Fw: Cheerful note from Jyri

----- Original Message ----- 
From: Jyri 
To: Hunter Gray 
Sent: Wednesday, December 18, 2013 1:34 AM
Subject: Re: Things can always be worse department / earthquakes, nuclear development, and Yellowstone Magma


Hunter,
If it’s even close to the conservative estimates and if and when it blows,  the dust and debris will probably block sunlight to the extent that a lot of the Northern Hemisphere will become uninhabitable,  maybe even larger parts of the globe.  
But why worry? To quote Tom Lehrer, “We’ll all go together when we go”.
Sharing your optimism,
Jyri

From: Hunter Gray 
Sent: Tuesday, December 17, 2013 11:02 PM
To: Bear Without Borders 
Cc: [email protected] ; [email protected] ; [email protected] ; [email protected] 
Subject: Things can always be worse department / earthquakes, nuclear development, and Yellowstone Magma


There has always been plenty to fret about in this world -- and, each day, via sometimes instantaneous media projections, we learn there's even more.  Frankly, I can see how people of diminished mettle would curl up with jugs of good whiskey, or even more drastic things, and listen to soothing Sirius music or get lost in a very long succession of pleasant TV fantasy flicks.
Here in Idaho, there are more earthquakes than in any other state.  In this part of Idaho, we're on what's called the Great Yellowstone Fault -- a favorite potentially massive multi-earthquake focus of the End Times folks.  If we had a little advance warning on something, we might -- might -- be able to beat it down to Flagstaff before the erupting flow of quakes struck Pocatello and beyond.  The Grand Canyon might buffer us.

And right in this quirky Gem State earthquake context, Idaho National Laboratory -- no more than 80 miles away from us -- is now constructing "The Next Generation Nuclear Plant".  This is a "biggie", sold, of course, to most of the public on the basis of lots more jobs.

Now, if that isn't enough, we now learn today about this -- very much in our immediate region. (Yeah, I still remain an optimist -- some way, somehow.)   H.
Study: Yellowstone magma much bigger than thought
 
 21 hr ago | By Matt Volz of Associated Press 
Researchers say molten rock beneath Yellowstone National Park is significantly larger than estimated, making any future eruption "a global event."

HELENA, Mont. — The hot molten rock beneath Yellowstone National Park is 2 ½ times larger than previously estimated, meaning the park's supervolcano has the potential to erupt with a force about 2,000 times the size of Mount St. Helens, according to a new study.

By measuring seismic waves from earthquakes, scientists were able to map the magma chamber underneath the Yellowstone caldera as 55 miles long, lead author Jamie Farrell of the University of Utah said Monday.

The chamber is 18 miles wide and runs at depths from 3 to 9 miles below the earth, he added.

That means there is enough volcanic material below the surface to match the largest of the supervolcano's three eruptions over the last 2.1 million years, Farrell said.

The largest blast — the volcano's first — was 2,000 times the size of the 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens in Washington state. A similar one would spew large amounts of volcanic material in the atmosphere, where it would circle the earth, he said.

"It would be a global event," Farrell said. "There would be a lot of destruction and a lot of impacts around the globe."

Related: World's biggest volcano found under Pacific Ocean

Related: Scientists discover ancient supervolcanoes on Mars

The last Yellowstone eruption happened 640,000 years ago, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. For years, observers tracking earthquake swarms under Yellowstone have warned the caldera is overdue to erupt.

Farrell dismissed that notion, saying there isn't enough data to estimate the timing of the next eruption.

"We do believe there will be another eruption, we just don't know when," he said.

There are enough instruments monitoring the seismic activity of Yellowstone that scientists would likely know well ahead of time if there was unusual activity happening and magma was moving to the surface, Farrell said.

The USGS' Yellowstone Volcano Observatory listed the park's volcano alert level as "normal" for December.

Yellowstone attracts millions of visitors with its geothermal features of geysers, hot springs and bubbling mud pots. The park just opened its gates on Sunday for its winter season.

Park officials did not immediately return a call for comment.

Related: Yellowstone's Steamboat geyser has rare eruption

A large earthquake at Yellowstone is much more likely than a volcano eruption, Farrell said.

The 7.5-magnitude Hebgen Lake earthquake killed 28 people there in 1959.

Farrell presented his findings last week to the American Geophysical Union. He said he is submitting it to a scholarly journal for peer review and publication.

Brigham Young University geology professor Eric Christianson said the study by Farrell and University of Utah Professor Bob Smith is very important to understanding the evolution of large volcanos such as Yellowstone's.

"It helps us understand the active system," Christianson said. "It's not at the point where we need to worry about an imminent eruption, but every piece of information we have will prepare us for that eventuality."

——

HUNTER GRAY [HUNTER BEAR/JOHN R SALTER JR] Mi'kmaq / 
St. Francis Abenaki / St. Regis Mohawk 
Member, National Writers Union AFL-CIO

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