, igloo-type shelter as they trek on the frozen surface of a body of water. And ice volcanoes are emerging as a key tourist draw on the frozen surface of the Great Lakes region this winter.
As the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports, many people are now scouring the bleak winterscape of the Great Lakes in February for an ice volcano of their very own. The paper reports that "winter enthusiasts" have been "flocking to Bradford Beach, the Doctors Park beach and other spots along the Lake Michigan shoreline since last week's blizzard to check out a bizarre lunar landscape of craters, boulders and rounded mounds carved from the shoreline ice shelf by wind and waves."
"It's pretty cozy in here; I'm not going to lie," Marna Lamson of Milwaukee told the paper after she huddled inside one such formation for a while. "It's very sheltered from the elements. The bottom is snow and ice."
So what exactly is an ice volcano? According to the Weather Notebook's Byron Yeaton, they're "water-spouting ice cones" that form during the winter along the Great Lakes. Geologists at Michigan Technical University maintain a website chronicling the ice volcanoes along the shoreline of Lake Superior. Here's their own expert account of how ice volcanoes come into being: "Cones begin to form at the leading edge of the ice shelf as it builds out into the lake. When the waves, driven by strong onshore winds, feel bottom they build and break onto the ice shelf. After the ice shelf has built out, waves continue to travel underneath the ice and are forced up through cracks and previously formed cones."
Nor are the exotic cold-weather confined to our own humble planet. Space explorers have spotted ice volcanoes on several of the more icy moons in our solar system, including most recently on Saturn's Titan moon. Below is a video detailing the find by NASA's Cassini spacecraft:
And there, it seems, is the perfect ad campaign for the Great Lakes tourism board: Why go to the moons of Saturn to behold the grandeur of an ice volcano, when you can just go to Wisconsin?
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This blog is updated - at a minimum - every Monday and Friday
Sunday, February 6, 2011
From Feb 3: Volcano Made Famous By 007 Menaces Japan Island
NPR: Volcano Made Famous By 007 Menaces Japan Island
In the James Bond version, circa 1967, Japan's Mount Shinmoe was a serene, extinct peak with a scenic, lake-filled crater that provided the perfect perch for 007 and his bikini-clad partner to surveil the lair of supervillain Ernst Stavro Blofeld.
In real life, it turns out the volcano doesn't have a secret rocket base hidden in its depths as it did in You Only Live Twice.
It's also not extinct.
In its biggest series of eruptions in 52 years, Mount Shinmoe burst back to life last week and is wreaking havoc with airline schedules, forcing schools and roads to close and dumping ash and rocks across towns on Kyushu, the southernmost of Japan's four main islands.
On Thursday, the volcano spewed a huge plume one mile (1,500 meters) into the air and sent rubble cascading down its forested slopes. Officials say they expect the eruptions to continue, and possibly intensify, for weeks to come.
"We really have no idea how long this is going to go on," said Tomoharu Konan, a town official in Takaharu, which lies at the foot of the volcano. "We got a lot of ash in the first several days, and it covered our farms. We will have to make long term plans for how to deal with this situation."
To keep the curious out, a danger zone around Shinmoe has been widened to a radius of 2 1/2 miles (four kilometers) from its crater. Local officials said the mountain is remote enough to keep that from being much of an issue — only two small lodges are located in the no-access area.
No significant injuries have been reported since the initial eruption last Wednesday, though a 92-year-old woman reportedly suffered cuts from shattered glass when a window was smashed in a pulse of air from a subsequent eruption.
Disruptions to travel have been a bigger problem.
Dozens of domestic flights in and out of Miyazaki — a city of 365,000 about 590 miles (950 kilometers) southwest of Tokyo — were grounded last week. Though some flights had been restored, airport officials said ash on the ground and in the air forced more cancellations Thursday. Volcanic ash advisories were in effect for the area, according to the Japan Meteorological Agency.
Train service was temporarily suspended in the area and many schools closed, and the local government has reported damage to crops and cattle.
