Super Volcano beneath Yellowstone National Park in US is larger than estimates: Scientists

Yellowstone National Park in US have super volcano than previously estimated

Scientists in the first week of December 2013 in their report claimed that the super volcano lying beneath Yellowstone National Park in US is much larger than it was thought previously. As per the study, the magma chamber is 2.5 times bigger than previous estimations and the carven stretches for more than 90 Kilometers and contain 200 to 600 cubic kilometer of molten rock.

The findings were presented at the American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting in San Francisco. In case the Yellowstone Super Volcano is blown now than it would bring in catastrophic consequences. The major volcanic eruption happened 640000 years ago, which sent ash across North America and affected the climate of earth.

To map the magma chamber, the team of scientists used a network of Seismometers situated around the park. They recorded the earthquakes in and around Yellowstone to measure the seismic waves as they travel through ground. The waves from the hot and molten material travel slower and this helps the scientists to measure, what is beneath the earth over there.

As per the findings the scientists found a colossal, magma chamber that reach depths from 2 kilometer and 15 kilometer. They also identified that the carven was 90 kilometers long and 30 kilometer wide.

BY now, there have been only three major eruptions so far, the first happened around 2.1 million years ago, the second one happened around 1.3 million years ago and the third one happened 640000 years ago.