YELLOWSTONE CALDERA

GEOGRAPHIC LOCATION

• North America
• America
• North American plate
• Hot spot

CLASSIFICATION

• Super volcano
• Explosive and effusive

BACKGROUND

• The park contains half of the earth's geothermal features
• The Thunderbird, the Crow, and the Steam Vents

BACKGROUND

• Population density: 0.2 people per square mile
• Three extremely large explosive eruptions have occurred at Yellowstone in the past 2.1 million years with a recurrence interval of about 600,000 to 800,000 years. More frequent eruptions of basalt and rhyolite lava flows have occurred before and after the large caldera-forming events.Jul 6, 2012

HAZARDS/ RISKS

• Hydrothermal explosions
• Lava flows
• Ash/tephra fall
• Pyroclastic flows
• Earthquakes
• Climate change

CONCLUSION

• Current geologic activity at Yellowstone has remained relatively constant since scientists first started monitoring more than 30 years ago. Another caldera-forming eruption is theoretically possible, but it is very unlikely in the next thousand or even 10,000 years. Scientists have also found no indication of an imminent smaller eruption of lava.