How much destruction would the volcanic dome in Yellowstone Park cause if it erupted?
830903
excerpt from Gyorzxk's worst case scenario handbook? I saw a documentary on this subject, it was disturbing!
1004124
Supervolcanoes are volcanic eruptions where more than 1000 cubic kilometers of material is extruded. As a comparison, the Mount Helens eruption amounted to 2.3 cubic kms.\n\nThe following locations are known to be supervolcanoes:\n\n- Lake Toba, Sumatra, Indonesia - 75,000 years ago (2,800 km³)\n- Yellowstone, United States - 2.2 million years ago (2500 km³) and 640,000 years ago (1000 km³)\n-La Garita Caldera, Colorado, United States - 27.8 million years ago (over 5,000 km³)\n-Bruneau-Jarbidge, Idaho, United States - 10-12 million years ago (responsible for the Ashfall Fossil Beds 1600 km to the east)
543189
High pressure builds up inside the magma chamber due to gases & the actual heat inside.\n\nComposite volcanoes usually are the worst for explosive eruptions b/c of the amount of trapped gases that build up. They erupt lava that is high in silica which also makes it thick. This combination usually leads to deadly pyroclastic flows.
823749
The human impacts of the disaster are staggering. In addition to the up to 800 people who lost their lives, there was almost one half of a billion dollars in property and economic damage. The economy of central Luzon was horribly disrupted. In 1991, the volcano destroyed 4,979 homes and damaged another 70,257. The following year 3,281 homes were destroyed and 3,137 were damaged. Damage following the eruption was usually caused by lahars - rain-induced torrents of volcanic debris that killed people and animals and buried homes in the months after the eruption. Additionally, a 1992 eruption in August 1992 killed 72 people.\n\n Structures on the two largest U.S. military bases in the Philippines--Clark Air Base and Subic Bay Naval Station--were heavily damaged by ash from the volcano's climactic eruption.\nUnited States military never returned to Clark Air Base, turning over the damaged base to the Philippine government on November 26, 1991. The region is still rebuilding and recovering from the eruption.\n\nThe eruption is believed to have influenced such events as 1993 floods along the Mississippi river and the drought in the Sahel region of Africa. The United States experienced its third coldest and third wettest summer in 77 years during 1992. No dollar amount has been given to loss of crops or other economic difficuties due to these occurrences.\n\nFortunately, scientists from the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology and the U.S. Geological Survey had forecast Pinatubo's 1991 climactic eruption, resulting in the saving of at least 5,000 lives and at least $250 million in property. Commercial aircraft were warned about the hazard of the ash cloud from the June 15 eruption, and most avoided it, but a number of jets flying far to the west of the Philippines encountered ash and sustained about $100 million in damage. Although much equipment was successfully protected, structures on the two largest U.S. military bases in the Philippines--Clark Air Base and Subic Bay Naval Station--were heavily damaged by ash from the volcano's climactic eruption.\n\nNearly 20 million tons of sulfur dioxide were injected into the stratosphere in Pinatubo's 1991 eruptions, and dispersal of this gas cloud around the world caused global temperatures to drop temporarily (1991 through 1993) by about 1°F (0.5°C). The eruptions have dramatically changed the face of central Luzon, home to about 3 million people. About 20,000 indigenous Aeta highlanders, who had lived on the slopes of the volcano, were completely displaced, and most still wait in resettlement camps for the day when they can return home. About 200,000 people who evacuated from the lowlands surrounding Pinatubo before and during the eruptions have returned home but face continuing threats from lahars that have already buried numerous towns and villages. Rice paddies and sugar-cane fields that have not been buried by lahars have recovered; those buried by lahars will be out of use for years to come.\n\nThere are lots of websites on this.
587018
Tiltmeters help scientists predict volcanic eruptions b/c they detect slight raises in elevation.\n\nThere are signs that volcanoes give off before they erupt. One of those signs is uplift of the surrounding area.\n\nAs the pressure builds up inside of a magma chamber, it will cause the surrounding land to bulge slightly. It may be a few centimeters or more.\n\nMost of the time the change is so gradual & slight that humans can't pick up on them by senses alone. So scientists use the tiltmeter to detect the slightest changes in elevation.\n\nThis kind of equipment is being used in Yellowstone NP. A good sized portion of Yellowstone has increased in elevation, causing one of the lakes to tilt slightly and change shape. Scientists predict that there is still volcanic activity going on under Yellowstone & that at some time in the far away future it may erupt again.
984493
The Biblical record does not give any indication that a volcano erupted. It clearly says that "the Lord rained brimstone and fire on Sodom and Gomorrah from the Lord OUT OF THE HEAVENS". Although not exactly the same but in similar fashion, the Lord sent fire down from heaven in 1 Kings chapter 18 and several more times in 2 kings the 1st chapter.
687748
See the link below for damage related to this Volcano:\n\nhttp://www.volcano.si.edu/world/volcano.cfm?vnum=0202-12=&volpage=erupt&VErupt=Y&VSources=Y&VRep=Y&VWeekly=Y
975714
Everyone would be affected. Ash from the explosion of any volcano can travel around the globe in a matter of days. Ash can cause serious problems if it comes in large enough quantities (mainly blocking out the sunlight). The ashfall from Mt. St. Helens in Washington reached places in upper Idaho in a short period of time, so just think what would happen if a supervolcano (say, Yellowstone) went off...
255301
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:\n\nThe Yellowstone Caldera, also known as the Yellowstone supervolcano, is a volcanically active region in Yellowstone National Park. It measures 55 kilometers by 72 kilometers. The caldera was discovered with difficulty due to its size. This was done by field work by Bob Christiansen of the USGS in the 1960's and 1970's.
