Earthquakes, Plate Tectonics and Volcanism

[American Patriot]

6.5 Mw - VERACRUZ, MEXICO

Preliminary Earthquake Report
Magnitude	6.5 Mw
Date-Time	· 7 Apr 2011 13:11:24 UTC · 7 Apr 2011 08:11:24 near epicenter · 7 Apr 2011 06:11:24 standard time in your timezone
Location	17.431N 93.978W
Depth	167 km
Distances	· 57 km (35 miles) S (169 degrees) of Las Choapas, Veracruz, Mexico · 79 km (49 miles) SSE (168 degrees) of Agua Dulce, Veracruz, Mexico · 79 km (49 miles) SW (234 degrees) of Huimanguillo, Tabasco, Mexico · 84 km (52 miles) SE (137 degrees) of Minatitl?n, Veracruz, Mexico · 483 km (300 miles) NW (311 degrees) of GUATEMALA CITY, Guatemala
Location Uncertainty	Horizontal: 16.0 km; Vertical 9.5 km
Parameters	Nph = 390; Dmin = 233.8 km; Rmss = 1.16 seconds; Gp = 72° M-type = Mw; Version = 8
Event ID	US c0002kru

For updates, maps, and technical information, see:
Event Page
or
USGS Earthquake Hazards Program
National Earthquake Information Center
U.S. Geological Survey
http://neic.usgs.gov /

[wallis]

Found this on Death by a 1000 Papercuts (http://deathby1000papercuts.com/2011...ecumseh-comet/)

Enjoy!

Doomsday Predictions in 2011-2012? The 1811-1812 New Madrid Quakes, Tecumseh Comet

April 7, 2011
By LBG1
Parallels between 1811-1812 New Madrid Earthquakes, Comet Tecumseh and 'Doomsday' Predictions for 2011-2012

With all the talk of doomsday in 2011–the predictions of the ‘doomsday’ Comet Elenin–and/or 2012, the purported Maya Calendar ‘prophesy’, we wondered, has anyone written about the bizarre parallels between the current end times prophesies and what occurred two hundred years ago? Events which, according to some first hand accounts, were believed to be the ‘end of the world’ if you happened to live in the area affected by the New Madrid Earthquakes. Four devastating quakes accompanied by thousands of aftershocks that occurred between December 16, 1811, and February 7, 1812, with thousands of aftershocks throughout the spring and remainder of 1812. Just prior to the earthquakes, the appearance of ‘Tecumseh’s Comet’. First hand accounts of the earthquakes read like ‘Amazing Stories’, extraordinary accounts that paint a fuller picture than the ‘dry’ scientific recounting of the earthquakes. Before the earthquakes, the appearance of ‘Tecumseh’s Comet’.

On March 11, the 9.0 Japan earthquake and devastating tsunami. While the 9.0 quake has gotten the most press, two days prior to the 9.0, a 7.2 quake in the same region. After the 9.0, scientists said they believed the 9.0 was an ‘aftershock’ of the 7.2 quake. The last devastating quake and tsunami to strike the northeastern coast of Japan occurred 115 years earlier in 1896. During the New Madrid quakes, there was only a 5 hour period between the first quake, a 7.7, and the second quake, a 7.0. Three weeks later, a 7.5. Two weeks later, another 7.7-according to the USGS. According to some scientists some of the quakes may have been 8.0 or larger.

Comet Elenin

Elenin has recently entered the inner solar system and should pass through Mars orbit by the end of June sometime. There are several alignments that happen between then and its rendezvous with Earth that could alter its trajectory slightly.

The ecliptic is a horizontal field created by the planets and sun orbiting on a relatively flat plane. Many of these long-period objects do not travel along the ecliptic plane. They either come up from below the ecliptic, cross the ecliptic, and travel out above the ecliptic plane, or they do the opposite. In Elenin’s case, it will cross the ecliptic on September 11, 2011, and shortly thereafter line up with Mercury, the Sun, and the Earth. There is no telling how such an alignment on the ecliptic plane will affect the trajectory of Elenin.

