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How deep is Yellowstone volcano?

What is the Yellowstone supervolcano? Lurking beneath Yellowstone National Park is a reservoir of hot magma five miles deep, fed by a gigantic plume of molten rock welling up from hundreds of miles below.



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A new 3-D model shows the 45-mile-wide (72-kilometer-wide), 410-mile-deep (660-kilometer-deep) plume of hot, molten rock rising under Yellowstone's supervolcano.

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Supervolcano in Southern Utah is 30 times larger than Yellowstone.

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No. A very large volcanic eruption would cause a severe cold period called a volcanic winter, but not an ice age. Volcanic eruptions cool the planet by creating a fine aerosol of sulfuric acid in the stratosphere. The highly reflective droplets prevent a portion of the sun's light from reaching and heating the surface.

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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.

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Three of the seven supervolcanoes in the world are in the U.S.:
  • California: Long Valley Caldera.
  • New Mexico: Valles Caldera.
  • Wyoming: Yellowstone.


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