Moderate earthquake swarm at Yellowstone?

[theHandpuppet]

No, I'm not talking about that one malfunctioning sensor that raised such hysteria a few days ago. I regularly check this site and noticed in the past week a "compact" cluster of small quakes within the caldera zone:
http://www.seis.utah.edu/req2webdir/recenteqs/

Then today a 3.5 in the same area as the cluster:

http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/map/
M 3.5 - 26km ENE of West Yellowstone, Montana
ShakeMap - IVDYFI? - I
Time2014-02-11 18:03:16 UTC-05:00
Location44.746°N 110.795°W
Depth10.8km

Fortunately not a shallow quake but I wonder if anyone else follows the seismic activity in this area?

[elfin]

1. Scary stuff - just read Super Volcano by Breining for a natural history book club

Even those of us who may feel smugly "safe" around and near the Great Lakes would not be exempt from perishing from the after effects of a big blow from Yellowstone.

Now we endure winter and occasional horrible tornadoes, but forget a catastrophe in Yellowstone could wipe out much of humanity, and eventually us with horrific consequences to climate and food supply, to name but two.

[Stargazer09]

8. What did you think?

Was the book worth buying? I know it was published several years ago, so it might not be caught up with the current science, but do you think it was written well?

[elfin]

12. Easy, informative read

I use bookfinder.com when my library doesn't have something. I think this book cost $4, shipping included. It is my FAVORITE used book site, with accurate condition info.

The geologists in the group thought the science accurate and current, though events described were a few years back -- or several million for that matter.

His writing is clear and understandable for this non-geologist.

[Stargazer09]

13. Awesome!

Now I have another book to read. Thank you.

[Bigmack]

15. Hey THANKS for the title

Just ordered the book from the library….and needless to say, there are NO other requests for it!
Ms Bigmack

[Warpy]

2. Within the caldera doesn't disturb me too much, those are normal

Big quakes to the northeast, outside the boundaries of the caldera, will scare the hell out of me, as will the rapidly (in geological terms) rising of the land that precedes them.

[theHandpuppet]

4. Could you extrapolate on that?

I'm very interested.

Edited to add: Am particularly interested in why you mention the NE area outside the caldera.

[Stargazer09]

7. I might be able to help

Yellowstone is the current location of a geologic hot spot that's sitting under the North American tectonic plate. It is very similar to the hot spot under the Hawaiian islands.

To us, it appears that the hot spot is moving in a northeasterly direction, starting near the junction of Oregon, Idaho, and Nevada, and leaving a trail of calderas across Idaho to its present location. (The hot spot is actually fairly stationary, while the continent is moving over it.)

Each time that Yellowstone erupts, it tends to do so to the northeast of the pervious eruption. Thus, when the volcano starts gearing up for another eruption, we would expect to see uplift, increased hydrothermal activity, and large earthquakes northeast of the current caldera.

[theHandpuppet]

9. Thanks for the info

I do have one other question, though. Isn't the crust much thicker over the current location of the magma chamber than it has been in the past, decreasing the likelihood of an eruption?

[Stargazer09]

10. I don't think so

It is my understanding that the mantle plume (another name for the hot spot) is such a large, deep feature that a few extra miles of continental crust won't really stop it. This is not a typical volcano, so there are many things we just won't know until the system becomes more active.

I am not a geologist, but I've been fascinated by the subject since childhood, and Yellowstone is one of my favorite things to study for fun.

[Warpy]

11. The hot spot is staying in the same place but the tectonic plate is moving over it

Former calderas are to the southwest and west southwest. Because the general direction of the North American Plate is to the SW the next time this erupts it will be to the northeast of the present caldera.

They've mapped the underground magma chamber and you can see that what's feeding it has moved on but is still managing to feed the chamber under Yellowstone. Once rock fractures anywhere above it, it will seek a shorter route to the surface.

Moving northeast won't save most of the continent from being buried in ash. When that thing blows up, there will be few ways to escape it.

[sabbat hunter]

3. earthquake swarms

happen all the time in Yellowstone. It is a geologically active area.