From October 10-24, 2011 comet Elenin is forecast to be within 0.25 a.u. of Earth, according to NASA JPL diagram.
Earth Pulse Daily


Tecumseh’s Comet:

The earthquakes were preceded by the appearance of a great comet, which was visible around the globe for seventeen months, and was at its brightest during the earthquakes. The comet, with an orbit of 3,065 years, was last seen during the time of Ramses II in Egypt. In 1811-1812, it was called “Tecumseh’s Comet” (or “Napoleon’s Comet” in Europe). Tecumseh was a Shawnee Indian leader whose name meant “Shooting Star” or “He who walks across the sky.” He was given this name at birth. A great orator and military leader, Tecumseh organized a confederation of Indian tribes to oppose the takeover of 3 million acres of Indian lands, which were obtained by the Treaty of Fort Wayne in 1809. His brother, a religious leader called “The Prophet,” had gained fame when he foretold the total eclipse of the sun on June 16, 1806. (They had learned about it in advance from a team of visiting astronomers.)
City of New Madrid, Missouri

According to the USGS the first quake on December 16, 1811, at 2:15 AM was a 7.7 magnitude. According to some eyewitness accounts the quake may have lasted three minutes.

This powerful earthquake was felt widely over the entire eastern United States. People were awakened by the shaking in New York City, Washington, D.C., and Charleston, South Carolina. Perceptible ground shaking was in the range of one to three minutes depending upon the observers location. The ground motions were described as most alarming and frightening in places like Nashville, Tennesse, and Louisville, Kentucky. Reports also describe houses and other structures being severely shaken with many chimneys knocked down. In the epicentral area the ground surface was described as in great convulsion with sand and water ejected tens of feet into the air (liquefaction)

There were also reports of submerged trees ‘shooting up’ from the bottom of the Mississippi, their roots above the water, treacherous for boats. The air ‘turned dark’; people sick from a ‘nauseating smell’. Continuous ‘thunder’ noises emanating from beneath the ground. Giant holes opening up in the ground swallowing trees and ‘showers of coal’ spewing from beneath the ground. ‘Flashes of light on the horizon.’

Five hours later, a magnitude 7.

The giant quakes were followed by continuous strong aftershocks.

On January 23, 1812, a 7.5 quake.

Two weeks later on February 7, 1812, another 7.7 quake. Four devastating quakes in the same area between December and February with 1,000 of aftershocks that continued well into 1812. An area which, in 1811 and 1812 was sparsely populated.


Info on the New Madrid Quakes:

4: Number of principal quakes that occurred during the series. The first major quake occurred at 2:15 am local time on December 16, 1811, followed by the second five hours later. The third occurred on January 23, 1812 and the fourth on February 7, 1812. The second quake is sometimes regarded as an aftershock rather than a principal quake, because it was smaller and occurred so soon after the first. About 200 aftershocks of magnitude 4.0 or greater were also recorded, along with numerous smaller quakes.

7.0: Minimum estimated magnitude (on the Richter scale) of each of the principal quakes according to the United States Geological Service. Seismographs were not in use at the time in North America, so the magnitudes have been estimated by later researchers based on accounts of the earthquakes. The USGS has estimated the magnitudes, in chronological order, as 7.7, 7.0, 7.5, and 7.7., although other estimates suggest that several of them were magnitude 8.0 or higher. The largest earthquake ever recorded in the U.S. was magnitude 9.2, which occurred in Alaska on March 3, 1964.

