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Volcanology/Geology questions


SithAzathoth WinterDragon

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SithAzathoth WinterDragon

Many have questions on volcanoes and Earth Science (Geology) and I have many answers for those looking into this area in Science, I've been part of the Us Geological Survey Volcano Program for 2 years and attempting to come a full team member of USGS. I have been through 4 eruptions in my life and one I went up to see. The VEI scale is a measurement of how intense an eruption is. I became attached to Earth Science in 3rd grade in 1997 and never stopped chasing my dreams, feel free to post questions in what you are wanting to know.There have been 20 super eruptions known, most of which came from Yellowstone.

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Ayy fellow geology nerds unite 

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SithAzathoth WinterDragon
6 hours ago, RainDeer said:

How "dormant" is the Yellowstone supervolcano?

Yellowstone is active but not active in the way that will cause a (VEI8) it is dormant and super eruptions are rare, there have been 20 in the last 700,000 years 3 being from Yellowstone itself and Huckleberry Ridge being the largest of them, there are many ways Yellowstone is monitored, GPS displacement readers, water readings, gas, and seismographs. The signs if indeed it were to go are  trees dying from Co2 , earthquake increase and more ground uplift which it does have but it comes and goes. 2003 was one of the years it had a little more activity than normal and for safety reasons parts of the park were closed in the areas where ground uplift cracked the ground and a geyser erupted more than normal. It is normal for a 'breathing' caldera to have such activity, will Yellowstone erupt? Yes but in our time? It most likely will not and then it could. There is over 1,500 km of magma below yet possibly more, now how much of it is enough to cause an eruption is based on earthquakes and there are only 25 a week.

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SithAzathoth WinterDragon
On 12/26/2016 at 6:03 AM, Muledeer said:

How "dormant" is the Yellowstone supervolcano?

I'll be going to Montana then possibly Wyoming for 6 months to work in the park with the lodging company and do stuff with USGS online when I can, I'm still trying to become full time team member with USGS. How close are you to the park?

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about 250 miles from Yellowstone.  Probably not far enough away if it blows.... 

I worked in Grand Teton park for two summers while in college and had the time of my life.   Living in that part of the world would be a geologists dream come true.  Congratulations on landing a job there.  Will it be next summer?

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SithAzathoth WinterDragon
1 hour ago, Muledeer said:

about 250 miles from Yellowstone.  Probably not far enough away if it blows.... 

I worked in Grand Teton park for two summers while in college and had the time of my life.   Living in that part of the world would be a geologists dream come true.  Congratulations on landing a job there.  Will it be next summer?

I will be there in May-October 2017, and yes being there will be a time of my life too, I have always wanted to go to Yellowstone but never expected that I would get a job there. I will call it a vacation/job, I knew back at the time I was in 3rd grade when Geology became an intense interest, I'd never loose passion for it and a possible career. I hope to arrive 2 to 3 days before my date arrival to start work and get a chance to tour the area a bit and take many photos. No you'd have to farther away if she blows, the whole of Wyoming would be the red zone and Montana too. I have a photo of what it might look like for the eruption and fall out of the ash. 

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SithAzathoth WinterDragon
29 minutes ago, Shieldmaiden WinterDragon said:

I will be there in May-October 2017, and yes being there will be a time of my life too, I have always wanted to go to Yellowstone but never expected that I would get a job there. I will call it a vacation/job, I knew back at the time I was in 3rd grade when Geology became an intense interest, I'd never loose passion for it and a possible career. I hope to arrive 2 to 3 days before my date arrival to start work and get a chance to tour the area a bit and take many photos. No you'd have to farther away if she blows, the whole of Wyoming would be the red zone and Montana too. I have a photo of what it might look like for the eruption and fall out of the ash. 

 

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I'm screwed if that happens.  Like everything else, I have to hope it won't happen in my lifetime.  Great graphics.

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SithAzathoth WinterDragon
32 minutes ago, skit` said:

what is the best volcano and why is it krakatoa 

Krakatoa now known as Anak Krakatau was a small island in 1883 and at this time Science and Geology was beginning to become of interest across the globe. Like any other eruption Sherman a young geologist along with another station in Sumatra thought it would be a small eruption. Willem Beijeinck controller of the land being 100 miles away did not know that Krakatoa was showing signs of activity despite the seismic activity that increased through March. Where Anak sits is on a subjection zone and that in itself caused the eruption to be so powerful and Krakatoa in 412 did the same type of devastating eruption 200 years prior to the 1883 eruption. The thought was that sea water got in the magma chamber but it never was excepted and was researched by Bill McGuire. There were 2 types of magma that combined deep in the chamber after the first sat in it for 200 years, being cooler and lighter, after the chamber was half empty it was filled with fresher and hotter magma causing the small island to destroy itself. The eruption was a Plinian eruption a VEI6. Anak revealed itself in 1927 and grows at 4 meters each year and is half the size Krakatoa was.

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53 minutes ago, skit` said:

what is the best volcano and why is it krakatoa 

Ex-freakin-scuse you, Kilauea is clearly best volcano. Krakatoa isn't even alive. 

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SithAzathoth WinterDragon
2 minutes ago, ChillaKilla said:

Ex-freakin-scuse you, Kilauea is clearly best volcano. Krakatoa isn't even alive. 

Anak Krakatau is alive and active and growing 4 meters each year. Anak Krakatau(child of Krakatoa) has injured 4 tourists and took one.

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Lord of the nerds

Based off geology alone, what is your favorite country?

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SithAzathoth WinterDragon
1 minute ago, Lord of the nerds said:

Based off geology alone, what is your favorite country?

