How large is the magma chamber that is currently under Yellowstone? The magma chamber is believed to be about 40 by 80 kilometers across, similar in size to the overlying Yellowstone caldera. The top of the chamber is about 8 km deep and the bottom is around 16 km deep.
People Also Ask
Two large reservoirs full of magma exist beneath the Yellowstone Caldera—one that's about three to ten miles beneath the surface, and another that's 12 to 30 miles below ground.
Based on past research and the general location of the volcano itself, the blast radius of Yellowstone's calderas is quite large. When it comes to lava and magma flows spewing forth from this volcanic eruption, Yellowstone National Park would likely need to evacuate everyone within a 40 to 50 mile radius.
The Yellowstone Plateau region has crustal thickness of 47–52 km; this thick crust primarily manifests the Laramide age shortening associated with the Beartooth Mountains and the magmatic underplate that created the high-velocity lower crust beneath much of the Wyoming Province crust.
The lava flows themselves would be contained within a relatively small radius within the park — say, 40 miles or so. In fact, only about one-third of the material would actually make it up into the atmosphere.
Yellowstone is one of the world's largest active volcanic systems. Its history began 16.5 million years ago when present-day southeast Oregon sat over a hotspot—a massive plume of hot material upwelling from deep in the earth's mantle.
If another large, caldera-forming eruption were to occur at Yellowstone, its effects would be worldwide. Such a giant eruption would have regional effects such as falling ash and short-term (years to decades) changes to global climate.
The uncontested heavyweight champion of the National Park System is Alaska's Wrangell-St. Elias National Park & Preserve. At 13.2 million acres, it's larger than Yellowstone National Park, Yosemite National Park, and Switzerland combined.