Details From Eyewitness Accounts

The Virtual Times:

‘On the 16th of December, 1811, about two o’clock, A.M., we were visited by a violent shock of an earthquake, accompanied by a very awful noise resembling loud but distant thunder, but more hoarse and vibrating, which was followed in a few minutes by the complete saturation of the atmosphere, with sulphurious vapor, causing total darkness. The screams of the affrighted inhabitants running to and fro, not knowing where to go, or what to do – the cries of the fowls and beasts of every species – the cracking of trees falling, and the roaring of the Mississippi – the current of which was retrogade for a few minutes, owing as is supposed, to an irruption in its bed — formed a scene truly horrible.’

There were several shocks of a day, but lighter than those already mentioned until the 23d of January, 1812, when one occurred as violent as the severest of the former ones, accompanied by the same phenomena as the former. From this time until the 4th of February the earth was in continual agitation, visibly waving as a gentle sea. On that day there was another shock, nearly as hard as the proceeding ones. Next day four such, and on the 7th about 4 o’clock A.M., a concussion took place so much more violent than those that had proceeded it, that it was dominated the hard shock. The awful darkness of the atmosphere, which was formerly saturated with sulphurious vapor, and the violence of the tempestuous thundering noise that accompanied it, together with all of the other phenomena mentioned as attending the former ones, formed a scene, the description of which would require the most sublimely fanciful imagination.

‘This account of the New Madrid Earthquake was recorded by George Heinrich Crist, resisiding at the time in the north-central Kentucky county of Nelson, near the present location of Louisville. It was submitted by Floyd Creasey – 4th tier great-grandchild to author, now a Texas resident.’
The Virtual Times

8 Febuary 1812

“If we do not get away from here the ground is going to eat us alive. We had another one of them earth quakes yesterdy and today the ground still shakes at times. We are all about to go crazy – from pain and fright. We can not do anything until we can find our animals or get some more. We have not found enough to pull he wagons.

20 March 1812

“I do not know if our minds have got bad or what. But everybody says it. I swear you can still feel the ground move and shake some. We still have not found enough animals to pull the wagons and you can not find any to buy or trade.

(Transactions of the Literary and Philosophical Society of NY, vol. 1, pp. 281-307)

Samuel L. Mitchill, Representative in Congress
Transcription and notes, Susan E. Hough, U.S. Geological Survey, Pasadena (May, 2000).
Pasadena Library, USGS

‘It was observed, by Dr. Macbride of Pineville, (S.C.) that the earthquake terrified the inhabitants exceedingly. It was accompanied by several appearances that countenances the theory of this phenomenon, which brings in the agency of the electric fluid. 1. The unfrequency or absence of thunder storms; that is, they were much less frequent this year than usual, especially in the autumn. 2. Immediately before the earthquake, a red appearance of the clouds, which had much darkened the water for twenty-four hours immediately before the shock; and 3. The loudness of the thunder, and the number of the peals within twenty-four hours after the first shock, and but a few hours before the last, which was felt before he wrote. Such thunder was very unusual at that season.’

‘The town of St. Louis, in Louisiana, experienced a full proportion of the commotion. Mr. Riddick, being at St. Louis, near the Mississippi, observed to me, that the shocks were preceded by a remarkable calm. The atmosphere was of a dingy and lurid aspect, and gleams and flashes of light were frequently visible around the horizon, in different directions, generally ascending from the earth. Sometimes sounds were heard, like wind rustling thorugh the trees, but not resembling thunder.

The first earthquake was felt aobut a quarter of an hour after two in the morning of the 16th. It roused persons from their sleep, by the clatter of windows, doors, and furniture, in tremulous motion. There was a rumbling distant noise, resembling a number of carriages passing over a pavement. In a few seconds the motions and noises had considerably increased. The sky was obscurred by a thick and hazy fog, without a breath of wind. The weather was moderate, with the mercury about eight degrees above the freezing point. At forty-seven minutes after two, a second shock was felt. At thirty-four minutes after three, a third came; which was as tremulous as the first, but not followed by so much noise. A little after daylight, there was a fourth; at eight, a fifth; and at half past eleven, a sixth; several persons felt, or imagined, others. They were of different lengths, from two minutes to a few seconds. No lives were lost; some chimnies were thrown down; and a few stone houses split. The morning was observed to be very hazy, and unusually warm for the season. The houses and fences seemed to be covered with a white frost; but on examination, this appearance was illusive. A vapour hovered over every thing, and shrouded the morning in awful gloom.’

