jlf1961
Posts: 14840
Joined: 6/10/2008 From: Somewhere Texas Status: offline
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quote:
YELLOWSTONE VOLCANO OBSERVATORY MONTHLY UPDATE Tuesday, October 1, 2013 12:57 PM MDT (Tuesday, October 1, 2013 18:57 UTC) YELLOWSTONE VOLCANO (CAVW #1205-01-) 44°25'48" N 110°40'12" W, Summit Elevation 9203 ft (2805 m) Current Volcano Alert Level: NORMAL Current Aviation Color Code: GREEN The U.S. Volcano Observatories will remain operational during the lapse of federal government appropriations. Basic volcano monitoring will continue, as will forecasts and regular updates of volcanic activity. However, because of reduced staff, instrument network maintenance will cease, meaning that our monitoring capability will degrade over time. Our websites will remain functional, but only those pages containing information about current volcano hazards will be maintained. September 2013 Yellowstone Monthly Earthquake Activity Report During September 2013, the University of Utah reports 469 earthquakes were located in the Yellowstone National Park region. The largest event was a minor earthquake of magnitude 3.6 on September 15, 2013 at 09:53 AM MDT, located about seven miles north of Old Faithful, WY. September seismicity in Yellowstone was marked by five distinct clusters of episodic earthquakes: 1) A notable swarm of 246 earthquakes, ~5 miles north of Old Faithful, WY, began September 13 and tapered off September 20th, including the largest event of the month on September 15 (magnitude 3.6). 2) 81 events occurred in an episodic swarm ~17 miles east-northeast of West Yellowstone, MT, with swarm activity occurring September 13 and again from September 24, through September 30. The largest earthquake of the swarm (magnitude 3.5) occurred September 13, at 06:56 AM MDT~16 miles south-southwest of Mammoth, WY. 3) A small swarm of 27 earthquakes, ~6 miles north of West Yellowstone, MT, took place on September 27 and 28, with the largest event (magnitude 2.3) occurring September 27, at 09:40 AM MDT. 4) A small swarm of 23 earthquakes, ~9 miles north-northeast of Old Faithful, WY, began September 3 and ended September 5. The largest earthquake (magnitude 2.2) occurred September 4, at 06:10 AM MDT ~9 miles north-northeast of Old Faithful, WY. 5) The southernmost September 2013 swarm of 21 earthquakes, ~7 miles south-southwest of West Thumb, WY, occurred September 10. The largest earthquake (magnitude 3.3) took place in the center of the swarm at 06:46 AM MDT. Yellowstone earthquake activity in September was at elevated levels during the above swarms but, has returned to a relatively normal background level by October 1, 2013. Slow subsidence of the caldera, which began in early 2010, continues. Current deformation patterns at Yellowstone remain within historical norms. Please see: http://www.uusatrg.utah.edu/ts_ysrp.html for a map of GPS stations in the Yellowstone vicinity. For a graph of daily GPS positions at White Lake, within the Yellowstone caldera, please see: http://pbo.unavco.org/station/overview/WLWY The Yellowstone Volcano Observatory (YVO) provides long-term monitoring of volcanic and earthquake activity in the Yellowstone National Park region. Yellowstone is the site of the largest and most diverse collection of natural thermal features in the world and the first National Park. YVO is one of the five USGS Volcano Observatories that monitor volcanoes within the United States for science and public safety. YVO Member agencies: USGS, Yellowstone National Park, University of Utah, University of Wyoming, UNAVCO, Inc., Wyoming State Geological Survey, Montana Bureau of Mines and Geology, Idaho Geological Survey Source subsidence (Earth Sciences / Geological Science) Geology the gradual sinking of landforms to a lower level as a result of earth movements, mining operations, etc. The various super volcanoes around the world have a special interest for me. Of the seven now known, the United States has Long Valley in California and Valles Caldera, located northwest of Santa Fe. All of these areas have frequent activity but none show signs of a possible eruption. Long Valley is a bit of a fluke, since it is located above the Pacific Coast Volcanic chain, but if you trace all the eruptions of the hot spot presently under Yellow Stone, you will discover that they eventually lead you to Long Valley. This is because the hot spot is actually stationary and the tectonic plate is moving, In a few billion years, the hot spot under yellow stone will be somewhere in Canada, not that any of us will be concerned with it. Since the advent of the Internet, Yellow Stone has been a favorite of the "End of World" crowd. There have been countless predictions about its impending eruption from bible thumpers, amateur geologists, new age Native American spiritualists, with the last eruption supposed to happen last december as part of that Mayan prophecy thing. Oh, there is a suspected hotspot in Idaho near the Wyoming border, but there is no evident caldera, just a lot of unusually hot springs and the odd geyser. While it is true that Yellow Stone has erupted on an average of every 650,000 years and we are long over due, that is based on three eruptions, the other prehistoric calderas stretching back to the southwest have not had enough study to determine if that average holds true.
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Boy, it sure would be nice if we had some grenades, don't you think? You cannot control who comes into your life, but you can control which airlock you throw them out of. Paranoid Paramilitary Gun Loving Conspiracy Theorist AND EQUAL OPPORTUNI
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