Space and Science

Magma expanse under Yellowstone supervolcano more vast than thought

Ben Brumfield
By Ben Brumfield, CNN
5 minute read
Updated 10:57 AM EDT, Thu May 14, 2015
Yellowstone National Park's Grand Prismatic Spring, the park's largest hot spring, makes for a stunning photo in this aerial shot.
Yellowstone National Park's Grand Prismatic Spring, the park's largest hot spring, makes for a stunning photo in this aerial shot.
CNN
Underneath the picturesque Yellowstone National Park, in the U.S. state of Wyoming, is a supervolcano with the potential to change life on Earth.
Underneath the picturesque Yellowstone National Park, in the U.S. state of Wyoming, is a supervolcano with the potential to change life on Earth.
CNN
Dr Bob Smith believes a supervolcano eruption under Yellowstone would cover the western U.S with ash that would also enter the jet stream potentially crippling air travel and the world's food supply.
Dr Bob Smith believes a supervolcano eruption under Yellowstone would cover the western U.S with ash that would also enter the jet stream potentially crippling air travel and the world's food supply.
CNN
Old Faithful is one of Yellowstone's most popular geological features. Underground is an enormous plume of very hot rock which fuels every bubbling pool and geyser in the park.
Old Faithful is one of Yellowstone's most popular geological features. Underground is an enormous plume of very hot rock which fuels every bubbling pool and geyser in the park.
CNN
Scientists at the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory at the University of Utah are constantly monitoring the underground supervolcano for ground movements and earthquake activity.
Scientists at the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory at the University of Utah are constantly monitoring the underground supervolcano for ground movements and earthquake activity.
CNN
They measure seismic readings of the frequent earthquakes happening in and around Yellowstone National Park. Earthquakes can be indicators to when the next supervolcanic eruption would occur.
They measure seismic readings of the frequent earthquakes happening in and around Yellowstone National Park. Earthquakes can be indicators to when the next supervolcanic eruption would occur.
CNN
Supervolcano danger under Old Faithful

Story highlights

Scientist measured the thousands of small earthquakes in Yellowstone to scan the earth underneath it

They discovered a vast magma reservoir fueling a vast one scientists already knew about

Prehistoric eruptions of Yellowstone supervolcano were some of Earth's largest explosions

CNN  — 

As tourists stroll between Yellowstone’s 300 active geysers, taking selfies in front of thousands of bubbling, boiling mud pots and hissing steam vents, they are treading on one of the planet’s greatest time bombs.

The park is a supervolcano so enormous, it has puzzled geophysicists for decades, but now a research group, using seismic technology to scan its depths, have made a bombshell discovery.

Yellowstone’s magma reserves are many magnitudes greater than previously thought, say scientists from the University of Utah.

Underneath the national park’s attractions and walking paths is enough hot rock to fill the Grand Canyon nearly 14 times over. Most of it is in a newly discovered magma reservoir, which the scientists featured in a study published on Thursday in the journal Science.

It may help scientists better understand why Yellowstone’s previous eruptions, in prehistoric times, were some of Earth’s largest explosions in the last few million years.

The Utah scientists also created the first three-dimensional depiction of the geothermal structure under Yellowstone, which comprises three parts.