ACCOUNTS OF THE NEW MADRID EARTHQUAKE
THE LOUISIANA GAZETTE AND DAILY
ADVERTISER (NEW ORLEANS)
December 21, 1811, Saturday
No mail north of Natchez yesterday. Letters from that city state that a small earthquake had been felt there some days ago. From the principles of earthquakes we are surprised it was not felt here. Earthquakes have generally been felt in southern mountainous countries; sometimes located to a small portion of country sometimes more extended. Different nations, near the Adriatic and Mediterranean, have felt the shock of an earthquake at the same moment.

The Comet has been passing to the westward since it passed its perihelion – perhaps it has touched the mountain of California, that has given a small shake to this side of the globe – or the skake which the Natchezians have felt may be a mysterious visitation from the Author of all nature, on them for their sins – wickedness and the want of good faith have long prevailed in that territory.Sodom and Gomorrha would have been saved had three frighteous persons been found in it – we therefore hope that Natchez has been saved on the same principle.

[American Patriot]

Endtimes - nonsense.

[wallis]

Missed the point--as usual.

[American Patriot]

Wallis, I "got it". I merely made a remark about Endtimes. End times is bullshit.

The comet "Elenin" is bullshit (it's a COMET).

Quakes in the 1800s and quakes now have no relation that anyone can point to other than coincident.

When it comes right down to it I was born in August, and there's a huge meteor shower, the Persids. OBVIOUSLY it happens BECAUSE *I* was born.

[wallis]

Of course, the "endtimes" is bullshit.

Your comment, however, impressed me that you hadn't even bothered to read the article and just dismissed it with the title, which soured the whole effort of posting.

I thought that the correlations between comets and earthquakes a hundred years apart or so were of interest. What fascinates me is that I believe that the planet is very fluid. Earthquakes are connected to one another in a way that is not yet understood. And, scientists who once were rather adamant that earthquakes have no relationship with each other are slowly changing their opinions.

[samizdat]

6.5 Mw - VERACRUZ, MEXICO...

Skary- vewy sccawwy. I get the jeepers with these EQs and hurricanes. The LG, veracruz nuke plant sits right on the gulf, just like fukushima.

[American Patriot]

Of course, the "endtimes" is bullshit.

Of course it is...

Your comment, however, impressed me that you hadn't even bothered to read the article and just dismissed it with the title, which soured the whole effort of posting.

Wallis, I could say pretty much the same thing about you - and probably have. So have most of the other visitors here. No, I actually read the article. I pretty much read everything completely (sometimes twice) before I comment on it. If I am not sure about something, I'll read it again and again until I understand what it was saying.

I thought that the correlations between comets and earthquakes a hundred years apart or so were of interest.

As an astronomer - I can tell you there is little correlation between comets and earthquakes. The Moon has a better chance of causing quakes (and likely IS part of the reason) due simply to mass and proximity.

What fascinates me is that I believe that the planet is very fluid.

Indeed, because the Earth is "fluid" specifically with a molten core, we have plate tectonics. Actually, a good example on a very, very time scale is looking at molten metal being poured in forges. If you watch videos (or go in person, it's more impressive face to face with thousands-plus degree metals being poured) carefully, you will see that some of the surface material is hardening sometimes and floating on the surface of the molten metal. This is precisely what the Earth is doing. Our crust floats because it isn't as massive as the molten metals below. Kind of like ice floats on water.

Plate tectonics isn't an exact science - mostly because there are so many factors invovlved.

Going back to comets - the mass of a comet is insignificant in comparison to the Earth. Even a massive asteroid hurtling past the Earth in all likelihood isn't massive enough to cause a pebble to tumble down a mountain.

