Hot water fountains with an outstanding natural beauty… Millions from different parts of the globe visit the place every year to experience all these. However, a terrifying monster sleeps beneath the vast park! Geologists are of the opinion that the sleeping giant can depopulate the entire continent in an instant, if it suddenly wakes up.

Apart from canyons, rivers and mountain ranges, the Yellowstone National Park, spanning an area of 8,983 square kilometres, also has Yellowstone Lake, one of the largest high-elevation lakes in North America that is centred over the Yellowstone Caldera, the largest super volcano on the continent! Geologists discovered large lava-filled chambers beneath the park in 2015. They claimed that the North American continent could be wiped out, if the lava came out from this volcano! Since they made the prediction, the concern has started to increase.

The Yellowstone super volcano had woken up several times in the past, with lava, ash and gas coming out from it. Its magnitude was high enough to surpass 10 Mount Everests! However, the leading geologists believe that the volcano last erupted millions of years ago. They have opined that if the Yellowstone volcano erupts again, the level of devastation due to it would be unimaginable! Geologists have explained that the flow of lava would be thousand times more than any other volcano and it could easily cover the US with a sheet of dust, affecting the entire world.

Geologists have estimated that if the volcano erupts, then its lava and fireballs would spread up to 1,609km! Even the cloud of smoke coming out of this volcano would cover the Sun! Inventively, sunlight would not reach the surface and the temperature would start dropping due to which the Ice Age could return to the Earth. Plants and trees would die because of lack of sunlight and there would be shortages of food all over the world. Interestingly, Yellowstone Park is highly earthquake prone! According to geologists, the area experiences at least five tremors per day on an average! Earthquakes often act as catalysts to awaken dormant volcanoes.

The question arises here: Why has the Yellowstone volcano not woken up over the years in spite of all these? Experts have mentioned several reasons behind this. The Earth’s surface is made up of tectonic plates, which are large sections of the Earth’s crust that move slowly on top of the mantle. Usually, earthquakes occur when tectonic plates grind together at their edges and the friction causes them to suddenly slip, releasing energy in waves that travel through the crust. Interestingly, Yellowstone National Park is not located at the junction of two plates. Hence, the intensity of earthquakes is quite low in this area. Often people do not feel the tremors that have a magnitude of two or less on the Richter Scale! Geologists have opined that the lava-filled chambers beneath the park cause the surface to shake repeatedly because of thermal stress. They do not believe that the chambers would cause the eruption of the volcano.

According to experts, an amazing game of nature is going on beneath Yellowstone National Park. Usually, earthquakes trigger the eruption of lava. However, it is completely different in this case, as recurring tremors are felt due to the thermal pressure of the hot lava! In fact, the earthquakes work as a safety valve. Otherwise, the pressure would have been built up to the point where it would eventually wake up the volcano! Geologists have been studying the area ever since the discovery of the huge lava-filled chambers beneath the park. They have claimed that only 5-15% of the lava beneath the park is in molten state.

Yellowstone super volcano has secured the 21st place in the list of the most dangerous volcanoes in the world. Geologists are of the opinion that although it is slightly larger than other volcanoes, the possibility of its eruption is just 0.00014%. Usually, a volcano erupts if it is located at the intersection of two plates and its lava is in molten form. There are several hot water fountains in this park and their water flows out over the surface. The temperature of the water is 98 degrees Celsius or more. Most importantly, acid is mixed in this water and it is so intense that even iron could melt easily!

Researchers have stated that due to the presence of molten lava in the chambers below the park, sulphur is constantly being released from there. The gas reacts with water to form sulphuric acid. Hence, no one can take a bath in the water of any of the fountains here! Among the hot water fountains, the Old Faithful is the most popular one. Every 60-64 minutes, water comes out of this fountain with a huge force. The time limit of which recently increased slightly to 94 minutes.

Another interesting aspect of Yellowstone National Park is its colourful soil. After conducting research, scientists have found 2,400-million-year-old thermophilic and acidophilic lives in this region. They still survive in hot and acid-rich environments. According to researchers, these lives play an important role behind the colourful land and indescribable natural beauty. The US researchers have claimed that the Yellowstone super volcano erupted 70.6 million years ago for the last time. The park attracts four million tourists every year on an average.

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Published by Koushik Das

Koushik Das (born on May 16, 1976 in Kolkata) is a career journalist. Based in the Indian capital of New Delhi, Koushik writes mainly about foreign policies and current geopolitical issues, and rarely about other topics. His own political ideas are highly influenced by Antonio Gramsci, Louis Althusser, Michel Foucault, Michael Oakeshott and others. English philosopher and political theorist Oakeshott (Dec 11, 1901-Dec 19, 1990) says that “in political activity, men sail a boundless and bottomless sea. There is neither harbour for shelter nor floor for anchorage, neither starting-place, nor appointed destination. But we have to keep afloat”. (Rationalism in Politics, 1962) As a student of Political Science, Koushik loves to share his views on issues, which have great impacts on his thought process (and also on India, South Asia and of course on the global community), with his readers through his website – Boundless Ocean of Politics. By doing so, he tries to keep himself afloat. You will find some of his articles in https://inserbia.info/today/ (https://inserbia.info/today/author/kou_das13_i/), as he has been trying to assess the global geopolitics since 2003. You can also mail him at kousdas@gmail.com View all posts by Koushik Das