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Where is the largest supervolcano in the US?

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.



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The Yellowstone Caldera in north-western Wyoming is one of the largest volcanoes in the world. In the past 2.1 million years, it has seen three catastrophic eruptions that blanketed North America in ash and a number of smaller eruptions where lava flowed within the caldera, most recently 70,000 years ago.

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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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Which is bigger Mauna Loa or Yellowstone? Mauna Loa volcano is the largest volcano on Earth. It is over 30,000 feet tall from the seafloor where it was born to the summit, which is 13,684 feet above sea level.

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Those parts of the surrounding states of Montana, Idaho, and Wyoming that are closest to Yellowstone would be affected by pyroclastic flows, while other places in the United States would be impacted by falling ash (the amount of ash would decrease with distance from the eruption site).

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Answer and Explanation: No, Yellowstone does not contain the biggest supervolcano in the world. The largest supervolcano is the Wah Wah Springs caldera in Utah, which once exploded with over 30 times the pyroclastic debris as Yellowstone's largest eruption.

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A: For the most likely type of volcanic eruption in Yellowstone, everywhere would be safe except in the immediate vicinity of the advancing lava flow. In the highly improbable event of a large catastrophic eruption, the great the distance from the eruptive center, the safer it would be.

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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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Yellowstone Supervolcano (Wyoming, United States) Effects of a major eruption: When the Yellowstone Caldera, or supervolcano, in Yellowstone National Park erupts again, its effects would be worldwide, the U.S. Geographical Survey said.

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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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