Earthquakes are connected to one another in a way that is not yet understood. And, scientists who once were rather adamant that earthquakes have no relationship with each other are slowly changing their opinions.

Actually, they have known for quite a few years they are connected and there are "Earthquake swarms". Computer models of past quakes shown in a faster time sequence on a computer screen, visually has shown that quakes occur in groups and they travel around the planet. In the simulations (they weren't simulations, but they were playbacks on a world map) showed large quakes "migrating" around the planet westward from the first quakes shown.

The time compression was pretty large (like years instead of days or hours) but quakes moved west from each set.

So, there is actually a lot more understanding of this than you're giving credit for.

Can they predict the next one? No probably not.

Do comets have anything to do with it? Absolutely NOT.

[American Patriot]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History..._Japan#History

Basically, the above is a history of Japan quakes.

Comet Elenin is the latest thing for the 2012ers to glom onto. Everyone wants to see death and destruction, the end of the world, and they think it will be a cosmic encounter. They also think that a cosmic encounter will be the cause of massive quakes and such. This weirdo phenomenon isn't "Religious Right Wing" either. It's lunatic fringes of Right, Left, Middle, and everywhere in between.

In reality, I TOO believe that the death of the Earth - or more accurately, the death of most life forms on the planet will be from a cosmic encounter. But this isn't based on Biblical studies, or New Age Groupies I hang out with (though, some of the body piercings I've seen on those chicks.. oh, well, never mind that now).

Destruction of planet Earth will not be a rogue planet (Nibiru), a "brown dwarf" (as there are NO stars closer to us than the sun at this time, and the next closest star is 4 light years distant), it won't likely be alien space craft, an invasion of alien life forms or "The Blob".

Most likely the destruction of life on Earth will be from a very large asteroid, one that we either don't know about or will suddenly come into view one night when discovered by some amateur astronomer taking photos night after night in the hopes of discovering a new comet. The truth is 90% or more of the objects discovered that pass near by Earth were discovered by amateurs.

Governments just don't use money to keep an eye on space. Hell, we cut our SPACE PROGRAM. Obama cut that out because he felt the money could be better utilize by giving it to Acorn. Cutting thousands of NASA jobs was not really good for America, or good for the world - but I digress.


If you look up comet Elenin, you will get an inordinate amount of nonsense from sites like "Above Top Secret", religious sites, and survival sites who believe the end is near.

We're in a pretty interesting time in the history of the planet though. The dinosaurs died when an asteroid hit the planet - and perhaps they didn't even look up and notice it. We, as an intelligent creature can observe, predict and even know when we're doomed. We honestly don't need people to go freaky over a comet so close to 2012.

However, I'll make a prediction. Comet Elenin won't hit us, it's not a brown dwarf star, it didn't cause and will NOT cause any earth quakes. I'll make another prediction, there will be other comets discovered between now and 21 December 2012. In fact, there are an average of twelve comets per year, discovered almost exclusively by amateur astronomers.

Also, one more prediction - I'll be retired before the end of the world in December 2012.

[American Patriot]

By the way, one last piece of evidence.... comets don't cause quakes, they cause blindness and killer ambulatory plants...

[BRVoice]

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/...74K2KP20110523


Europe on alert for Icelandic volcano ash cloud
By Omar Valdimarsson
REYKJAVIK | Sun May 22, 2011 8:25pm EDT

(Reuters) - An eruption by Iceland's most active volcano was set to keep the island's main airport shut on Monday, while other European nations watched for any impact on their air routes from a towering plume of smoke and ash.

Experts said they saw little chance of a repeat of last year's six-day closure of airspace, which also hit transatlantic flights, when another Icelandic volcano erupted, although airlines have been warned the new ash cloud will drift.