[theHandpuppet]

5. There was a notable swarm back in September

But just your "normal" but numerous small quakes since then. Like I said, I visit that link regularly but noticed an uptick in one concentrated area within the caldera. Didn't think much of it until the 3.5 today, though it would have really gotten my attention had it been a shallow shaker.

[2naSalit]

6. That spot

is right on the edge of the central caldera. It is also a location where there are several fumaroles/steamers/hot spots and have been "busy" for several years now.

I am near the boundary of the central caldera and often feel the quakes that occur within a fifty mile radius. It feels about the same as when a moderate gust of wind hits the house. Nothing like those rolling, wall popping things that you get in southern Calif. During the "swarms" from the past decade, you can feel a few of them but it's not anything to write home about.

Something to consider though, of late there have been a near constant series of solar flares in the M classification, for about the last five or six weeks. When the Daichi earthquake of 2011 happened, a bunch of solar observation folks (based) up in Canada noticed a correlation with solar flares. When there are class level flares, there are also earthquakes... they claim that some of the "waves" of energy emanating from the sun have an effect on the earth's magma and core material. This is what, as I interpret their claims, accounts for much of the quake and volcano activity we've been seeing all around the planet these past several years. According to the claim, the Daichi quake happened nearly simultaneously with an X class flare from a sunspot facing directly at us. They examined the Banda Ache quake/tsunami event of 2004 and found that a rather large flare had occurred at the time of the quake as well.

These claims appear to have some merit. I have been watching the solar flare activity and when there is an M or X class flare, I check the earthquake site and see that there are one, usually several, quakes (5M or greater) that take place within a relatively short period of time... which is how I determine when the flare actually occurred.

http://solarimg.org/artis/ (the portal)

http://solarimg.org/ (the blog)


So I'm guessing that with the flurry of solar flares of late, the huge magma pool under Yellowstone would be a little active. I know one thing, there won't be much of any place to run to when this one goes off. I figure I'll go out in one of the big quakes preceding the actual eruption.

[Bigmack]

16. Wow - REALLY interesting

Thanks for the informative post about stuff I know NOTHING about! Appreciate it! Ms Bigmack

[theHandpuppet]

14. This is what I meant by a moderate "swarm"

If you scroll down below the map you'll see the location of the latest quakes and their location:

http://www.seis.utah.edu/req2webdir/recenteqs/Maps/111-45_full.html

[2naSalit]

17. yes and

they are all small = insignificant. unless it's >3M it's normal activity, pretty much daily activity for a super volcano.

I went into the actual caldera today, not much going on that isn't normal. There is a new feature in the Fountain Flats complex that is recent (last few months) where a tiny little hole in the grass along one walkway is now about 3ft diameter and nearly full of rather warm water... the red fumarole, north of the paint pots is full of water too as there has been significant snowfall over the past week.

Since I was with a group of researchers who invited me to go, we discussed this very topic and they pretty much do what most in these parts do when folks out in the rest of the world start noticing that there were a bunch of little quakes in the area, they laugh. When we start getting consistent episodes of sustained 4+magnitude shakers then it might be time to figure out how you want to go (fast or slowly) because none of us will be likely survive it when it happens

The guided tours are still going in every day and there is no widespread panic here among the locals who pay attention to this stuff. Besides, when this one is ready to blow, there's no place on the planet that will be safe from its impact... so why worry about it?

Enjoy life as much as you can while you have it, but please remember to be respectful of others.

[theHandpuppet]

18. I'm jealous

I'd love to visit Yellowstone and observe all those features for myself.

[2naSalit]

19. It's one of the few wonderful

things that makes all the cost of living in the area worth it.

Funny thing too, Yellowstone is such a dynamic entity that there is always something new to discover about it whether is geological, wildlife oriented, climate oriented... and I don't think I'll ever get tired of it. Many of the folks who have lived here for decades, those moved here from someplace else, say they never get tired of it, no matter how hard they have to work to survive here... and it's harder to get by if you live in one of the gate communities. Some make a good living because they were able to start their own businesses, others are more like serfs. If you don't require a lot of amenities or money or lots of social life or material things, you can be happy here.