Yellowstone Treasures Blog

This is the basic question underlying current research by geologists who study Yellowstone, according to “Ring of Fire,” an article by John Dvorak in the Fall 2010 issue of National Parks, the magazine of the National Parks Conservation Association.

Dvorak cites two curious incidents in which Norris Geyser Basin experienced sudden drastic changes. July 2003, the soil’s temperature rose to 200 degrees F and thermal features responded in various ways. March 2004, five bison died suddenly from inhaling lethal concentrations of gases.

Later in 2004 the ground surface in a closely monitored part of the park began to rise after nearly a decade of slow subsidence. Early 2010 experienced the largest swarm of earthquakes in 20 years.

What’s going on? Are these events related or are they coincidences? Is there something else we should try to understand?

The article concludes with assurances that, although there is a strong possibility of an eruption of Yellowstone’s caldera (named the “supervolcano” in all the alarmist press about the park), it’s not going to happen any time soon. “Serious volcanic activity would follow a considerable amount of [ground] deformation, intense earthquake swarms, and steam explosions,” says Jake Lowenstern, head of the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory, the group that is now using sophisticated equipment to track all signs of geological change in the park.

As for me, I’m reassured that park science is in good hands, but I want to watch closely what is learned as it unfolds—and I’d just as soon not be around when my beloved park decides it’s time to blow!