So far Iceland, particularly the towns and villages to the south and east of the Grimsvotn volcano, have suffered most. Day turned into night when a thick cloud of ash descended on the area, smothering cars and buildings.

The cloud had also begun to drift over the capital Reykjavik by late Sunday evening and the civil aviation authority said the prospects for re-opening the main international airport on Monday were not good.

Europe's air traffic control organization warned on its website that ash could spread southwards.

"Ash cloud is expected to reach North Scotland on Tuesday 24th May. If volcanic emissions continue with same intensity, cloud might reach west French airspace and north Spain on Thursday 26th May," it said in a traffic bulletin.

Iceland's meteorological office said the plume from Grimsvotn, which last exploded in 2004, had fallen to 10 to 15 km in height from a peak of 25 km (16 miles).

But the eruption was much stronger than the one at a volcano further south last year which closed European airspace and halted transatlantic flights, due to worries that particles could get into aircraft engines and cause accidents. The airline industry said it lost $1.7 billion in revenues.

"It could lead to some disruption, but only for a very limited time and only over a very limited area," said University of Iceland Professor of Geophysics Magnus Tumi Gudmundsson.

"We see some signs that the (eruption's) power is declining a bit, but it is still quite powerful," he said, adding that the eruption was the most violent at the volcano since 1873.

LAYERS OF ASH

Gudmundsson and other vulcanologists said the impact on air travel this time would be more limited as winds were more favorable, the plume's content was heavier and less likely to spread, and authorities had a higher tolerance for ash levels.

Some airlines complained that authorities had been excessively cautious in imposing blanket closures of airspace during last year's eruption.

Icelandair, the main airline on the island, stopped flights on Sunday and said on its website the halt could continue on Monday. It said 6,000 passengers had been affected by cancellations so far.

Dave Mcgarvie, vulcanologist at Britain's Open University, said any ash which reached Britain would be less than last year and added that experience gained since the 2010 eruption would lead to less disruption.

In emailed comments, he said "minor re-routing" should enable aircraft to avoid zones where ash is concentrated.

Grimsvotn lies under the Vatnajokull glacier in southeast Iceland, the largest glacier in Europe.

Areas to the south of glacier have been covered in thick layers of ash and the sun was blocked out for several hours.

"It was like night is during the winter," said Benedikt Larusson, speaking in the town of Kirkjubaejarklaustur. "Now it is a little bit better. Now I can see about 100 meters, but before it was about one meter."


(Writing by Patrick Lannin in Stockholm; Additional reporting by Tim Hepher in Paris, Kate Kelland in London, Christopher Le Coq in Brussels, Ingolfur Juliusson in Iceland; Editing by David Stamp)

[American Patriot]

End of the world! End of the world!

Omg!

[American Patriot]

Chile Volcano Puyehue: Big Pics

DNEWS VIDEO: Top 5 Volcano Webcams and Videos
June 6, 2011 -- A thick plume of ash from the erupting Puyehue volcano in the Andes shifted direction into Chile on Sunday after spewing volcanic dust over parts of Argentina and forcing a major border crossing point to close due to low visibility.

North-westerly winds pushed the giant column of ash from the Chilean volcano, located 870 kilometers (540 miles) south of the capital Santiago near the border with Argentina, into Chile's Lago Ranco area.

The eruption forced some 3,500 people to be evacuated from 22 rural Chilean communities.

"This change means that we will have ash falling in the area, with damage to the population and a threat to small farmers," Lago Ranco Mayor Santiago Rosas told AFP.

PHOTOS: Eruption of Iceland's Grimsvotn Volcano

The Puyehue rumbled to life on Saturday following a magnitude 9.5 earthquake. The last major eruption of this volcano located in the Andes 2,240 meters (7,350 feet) above the sea level was in 1960.





"There are some people, especially heads of family, that have decided to stay home and take a risk. The government, for the time being, will not interfere in that individual decision," said the regional governor in Chile, Juan Andres Varas.
Ash fell on the upscale Argentine resort town of Villa La Angostura and forced the nearby Argentine resort town of Bariloche, population 50,000, to declare a state of emergency on Saturday and close down its airport.

