A geyser is hiding underneath Yellowstone National Park Recently woke up. But don’t worry: that doesn’t mean the park’s supervillains will soon erupt, according to a new study.
In March 2018, following a 3.5-year-long hiatus, Steamboat geyser Suddenly erupted, steam, mud, sand and rocks spread in the air. The previously inactive geyser erupted 32 times in 2018, recorded 48 times in 2019 and 48 times in 2020 (its previous record of 29 years of eruption was set in 1964), The U.S. Geological Survey reported Monday (Jan 4)
Some scientists feared that Geyser’s dramatic expedition was the epitome of volcanic activity at Yellowstone. But it turns out that frequent eruptions of steamboats do not cause volcanic eruptions, according to a new study published in the journal Jan Naline in January. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Related: Rainbow Basin: Colorful Yellowstone Colorful Elegant Prismatic Hot Spring Photos
The Yellowstone Stone has not had a major eruption in 70,000 years, but scientists are constantly looking for clues as to when the next “big one” will happen. Also difficult to predict are so-called hydrothermal eruptions or geyser outbursts, which can be fatal; In December 2019, 22 people died unexpectedly Hydrothermal explosion on the White Island of New Zealand.
“Hydrothermal eruptions – basically the eruption of hot water because it comes in contact with hot rock – are the biggest risks of yellowstone,” said Michael Manga, senior author of the study, a professor of Earth and Planetary Science at the University of California, Berkeley. Said in a statement. “The reason they’re problematic is that they’re very difficult to predict; it’s not clear if there are any predecessors that would allow you to be warned.”
The steamboat geyser woke up again, when its sudden activity did not coincide with the underground magma movement, which is seen before a volcanic eruption.
This is not to say that there has been no change in the geology surrounding the steamboat geyser. Before the steamboat awoke again, the ground around the geyser rose, Earthquake activity There was a slight increase in the area and the atmosphere in the area began to release a little more heat than before, the manga and its allies found. But other dormant geysers in the immediate vicinity, known as the Norris geyser basin, have not been turned on again, and the groundwater temperature of the steamboat burst has not risen.
Moreover, except for the first eruption in 2018, no evaporation of the steamboat took place after a period of high seismic activity, the researchers found.
“We have found no evidence that there is a large [volcanic] An explosion is coming, “the manga said. They couldn’t even determine why the steamboat reawakened, and the study called the reason for its reac creation” unclear. “
Long and frequent explosions
During their investigation, the team also found out why the steamboat spruce is so tall that it has become one of the most active geysers in the world. By comparing the columns of 11 geysers in Chile, Iceland, the United States and Russia, with the estimated depth of water reservoirs supplying each geyser, the team learned that ernda reservoirs lead to tal eruption planes. In the case of steamboats, the highest column in an underground reservoir of about 82 feet (25 m) is 277 feet (115 m).
Meanwhile, two geysers in Chile, with reservoirs 6.5 feet and 16 feet (2 and 5 meters) below the ground, led to a breakdown of only 3 feet (1 meter).
“The steamboat is smaller because it stores more water than other geysers, and therefore, more energy is available to power the explosions,” the researchers wrote in the study.
The team also determined that changes in rainfall and snowmelt were largely responsible for variations in steamboat explosions. In the spring and early summer, snow and rain melted into underground reservoirs, increasing groundwater pressure, the researchers said. Similarly, during winter, less water enters underground reservoirs, causing water pressure to decrease and longer periods to occur between eruptions.
The water in the reservoir comes from underground, so the water that erupts in the geyser eruption is decades or centuries old, Manga said.
Published on Original Living Science.