United states and then Indonesia although I never been to Indonesia I know a lot on it's Geological forces and volcanoes one being really of interest is Anak Krakatau. For US, I like Washington, Alaska and Wyoming. I've been to Hawaii and up to the summit of Kilauea when it was erupting 8 years ago. Alaska is where I'm at and been through 3 eruptions 2 being from the same volcano.

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SithAzathoth WinterDragon
1 hour ago, AspieAngel said:

I have a geology question about fracking. Is it safe or a danger to our planet? 

Fracking has been proven to be bad as it is witness in Oklahoma, it is not common for them to have quakes. Although not many believe this some do, it just needs to be looked into more and understood.

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Lord of the nerds
6 minutes ago, Shieldmaiden WinterDragon said:

Alaska is where I'm at and been through 3 eruptions 2 being from the same volcano.

Wow, that begs the question, what is an eruption really like? I still catch myself thinking of a volcano as I used I did when I was younger - "death mountain that shoots red fluid of death which rains down death to everyone causing massive amounts of death" :blush:

 

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SithAzathoth WinterDragon
1 minute ago, Lord of the nerds said:

Wow, that begs the question, what is an eruption really like? I still catch myself thinking of a volcano as I used I did when I was younger - "death mountain that shoots red fluid of death which rains down death to everyone causing massive amounts of death" :blush:

 

To explain it easily, if you shake a bottle of champaign and take the cork out and depending on the eruption scale it varies as well. If you're near the volcano it's mostly likely you'll be taken by it's gases or lava. Kilauea on the other hand has basalt lava were gases escape easily compared to Mount. St.Helens and  Redoubt both have a combination of 2 different magma at times in which silica lava explodes out. St. Helens is one where it was an example of such. Direct lateral eruption, within seconds much land was destroyed. Redoubt was not as bad in 1990 but it has had worse but not enough data is known. 

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SithAzathoth WinterDragon
On 12/28/2016 at 6:02 PM, Shieldmaiden WinterDragon said:

Krakatoa now known as Anak Krakatau was a small island in 1883 and at this time Science and Geology was beginning to become of interest across the globe. Like any other eruption Sherman a young geologist along with another station in Sumatra thought it would be a small eruption. Willem Beijeinck controller of the land being 100 miles away did not know that Krakatoa was showing signs of activity despite the seismic activity that increased through March. Where Anak sits is on a subjection zone and that in itself caused the eruption to be so powerful and Krakatoa in 412 did the same type of devastating eruption 200 years prior to the 1883 eruption. The thought was that sea water got in the magma chamber but it never was excepted and was researched by Bill McGuire. There were 2 types of magma that combined deep in the chamber after the first sat in it for 200 years, being cooler and lighter, after the chamber was half empty it was filled with fresher and hotter magma causing the small island to destroy itself. The eruption was a Plinian eruption a VEI6. Anak revealed itself in 1927 and grows at 4 meters each year and is half the size Krakatoa was.

If you took all the material fro the 1883 eruption, brought it to Manhattan you could cover it in 60 meters. this eruption was the largest and deadliest in known history.

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There's also the Santorini eruption 1613bc +/- 7years, which was of similar size,  and the resultant tsunami and backwash may (and I repeat may), have lead to the biblical draining of the Red Sea 

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How many VEI8 eruptions have there been?

 

On 12/28/2016 at 7:41 PM, Muledeer said:

about 250 miles from Yellowstone.  Probably not far enough away if it blows.... 

I worked in Grand Teton park for two summers while in college and had the time of my life.   Living in that part of the world would be a geologists dream come true.  Congratulations on landing a job there.  Will it be next summer?

Grand Teton is on my list.  I want to see a mountain.

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SithAzathoth WinterDragon
3 minutes ago, AmandaD said:

How many VEI8 eruptions have there been?

 

Grand Teton is on my list.  I want to see a mountain.

20 VEI8 eruptions known and I go in May, I'll PM you my email so I can send photos if you would like that. # of the super eruptions are from Yellowstone it's self and Huckleberry Ridge being the largest of them all. Toba being larger only 74,000 years ago.

 

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SithAzathoth WinterDragon
2 minutes ago, AmandaD said:

What is the hardest rock on earth?

There really is not any rock harder than another, the strongest are quartz, quartzite,  quartz sandstone,rhyolites  and granite. 

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  • 3 weeks later...
SithAzathoth WinterDragon

Each volcano has it's own personality, and all have a history of how they erupt. The most common asked question is "How can you tell when it will be a bad eruption?"

There is no telling of when the next will be bad and how long it will be, eruptions may last for days to weeks. If it is a super eruption, those can last for weeks and depending on where they're located the emidiate near will be affected followed by the rest of the world within months. All eruptions cause a change it just takes a few months to years to notice it.

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SithAzathoth WinterDragon
On 12/28/2016 at 9:55 PM, Shieldmaiden WinterDragon said:

Fracking has been proven to be bad as it is witness in Oklahoma, it is not common for them to have quakes. Although not many believe this some do, it just needs to be looked into more and understood.

Oklahoma does have a fault line yet this area has not experienced earthquakes for years , fracking might play a part in the increase in seismic activity.

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Although I could probably Wikipedia this....you're conveniently here so...  Are you familiar with the volcano that eruped several years ago in Banos, Ecuador?  It happened not long after visiting, and thought Banos had been wiped out.  met someone who had been there recently and said the place had been rebuilt and was fine....  Do you know of it, and how things are?  Such a sweet place to go...

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