Officials in Takaharu, which has a population of 9,900, have urged about 1,100 residents who live near the volcano to go to evacuation centers because of the danger of debris, ash and landslides. The warning was not mandatory, however, and some residents were staying home.
Experts said a dome of lava was growing larger inside the 4,662-foot (1,421-meter) volcano's crater, but it was not certain whether the dome would grow enough to spill over the rim and create large flows down the volcano's sides.
Avalanches of superheated gas, ash and rock have already been observed, along with spectacular electrical storms within the volcano's plume.
The Japanese islands, located along the Pacific "Ring of Fire," are volcanic in origin and dozens of volcanos — including the picturesque Mount Fuji, about 60 miles (100 kilometers) from Tokyo — are in various stages of activity. Thirteen are in the highest, or "A," level of activity, according to the Geological Survey of Japan.
In 1991, 43 people died in the eruption of Mount Unzen, also on Kyushu island.
In the James Bond version, circa 1967, Japan's Mount Shinmoe was a serene, extinct peak with a scenic, lake-filled crater that provided the perfect perch for 007 and his bikini-clad partner to surveil the lair of supervillain Ernst Stavro Blofeld.
In real life, it turns out the volcano doesn't have a secret rocket base hidden in its depths as it did in You Only Live Twice.
It's also not extinct.
In its biggest series of eruptions in 52 years, Mount Shinmoe burst back to life last week and is wreaking havoc with airline schedules, forcing schools and roads to close and dumping ash and rocks across towns on Kyushu, the southernmost of Japan's four main islands.
On Thursday, the volcano spewed a huge plume one mile (1,500 meters) into the air and sent rubble cascading down its forested slopes. Officials say they expect the eruptions to continue, and possibly intensify, for weeks to come.
"We really have no idea how long this is going to go on," said Tomoharu Konan, a town official in Takaharu, which lies at the foot of the volcano. "We got a lot of ash in the first several days, and it covered our farms. We will have to make long term plans for how to deal with this situation."
To keep the curious out, a danger zone around Shinmoe has been widened to a radius of 2 1/2 miles (four kilometers) from its crater. Local officials said the mountain is remote enough to keep that from being much of an issue — only two small lodges are located in the no-access area.
No significant injuries have been reported since the initial eruption last Wednesday, though a 92-year-old woman reportedly suffered cuts from shattered glass when a window was smashed in a pulse of air from a subsequent eruption.
Disruptions to travel have been a bigger problem.
Dozens of domestic flights in and out of Miyazaki — a city of 365,000 about 590 miles (950 kilometers) southwest of Tokyo — were grounded last week. Though some flights had been restored, airport officials said ash on the ground and in the air forced more cancellations Thursday. Volcanic ash advisories were in effect for the area, according to the Japan Meteorological Agency.
Train service was temporarily suspended in the area and many schools closed, and the local government has reported damage to crops and cattle.
Officials in Takaharu, which has a population of 9,900, have urged about 1,100 residents who live near the volcano to go to evacuation centers because of the danger of debris, ash and landslides. The warning was not mandatory, however, and some residents were staying home.
Experts said a dome of lava was growing larger inside the 4,662-foot (1,421-meter) volcano's crater, but it was not certain whether the dome would grow enough to spill over the rim and create large flows down the volcano's sides.
Avalanches of superheated gas, ash and rock have already been observed, along with spectacular electrical storms within the volcano's plume.
The Japanese islands, located along the Pacific "Ring of Fire," are volcanic in origin and dozens of volcanos — including the picturesque Mount Fuji, about 60 miles (100 kilometers) from Tokyo — are in various stages of activity. Thirteen are in the highest, or "A," level of activity, according to the Geological Survey of Japan.
In 1991, 43 people died in the eruption of Mount Unzen, also on Kyushu island.
6 Feb, 2010: Aid workers ease volcano burden
Japan Times: Aid workers ease volcano burden
MIYAKONOJO, Miyazaki Pref. (Kyodo) An increasing number of aid workers, including some who helped out after the 1995 Great Hanshin Earthquake and the 2000 major eruption of Mount Miyake, are heading to Takaharu, Miyazaki Prefecture, near Japan's latest volcanic activity.
