Volcanic Chamber at Yellowstone Discovered by University of Utah
A huge discovery has been made by the University of Utah in determining what is under the ground at the Yellowstone National Park. The scientists have found a huge volcanic chamber there and it is more massive than any other volcanic chamber in the world. The Yellow Stone National Park is known worldwide for its extreme beauty and rich wildlife, but little does the world know that it is on top of a very active volcano, states Good For Utah.
The magma in this supervolcano has so much under it, that the scientists are still amazed about its presence, states Science Magazine. The whole park is sitting on a volcanic chamber which in turn is sitting on a much larger magma reservoir which is up to 12 to 28 miles inside the ground.
The reservoir is as big as the Great Canyon multiplied 11 times over. Although the scientists had already known about the molten rocks which reside beneath the main rock bed of the Yellow Stone National Park, they had absolutely no idea the chamber had its own set of volcanic plumbing inside.
And even though it is an active volcano, the scientists say that it only erupts on very rare occasion, the last eruption being 64,000 years ago. Also, the threat of earthquakes is also very less in this area, due to the massive amount of layering underneath the park.
The researchers have said that they have collected enough samples to study the major magma bodies of this volcanic chamber, which could provide an insight of how and why this volcano had erupted in the past and how it has evolved in the recent years.