Seismologists are concerned about the situation around the Yellowstone supervolcano, located in the heart of the United States. In the event of its eruption, North America will virtually cease to exist, turning into a lifeless desert resembling a surface
Mars. And the worst thing is that this misfortune can happen … at any moment.
IS IT TIME TO PANIC?
What if it's not so scary? Maybe the eruption, if it ever happens, will not be so destructive? Alas, Yellowstone has already shown his violent temper. About 640 thousand years ago, during the last eruption of a supervolcano, its upper part fell into a hot abyss, forming a hole in the ground with red-hot magma splashing in it, measuring 55 by 72 kilometers! An incredible amount of lava, ash, stones splashed out. If such an incident occurs today, it is difficult to imagine how it will turn out for the whole of North America. Since the 1980s, the number of tremors in the Yellowstone area has only increased from year to year. And the activity of the volcano in 2007 was so high that it required the convocation of a special US Scientific Council. which was attended by leading seismologists, geophysicists,as well as the United States Secretary of Defense and the heads of the CIA, NSA, FBI.
Together, they developed an agreed position, a clear plan that determined once and for all what to do when the Yellowstone powder keg did explode. Then, fortunately, everything worked out. But it is not known whether it will manage in the future. Since then, the US Geological Survey has regularly published reports of observations of the Yellowstone supervolcano caldera. The last of them - dated July 1, 2016 - showed no signs of an imminent eruption. But many researchers are skeptical about the official reports. Indeed, in June 2016 alone, 70 earthquakes occurred in Yellowstone National Park, which is only two earthquakes less than in May of the same year. What does this mean? Just one thing: the supervolcano is constantly shaking. And each of the aftershocks is fraught with a catastrophic eruption capable of destroying the United States.
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The most paradoxical is that humanity learned about Yellowstone relatively recently. In 1807, during an expedition exploring the northwestern United States, John Coulter first saw the Yellowstone area and described in detail the numerous geysers and hot water springs from the ground. But the public did not believe the scientist's words, sarcastically calling his report "Coulter's Hell". The name turned out to be symbolic. The second person to discover the Yellowstone anomalies was hunter Jim Bridger in 1850. However, his description of unusual hot fountains was also considered fantasy. Only after the official report made by the naturalist Ferdinand Hayden, who supported his words with photographs, the US Congress in 1872 believed in the reality of the volcano.
Yellowstone became the first national park in the United States - one of the favorite vacation spots for residents of the country and foreign tourists. True, visitors to the park are not informed that at any moment the volcano located under their feet can fly up into the air. However, if you are not burdened with thoughts of the future, then, of course, it is worth visiting Yellowstone: it is amazingly beautiful. On its territory there is a magnificent mountain lake, almost three hundred waterfalls, one of which is larger than Niagara. Well, there is no need to talk about hot springs and exotic geysers: the whole of America comes to see them.
APOCALYPSE SCENARIO
The average time interval between explosions of supervolcanoes, calculated theoretically, also does not add optimism. It averages 600 thousand years. Last time Yellowstone erupted about 640 thousand years ago, a new explosion can be expected at any time. The force of the explosion of this volcano will be equal to the simultaneous detonation of several dozen modern nuclear bombs. In the event of a catastrophe, volcanologists believe, the earth's crust will rise by several meters, the soil will heat up to 60 degrees Celsius, and the content of helium and hydrogen sulfide in the atmosphere over America will significantly increase. Almost instantly, all living things on an area of 10OO square kilometers will be destroyed.
Lava flows, rushing at a speed of several hundred kilometers per hour, will burn out gigantic territories, and volcanic ash will rise to a height of up to 50 kilometers, causing the effect of a nuclear winter. The entire US territory up to the Mississippi will be in the "death zone". The rest of the country will not be good either: it will be covered with a thick layer of volcanic ash. A nuclear, or rather, a volcanic winter over the territory of North America will last from one to four years. Of course, the climate will change catastrophically across the planet. At the same time, the safest place on Earth will be the center of Eurasia and Siberia, that is, the territory of Russia.
WHY BISONS GONE?
When will the Yellowstone explosion take place? No one can give an exact answer to this question. Some scientists expect an eruption from day to day, while others place it in time for centuries and even millennia. In 2006, volcanologists Ilya Bindeman and John Valey in the journal Earth and Planetary Science predicted the eruption of a supervolcano in 2016. However, as is known, the tragedy did not happen. Nevertheless, it is too early to calm down. Since the spring of 2014, when scientists noted a significant increase in seismic activity and geyser emissions, animals began to leave the national park. The first to leave were the bison, followed by the deer. This is a sure sign of an impending disaster: animals, unlike humans, unmistakably anticipate natural disasters.
Dmitry SOKOLOV