Mega eruption of Yellowstone's southern twin

[RyanJ]

The dangers with just one were servere but it has been found that there is another supervolcano. This new volcano is located in the Vilama Caldera in Argentina and seems to have to have matched Yellowstone's last continent-blanketing blast.

 

 

http://www.physorg.com/news62779531.html

 

- Ryan Jones

[herpguy]

Another awesome article, RyanJ.

 

The question is: Can it be stopped without causing many other problems? A supervolcano eruption with undoubtfully cause the death of many. Perhaps just learning more about volcanos can save us. What do you think?

[RyanJ]

Another awesome article' date=' RyanJ.

 

The question is: Can it be stopped without causing many other problems? A supervolcano eruption with undoubtfully cause the death of many. Perhaps just learning more about volcanos can save us. What do you think?[/quote']

 

I agree - that is the best bet. Actually I don't really see how we can actually stop an eruption at all. A town in Iceland (I forgot its name) successfuly stopped a lava flow but it took months of hard work so what chance do we actually have at preventing an eruption in the first place? I say we have no chance at all.

 

I'd say yes - we need to improve out prediction methods, maybe one day we will be able to stop eruptions but that day is not today

 

Cheers,

 

Ryan Jones

[herpguy]

I'd say yes - we need to improve out prediction methods' date=' maybe one day we will be able to stop eruptions but that day is not today

[/quote']

Oh, and I just realized that if the pressure is not released from volcano eruptions, it will build up and could cause an eruption far more worse than Yellowstone or another supervolcano.

[RyanJ]

Oh, and I just realized that if the pressure is not released from volcano eruptions, it will build up and could cause an eruption far more worse than Yellowstone or another supervolcano.

 

I don't think we could stop them even if we wanted to. The energies involved as incredible, far more then we can make.

 

Luckily it seems a lot of the energy is lost through the undersea fissures but this also causes problems such as tsunami

 

Either way there is not a great deal we can do about it except prepare some advanced warning systems.

 

Cheers,

 

Ryan Jones

[herpguy]

I don't think we could stop them even if we wanted to. The energies involved as incredible' date=' far more then we can make.

 

Luckily it seems a lot of the energy is lost through the undersea fissures but this also causes problems such as tsunami

 

Either way there is not a great deal we can do about it except prepare some advanced warning systems.

[/quote']

 

Agreed.

[insane_alien]

If we set up some large(and i mean huge) geothermal power stations that draw energy from he magma chamber could we lower the temperature enough to partially solidify the magma and hence stop the eruption(lots of power for fancy stuff like supercolliders as well as the usual) or do we not use that much energy

[AzurePhoenix]

Eh? Why stop it even if there was a dismally pathetic chance that we could? I've always been hoping to see a super-eruption in my lifetime, this just doubles that chance

[insane_alien]

i was kinda wasted when i wrote that one. yeah... lets forget it exists ok?

[pink_trike]

Another awesome article' date=' RyanJ.

 

The question is: Can it be stopped without causing many other problems? A supervolcano eruption with undoubtfully cause the death of many. Perhaps just learning more about volcanos can save us. What do you think?[/quote']

 

I doubt seriously that a supervolcano could be prevented, but even if it could...I think that we should, at the very least, consider whether saving human organisms outweighs what may be a critically important process for the larger host organism. We don't own the planet or even understand it.

[JohnB]

If a supervolcano of the caldera type could be viewed as a pressure cooker, perhaps we could install a safety vent.

 

As I understand the problem, the situation is that pressure from the hot magma builds up untill there is a catastrophic disruption of the overlying strata. It blows up.

 

Why not drill a bore hole down to the magma? This should lead to a "normal" eruption and magma flow. Okay, so you might have a river of lava running somewhere for the next 60 years or so, but I don't think that's as bad as the big bang when it comes.

I've always been hoping to see a super-eruption in my lifetime

If it's as big as they think, you'll have a ring side seat.

[dehammer]

the thing is, it may not be possible to stop it, but we should be able to lessen the damage. the main damage is the cloud of sulphic dixoide ice that will cover the earth. it will cause the long winter that last for more than a decade and will have effects for more than that. if the sulpher dixoide could be broken up, the sulpher would be more dense and will fall out faster. it will also absorb more heat than sulpher dioxide will. we could conseivably reduce the winter to a few years, making it easier for mankind to survive. civilization as we know it will be lost, but humans would have a chance to go on.

[padren]

If a supervolcano of the caldera type could be viewed as a pressure cooker' date=' perhaps we could install a safety vent.

 

As I understand the problem, the situation is that pressure from the hot magma builds up untill there is a catastrophic disruption of the overlying strata. It blows up.

 

Why not drill a bore hole down to the magma? This should lead to a "normal" eruption and magma flow. Okay, so you might have a river of lava running somewhere for the next 60 years or so, but I don't think that's as bad as the big bang when it comes.

[/quote']

 

Lets just say I wouldn't want to be on the mining crew drilling that vent.

 

I think its the only approach with the potential to deal with the problem, though it may be by tapping magma veins a great number of miles away from the actual caldera, since the vent could erode very fast and become a very rapid release, causing terrain supported by the magma bubble to cave in, and trigger a mega eruption in the process of trying to prevent one.

 

 

I live very close to yellowstone, last I heard if just the weight of the water was not in the lake, there would be an eruption immediately.

I might get to witness one AP, but I think technically it would be just after my lifetime.