Straight from Shinmoe: A worker shovels volcanic ash from Mount Shinmoe on Saturday in Miyakonojo, Miyazaki Prefecture. KYODO PHOTO
The volunteers hope to use their experience to ease the anxiety of people forced out of their homes since Mount Shinmoe started erupting last month.
Many of the evacuees are elderly. Other residents who still remain home also have fears of possible avalanches triggered by the volcano.
Since the eruptions first occurred Jan. 19, an estimated 80 million tons of ash have fallen on a wide area, according to the Coordinating Committee for Prediction of Volcanic Eruptions under the Meteorological Agency.
The first batch of aid workers from a Kobe-based group will arrive in Takaharu on Monday. They plan to provide hot water for evacuees. Many of them haven't been able to bathe at their shelter.
Nobuyuki Kurita, 46, head of an aid group based in Nagoya, is arranging a similar hot-water service. He said this type of care is vital for displaced people.
People who have experienced volcanic eruptions, including people who lived near Mount Miyake off the Izu Peninsula and Mount Usu in Hokkaido, are arranging counseling services for the evacuees.
"In many cases, volcanic eruptions can drag on and on, weighing heavily on the lives of evacuees," said Kana Miyashita, 41, who organized aid workers with such experience.
Meanwhile, a central government team will be sent this week to Kagoshima and Miyazaki prefectures to work up a response plan.
On Saturday, the Liberal Democratic Party grabbed the opportunity to listen to local needs, with President Sadakazu Tanigaki visiting a shelter in Takaharu.
MIYAKONOJO, Miyazaki Pref. (Kyodo) An increasing number of aid workers, including some who helped out after the 1995 Great Hanshin Earthquake and the 2000 major eruption of Mount Miyake, are heading to Takaharu, Miyazaki Prefecture, near Japan's latest volcanic activity.
Straight from Shinmoe: A worker shovels volcanic ash from Mount Shinmoe on Saturday in Miyakonojo, Miyazaki Prefecture. KYODO PHOTO
The volunteers hope to use their experience to ease the anxiety of people forced out of their homes since Mount Shinmoe started erupting last month.
Many of the evacuees are elderly. Other residents who still remain home also have fears of possible avalanches triggered by the volcano.
Since the eruptions first occurred Jan. 19, an estimated 80 million tons of ash have fallen on a wide area, according to the Coordinating Committee for Prediction of Volcanic Eruptions under the Meteorological Agency.
The first batch of aid workers from a Kobe-based group will arrive in Takaharu on Monday. They plan to provide hot water for evacuees. Many of them haven't been able to bathe at their shelter.
Nobuyuki Kurita, 46, head of an aid group based in Nagoya, is arranging a similar hot-water service. He said this type of care is vital for displaced people.
People who have experienced volcanic eruptions, including people who lived near Mount Miyake off the Izu Peninsula and Mount Usu in Hokkaido, are arranging counseling services for the evacuees.
"In many cases, volcanic eruptions can drag on and on, weighing heavily on the lives of evacuees," said Kana Miyashita, 41, who organized aid workers with such experience.
Meanwhile, a central government team will be sent this week to Kagoshima and Miyazaki prefectures to work up a response plan.
On Saturday, the Liberal Democratic Party grabbed the opportunity to listen to local needs, with President Sadakazu Tanigaki visiting a shelter in Takaharu.
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
Picture of the Day: Japan's Shinmoedake Volcano Erupts
The Atlantic: Picture of the Day: Japan's Shinmoedake Volcano Erupts
Perhaps best known outside of Japan as the setting for the 1967 James Bond film, You Only Live Twice, Shinmoedake in Kagoshima Prefecture, Kyushu, is a volcano believed to have been formed tens of thousands of years ago. Beginning in 1716, eruptions have been observed nine times over the past three hundred years, but the most recent, which began on January 19, 2011, has been described by Reuters as the most active in that long history.
The photograph above, taken from the Takaharu Town Office where an evacuation advisory was issued this past Sunday evening, shows lightning originating from the 4,662-foot-tall volcano's central crater.
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