The Geyser vaporizer in Yellowstone National Park remained dormant for more than three years before waking up again in 2018 and has since erupted 129 times, causing concern that it could lead to the “big” volcano.
A team from the University of California – Berkeley took on the task of discovering the truth beneath the world’s highest active geyser and found few indications of magma movement, which is key to an eruption.
The researchers collected data from geysers around the world and found that because of the size of Steamboat, the geyser stores a large amount of water that provides energy to cause explosions. It has a reservoir about 82 feet underground and a column 377 feet high.
The study also determined that precipitation and melting snow could have played an important role in activation, as groundwater pressure pushed more water into the reservoir which provided additional hot water to erupt more frequently. .
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Researchers found little indication of the movement of magma, which is key to an eruption, lurking under the Yellowstone Steamboat geyser.
The Steamboat geyser came back to life in March 2018, after its three-and-a-half-year dream, releasing steam, mud and rocks into the air.
In 2018 it erupted 32 times, then recorded a record 49 eruptions in 2019 and another 48 times in 2020. Its previous record was 29 eruptions in 1964.
The increase in activity caused fear to some scientists who thought it was a harbinger of possible explosive volcanic eruptions in the surrounding geyser basin.
The Yellowstone supervolcano has not erupted in 70,000 years, but that does not deter experts from watching closely for any indication that the “big” may soon appear.
The Steamboat geyser came to life in March 2018, after its three-and-a-half-year dream, releasing steam, mud and rocks into the air. In 2018 it erupted 32 times, then recorded a record 49 eruptions in 2019 and another 48 times in 2020. Its previous record was 29 eruptions in 1964.
The research team noted that the terrain around the geyser increased seismicity before the geyser reactivated. The area emits more heat into the atmosphere, but the temperature of the groundwater that propels Steamboat eruptions has not risen.
Michael Manga, a professor of earth and planetary sciences at the University of California-Berkeley, and lead author of the study, said: “Hydrothermal explosions (basically the explosion of hot water because it comes in contact with hot rock ) are one of the biggest dangers in Yellowstone. “
‘The reason they are problematic is that they are very difficult to predict; it is unclear if there are precursors that allow you to warn. “
Manga and his team noted that the terrain around the geyser increased and seismicity increased slightly before the geyser reactivated.
The area gives off more heat to the atmosphere, but this has not caused the awakening of any other inactive geyser in the basin.
The team also notes that the temperature of the groundwater that propels Steamboat eruptions has not risen.
“We don’t find any evidence that a big rash is coming. I think it’s an important takeaway,” Manga said.
Manga and his team set out to answer three questions about Steamboat: “Why did you wake up? Why is your period so variable, ranging from 3 to 17 days? And Why does it come out so high?” They were able to find answers to two.
The team collected height measurements from eleven different geysers in the United States, Russia, Iceland, and Chile with the estimated depth of the water tank where their eruptions come from.
They found that the deeper the reservoir, the higher the eruption jet.
They found that the deeper the reservoir, the higher the eruption jet. Steamboat Geyser, with a reservoir about 82 feet underground, has the highest column at 377 feet. This allows the reservoir to be filled with more water to feed more eruptions
Steamboat Geyser, with a reservoir about 82 feet underground, has the highest column at 377 feet.
“What you’re really doing is filling a container, it gets to a critical point, you empty it, and then you run out of liquid that can explode until it refills,” Manga said.
“The deeper inside, the higher the pressure. The higher the pressure, the higher the boiling temperature.
“And the hotter the water, the more energy it has and the higher the geyser.”
To explore the reasons for Steamboat Geyser’s variability, the team collected records related to 109 eruptions dating back to its reactivation in 2018.
The melting of snow and rain added pressure to the groundwater which provided more hot water for the eruptions.
The melting of snow and rain added pressure to the groundwater which provided more hot water for the eruptions. The photo shows Steamboat erupting on August 22, 2020
Data included weather and current flow statistics, seismometer readings, and ground deformation, and public observations.
They also examined the previous active and inactive periods of Steamboat and nine other Yellowstone geysers, and thermal emission data from the land surface of the Norris Geyser Basin.
After reviewing the record, the team concluded that rainfall and snowmelt contributed to the variable period.
The melting of snow and rain added pressure to the groundwater which provided more hot water for the eruptions.
Manga and his team were unable to determine why Steamboat Geyser started again on March 15, 2018, after three years and 193 days of inactivity, although the geyser is known to be much more variable than Old Faithful , which normally shuts off every 90 minutes.
COULD A YELLOW THICK YELLOW SUPERVOLCLE BE AVOIDED?
Recent research found a small magma chamber, known as a magma deposit in the upper crust, beneath the surface.
NASA believes drilling up to 10 km into the supervolcano under Yellowstone National Park to pump high-pressure water could cool it.
Despite the fact that the mission would cost $ 3.466 billion (£ 2.63 million), NASA considers it “the most viable solution.”
The use of heat as a resource is also an opportunity to pay for the plan: it could be used to create a geothermal plant, which generates electricity at extremely competitive prices of about $ 0.10 (0.08 pounds) per kWh. .
But this method of holding a supervolcano has the potential to fire up and cause the supervolcanic eruption that NASA is trying to prevent.
“Drilling at the top of the magma chamber” would be very risky; “however, careful drilling could work from the lower sides.
This USGS chart shows how a “super eruption” of molten lava beneath Yellowstone National Park would spread ash across the United States
Even in addition to the potential devastating risks, the plan to cool Yellowstone with perforations is not straightforward.
Doing so would be an extremely slow process that would occur at a rate of one meter per year, meaning it would take tens of thousands of years to cool it completely.
However, there would be no guarantee that it would be successful for at least hundreds or possibly thousands of years.