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Location: The magma chamber is beneath Yellowstone National Park in the state of Wyoming. Facts: The initial eruption of 2.1 million years ago was 2,500 times more powerful than the Mt. St. Helens eruption and perhaps was the largest, most violent volcanic eruption in the history of earth. Enough ash and volcanic debris exploded from the eruptions to cover the entire western half of the United States with about a four-foot deep layer of ash. Roughly 600 cubic miles of material were thrown into the atmosphere. The Scientists Who Study this Cool
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The Ultimate in Volcanoes
Volcanoes have been around on earth since the very beginning of earth's long, 4.5 billion year history. When it comes to extremes in nature, there's not much else that compares to the violent eruption of the blood and guts of the earth that is a volcano. With enough destructive force to level mountains, or build new ones, volcanoes are the undisputed champions of the extreme forces of nature.
Volcanoes are rarely minor incidents of geology in action. As destructive and powerful as even the smallest volcanoes are, there have been even bigger, really gigantic eruptions in earths past that have dwarfed even the most awesome volcanoes we've seen during our brief history. Even small volcanoes can pack a seriously destructive wallop, but they can't compare to the most awesome earth force ever wielded by nature - the Extreme Volcanoes.
Forging New Earth
Earths Crucibles of Creation come in a variety of flavors. Volcanic activity on planet earth takes on
many different forms, from cinder cones spewing forth glowing hot cinders, to billowing clouds of hot ash and gases being blown into the sky, to slowly oozing rivers of molten lava rushing down the sides of great peaks. Though each eruption varies they all share one thing in common; they are fueled by the superheated magma beneath the earths crust. All volcanic activity has the dual role of destruction and creation. Though many living things may die in the drowning fires of a volcanic eruption, the magma fueling the volcano is responsible for the building of new crust as newly emerging lava cools into solid rock. Because of the extremely rich mineral content of volcanic rock, as it breaks down through weathering it is some of the most incredibly fertile soil on earth, giving a foothold for new life to thrive.
Earth scientists have been studying clues around the globe for the last 150 years to understand theways in which volcanic forces are unleashed. The purest definition of a volcano is that it is a vent in the earth's surface through which magma and gases erupt, either slowly (by oozing) or explosively. The way in which the magma makes its way to the surface and how it escapes once it breaks through differs widely from one volcano to the next. After many years of study and careful observation, scientists have identified several main types of volcanoes....
Cinder Cones | Shield Volcanoes | Stratovolcanoes | Giant Calderas - The Yellowstone Caldera
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