AI Generated Image
Researchers placed 650 geophones along Yellowstone's roads and sent a vibrating truck to 110 different spots to deliberately shake America's most-visited supervolcano, and the echoes revealed a layer
Space Daily • • science
Key Points:
- Researchers from Rice University and the University of Utah produced the sharpest seismic image to date of Yellowstone’s magma reservoir top, located about 3.8 kilometers beneath the caldera’s northeastern section, revealing it is approximately 86% solid rock with the rest being molten material and volatile gases.
- Using a specialized vibroseis truck and around 650 portable geophones, the team generated controlled seismic waves to map a distinct, thin boundary layer marking the magma reservoir’s top, providing unprecedented detail on its structure.
- The magma reservoir is mostly solid rock with pockets of melt and fluids, explaining why Yellowstone has remained volcanically quiet for hundreds of thousands of years, as gases escape efficiently through the crust rather than building pressure underground.
- The study does not indicate any increased eruption risk; instead, it offers a more precise structural model to improve long-term hazard assessment and monitoring of Yellowstone’s volcanic system.
- This active-source seismic method, adapted from oil and gas exploration, allows finer resolution than previous passive seismic studies and could be applied to other volcanic systems to enhance understanding and hazard prediction.
