The Steamboat geyser in Yellowstone National Park remained dormant for more than three years before waking up again in 2018 and has erupted 129 times since then – causing concern that it could lead to the “big” volcano.
A team from the University of California – Berkeley took on the task of discovering the truth beneath the world’s highest active geyser and found little indication of the movement of the magma, which is the key to an eruption.
Researchers have collected data from geysers around the world and found that due to the size of the Steamboat, the geyser stores a large amount of water that provides energy to explode. It has a tank about 82 feet below the ground and a 377-foot-high column.
The study also found that precipitation and melting snow could have played a role in activating it, as groundwater pressure pushed more water into the tank, which provided additional hot water to erupt more frequently.
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Researchers have found little indication of the movement of the magma, which is the key to an eruption, hiding under the Yellowstone Steamboat Geyser
The Steamboat geyser came back to life in March 2018, after its three and a half years of sleep, releasing steam, mud and rocks into the air.
In 2018 it erupted 32 times, then recorded a record 49 eruptions in 2019 and another 48 times in 2020. Its previous record was 29 eruptions in 1964.
The increased activity has caused fear among scientists who thought it was a harbinger of possible explosive volcanic eruptions in the surrounding geyser basin.
Yellowstone’s supervolcano has not erupted in 70,000 years, but that doesn’t stop experts from looking closely at any indication that the “big one” might appear soon.
The Steamboat geyser came to life in March 2018, after three and a half years of sleep, releasing steam, mud and rocks into the air. In 2018 it erupted 32 times, then recorded 49 record eruptions in 2019 and another 48 times in 2020. Its previous record was 29 eruptions in 1964
The research team considered that the earth around the geyser somewhat increased its seismicity before the geyser reactivated. The area emits more heat into the atmosphere, but the temperature of the groundwater that propels the Steamboat eruptions has not risen.
Michael Manga, a professor of earth and planetary sciences at the University of California-Berkeley and lead author of the study, said: “Hydrothermal explosions – basically hot water that explodes because it comes in contact with hot rock – are one of the most great dangers in Yellowstone. ‘
“The reason they are problematic is that they are very difficult to predict; it is not clear if there are precursors to allow you to issue a warning. ‘
The manga and his team took into account the fact that the earth around the geyser increased and the seismicity increased somewhat before the geyser reactivated.
The area emits more heat into the atmosphere, but this did not trigger an awakening of any other geyser ready to sleep in the pool.
The team also notes that the temperature of the groundwater that propels the Steamboat eruptions has not risen.
“We find no evidence of a major eruption. I think this is an important meal, ‘said Manga.
The manga and his team set out to answer three questions about Steamboat: “Why did he wake up again? Why is its period so variable, ranging from 3 to 17 days? and why does it spring so high? They could find answers to two.
The team collected height measurements from 11 different geysers in the US, Russia, Iceland and Chile, with the estimated depth of the water reservoir from which their eruptions come.
They found that the deeper the tank, the higher the eruption jet.
They found that the deeper the tank, the higher the eruption jet. The Steamboat Geyser, with a tank about 82 feet below the ground, has the highest column of 377 feet. This allows the tank to fill with more water to feed more eruptions
The Steamboat Geyser, with a tank about 82 feet below the ground, has the highest column of 377 feet.
“What you really do is you fill a container, it reaches a critical point, you empty it, and then you run out of liquid that can erupt until it fills up again,” Manga said.
– The deeper you go, the greater the pressure. The higher the pressure, the higher the boiling temperature. ‘
“And the hotter the water, the more energy it has and the bigger the geyser.”
To explore the reasons for Steamboat Geyser variability, the team collected records of 109 eruptions that return to its reactivation in 2018.
Melted snow and rain added groundwater pressure, which provided more hot water for eruptions.
Melted snow and rain added groundwater pressure, which provided more hot water for eruptions. Pictured is Steamboat erupting on August 22, 2020
The data included weather and flow statistics, seismometers and readings of soil deformation and observations from the public.
They also analyzed Steamboat’s previous active and latent periods and nine other Yellowstone geysers and surface-to-surface thermal emissions data from the Norris Geyser Basin.
After highlighting, the team concluded that rainfall and snowmelt contributed to the variable period.
Melted snow and rain added groundwater pressure, which provided more hot water for eruptions.
The manga and his team failed to establish why Steamboat Geyser started again on March 15, 2018, after three years and 193 days of inactivity, although the geyser is known for being much more variable than Old Faithful, which usually disappears. every 90 minutes.
CAN EROSION BE PREVENTED FROM YELLOW SUPERVOLCANO?
Recent research has revealed a small magma chamber, known as an upper crustal magma reservoir, beneath the surface.
NASA believes that drilling up to 10 km into the supervolcano beneath Yellowstone National Park to pump water at high pressure could cool it.
Despite the fact that the mission would cost $ 3.46 billion (£ 2.63 billion), NASA considers it “the most viable solution”.
Using heat as a resource is also an opportunity to pay for the plan – it could be used to create a geothermal power plant, which generates electricity at highly competitive prices of about $ 0.10 (£ 0.08). per kWh.
But this method of subduing a supervolcano has the potential to turn around and trigger the supervolcanic eruption that NASA is trying to prevent.
“Drilling at the top of the magma chamber” would be very risky; ”However, careful drilling in the lower parts could work.
This USGS chart shows how a “super eruption” of molten lava beneath Yellowstone National Park would spread ash in the United States
Even apart from the potentially devastating risks, Yellowstone’s drilling cooling plan is not straightforward.
To do this would be an extremely slow process, which happens at a speed of one meter per year, which means that it would take tens of thousands of years to cool it completely.
And yet, there is no guarantee that it will be successful for at least hundreds or possibly thousands of years.