Breining: Super Volcano

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Greg Breining, Super Volcano : The Ticking Time Bomb beneath Yellowstone National Park. St. Paul [MN] : Voyageur Press, 2007. 256 pages; illustrated, maps; includes bibliographical references and index.

The inside cover blurb summarizes the book as "Using field research and interviews with geologists and a paleontologist, journalist Greg Breining uncovers the true story of the Yellowstone super volcano. It is capable of expelling more than 200 cubic miles of magma in a single blow. Breining looks at how geologists pieced together the puzzle of the Yellowstone super volcano, the devastation it has wrought, the natural wonders it has created, where it stands in relation to other prehistoric super eruptions, how it compares with famous deadly eruptions throughout history--and, finally, what will happen in the next big blast."

The book was written for the layperson so I was able to understand much of the science behind volcanoes. I was both fascinated and fearful by the prospect of an eruption from this super volcano. It has been bulging, i.e., raising the level of the land on top of it by six inches per year in parts of the park and even more in other areas of the park. 2000 earthquakes occur each year here which tells me it is about to erupt. In 1985 there were 3,000 earthquakes with as many as 200 per day; most are too small to feel. It's caldera is a massive 50 miles by 30 miles. Yikes! Imagine the debris to come out of this one. However, an eruption of a volcano of this size would devastate the western U.S. and then the rest of the world by shadowing the planet from the sun with its ashfall and other pollutants. Agriculture would suffer and famine prevail. We would experience a global volcanic winter for years. Still, part of me would like to witness nature's catastrophe.

I visited Yellowstone in the early 1980s and was fascinated by the mud pots and geysers, not realizing that they were evidence of an active volcano. What makes the Yellowstone volcano unique is that it sits on a hot spot from deep within the earth. Hot spots are formed by upwellings of molten rock caused either by earth's fluid mantle flowing upward 2000 miles to the park surface or from just beneath earth's crust, about 100 miles below the surface of the park. There are 30 hot spots on the planet and most are in the seas. The Yellowstone hot spot has elevated the Yellowstone Plateau 1,700 feet higher than it would normally be. To make matters worse, when plates move, the hot spots move and now there are 3 calderas in the Yellowstone volcano. Most other volcanoes are formed by subduction zones and are less threatening. Subduction zones occur when dense balsatic sea plates grind beneath granitic continental plates and are usually seen on seacoasts.

Eruptions of volcanoes in the past changed the political and religious landscape. I have wondered how it would impact the U.S. Would terrorism increase? There would probably be big changes in Congress or would Congress be overthrown by a dictator? I presume the fundamentalists of all religions would say it was God's wrath on a sick society. Millions would die. What is the likelihood of an eruption from the Yellowstone Super Volcano? The author says it's the same likelihood of an asteroid hitting the planet. The fact that an asteroid will closely pass the earth in 2 years offers no comfort. But hey, you gotta die from something, right?

I found Super Volcano to be an engaging treatise on the Yellowstone super volcano. It was easy to read and understand even though there was a lot of science backing up Breining's statements. Perhaps it was more interesting to me because I have been to Yellowstone and loved it. Now I want to go back and find the calderas.

-- Notes by VS