867669
Since He promised not to do that again then this would be a possible scenario, and is certainly not out of the question.  He did not however promise no more asteroids.  According to native American tradition the world has been destroyed 7 times.  Some of those were by fire which may be caused by the geological anolmolies in the current revealtions about Yellowstone.
531556
Not only would it have a gravitational pull, but it would effect the orbit of the Earth around the Sun and cause earthquakes and volcanic eruptions and other disasters.
53220
Be careful, it may explode!
991819
Yellowstone National Park - it's referred to as a supervolcano, and if (when) it goes off, we're all in deep "lava".
976524
From the various reading I've done on this subject, as well as the educational programming I've watched about it, I'd say that all things considered, a volcanic eruption, like that of the 1883 explosion of Krakatoa, is by far the most violent and has the most and the longest-lasting consequences not only on the area in which the volcano erupted and the area the lava reached, and not only the areas affected by the resulting tsunamis, its effect actually includes the entire planet, since such an eruption is violent enough to change the entire planet's climate!\n\nWith a volcanic eruption you have: rocks of all sizes, including those the size of houses, hurled out like torpedoes, hot lava that incinerates everything in its path, hot gasses that not only expand, creating a pressure front, not only also incinerate, but also form acids that dissolve the various objects in their path, massive earthquakes, massive tsunamis and last, but most certainly not least, a thick cloud of ash, particles and gasses that wreak utter havoc with the atmosphere and the planet's general climate, thus disrupting wind currents, ocean currents and the general climatic-atmospheric signature of the planet. Consequently, even those places that were nowhere near the volcano, nowhere near the radius of the area the lava will reach, nowhere near any coast that would be affected by the resulting tsunamis, it will still be affected by the falling rocks and debris, which were spewed up into the atmosphere, as well as by the climatic disruptions.\n\nTo my knowledge, not even earthquakes, regardless how violent, can match that level of and extent of destruction, despite the fact that they cause massive fires and potent tsunamis!\n\n\nNote: I took a very "flexible" interpretation of the word storm. I took it to mean any weather/climatic phenomenon/activity. Thus, in that sense, a volcanic eruption can be interpreted as a storm, even though it is not a current of air or water or both!  But, then again, if that type of climatic activity is not to be considered a storm, then what else can it be called? It is ludicrous to lump wind & water weather events together under the title storm, yet consider volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, tsunamis & mudslides, to name a few, categories & titles in of themselves!
45167
The above anwer is nonsense if you are talking about the Devil's Tower in Wyoming inside Devil's Tower National Park. Devil's Tower is not believed to have ever erupted. \n\nThat Devil's Tower (the only other one I know of is in Illinois) was an igneous intrusion. Molten magma pushed upward into sedimentary rock about 65 million years ago and cooled forming Devil's Tower. While it is still possible that it was part of a volcano, there has been no evidence found that it ever broke through the surface and erupted. It was not exposed until many millions of years later the sediment around it eroded away. \n\nAt the website below there is an animated illustration of how the tower formed and was uncovered by erosion. \nhttp://www.nps.gov/deto/geology.htm
845867
Eruptions have many effects, both good and bad. A major eruption will blow rock, gases and ash into the air. Sometimes melted glacial water mixed with falling debris can cause mudflows in rivers and streams that are capable of sweeping away entire towns. In the short term (the time that the eruption occurs), this can be devastating. Indeed, many living organisms can die, including humans, plants, animals etc., and there can be some economical damage, including destruction of towns or villages, crops, water supplies and food resources. However, in a long period of time, through the force of erosion, volcanic material (particularly ash) will break down. This can form a very rich kind of soil, good for plant growth. Farmers in places near volcanoes can grow an incredible stockpile of good, fresh food because of the good soil.\nLava eruptions are far less dangerous than explosive ones (but lava flows can still pose as a threat). Though a lava flow is very hot and capable of burning anything in its path, it does not move very fast. These lava flows can vary in size, however, and sometimes a flow may destroy some plant life, as well as human settlements. Villages in Hawaii have been burried by lava flows, and there are articles in newspapers that show pictures of houses burning, or abandoned houses half-buried in cooled lava. But, like the explosive eruptions, when lava cools and breaks down over time, it too can form rich soils.\nAsh, an aspect mentioned before, is a volcano's legacy. The ash from a major eruption can travel around the globe in a matter of days. Ash, when seen under a microscope, consists of tiny, sharp particles. These particles can be extremely harmful to the human lungs, or the lungs of any other animal, for that matter. How would you feel if your throat and insides were scratched by miniature, sharp rocks? Ash can also be the opposite of a good soil maker for farmers. If too much ash covers a field, the field is ruined, for the plants will suffocate in the layers of debris. Sometimes, like it was with Mt. St. Helens, ash can pile up on top of roofs of houses, and any roof can cave in from the weight of it (just like snow). \nSo really, volcanoes make up a huge part of Earth in general, and they can have mixed effects on the environment.
71801
It depends on the volcano.\n\nIf magma - molten rock - is erupted it forms new formations when it cools. On the big island of Hawaii, the volcanic eruptions have added a lot of new land to the island.\n\nIf it is a pyroclastic flow - fast, hot gasses and volcanic debris -  like the one that destroyed Pompeii or Mt. St. Helens, there may not be any new land created and the existing land will be radically altered.\n\nIn general, when a land based volcano erupts, the lava and stone and ash build up around the eruption site into a cone shape.\n\nUndersea volcanos spweing lava also build up, but not in a cone shape. Once the hot rock hits water it starts to cool into large pillow-shaped forms.