Bariloche, located about 100 kilometers (62 miles) east of the volcano, was covered in a sooty blanket of several centimeters (inches) thick and remains under a state of emergency.

The picturesque town, as well as others in the vicinity affected by the ash, welcomes thousands of foreign tourists each year to its lakes and mountain scenery, as well as ski slopes in the winter months.





Chile has some 3,000 volcanoes, of which some 500 are geologically active and 60 have erupted in the past half century.
In 2008 the eruption of the Chaiten volcano, also in southern Chile, spread a thick cloud of ash across a large swath of South America, grounding flights across the region. Ash from that eruption drifted east as far as the Argentine capital of Buenos Aires.

BLOG: Air Traffic Policy in Response to Ash





Content provided by AFP.
IMAGE 1: A tourist at a town in southern Chile watches the cloud of ash billowing from Puyehue volcano on June 5, 2011. Puyehue volcano erupted for the first time in half a century on Saturday June 4. Credit: Victor Rojas/XinHua/Corbis

IMAGE 2: Photo taken on June 5, 2011, shows the cloud of ash at night billowing from Puyehue. Credit: Victor Rojas/XinHua/Corbis

IMAGE 3: Two residents of the city of San Carlos de Bariloche in Argentina clean the streets of volcanic ash. The ashes of the Puyehue-Cordon Caulle in Chile reached the Atlantic coast of Argentina on June 5, 2011, leaving the Andes and the Patagonian plateau covered with volcanic debris. Credit: Photo Patagonia/dpa/Corbis

IMAGE 4: The eruption became intensified on Sunday noon and produced a column of gas 10 kilometers (6 miles) high. Credit: Victor Rojas/XinHua/Corbis

[Ryan Ruck]

Yellowstone Supervolcano Bigger Than Thought

April 11, 2011


The volcanic plume of partly molten rock that feeds the Yellowstone supervolcano. Yellow and red indicate higher conductivity, green and blue indicate lower conductivity. Made by University of Utah geophysicists and computer scientists, this is the first large-scale 'geoelectric' image of the Yellowstone hotspot.

The gigantic underground plume of partly molten rock that feeds the Yellowstone supervolcano might be bigger than previously thought, a new image suggests.

The study says nothing about the chances of a cataclysmic eruption at Yellowstone, but it provides scientists with a valuable new perspective on the vast and deep reservoir of fiery material that feeds such eruptions, the last of which occurred more than 600,000 years ago.

Earlier measurements of the plume were produced by using seismic waves — the waves generated by earthquakes — to create a picture of the underground region. The new picture was produced by examining the Yellowstone plume's electrical conductivity, which is generated by molten silicate rocks and hot briny water that is naturally present and mixed in with partly molten rock.

"It’s a totally new and different way of imaging and looking at the volcanic roots of Yellowstone," said study co-author Robert B. Smith, professor emeritus and research professor of geophysics at the University of Utah, and a coordinating scientist of the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory.

Ancient eruptions

Almost 17 million years ago, the deep plume of partly molten rock known as the Yellowstone hot spot first breached the surface in an eruption near what is now the Oregon-Idaho-Nevada border.

As North America drifted slowly southwest over the hot spot, there were more than 140 gargantuan caldera eruptions — the largest kind of eruption on Earth — along a northeast-trending path that is now Idaho's Snake River Plain.

The hot spot finally reached Yellowstone about 2 million years ago, yielding three huge caldera eruptions about 2 million, 1.3 million and 642,000 years ago.

Two of the eruptions blanketed half of North America with volcanic ash, producing 2,500 times and 1,000 times more ash than the 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens in Washington state. Smaller eruptions occurred at Yellowstone in between the big blasts and as recently as 70,000 years ago.

Underground images

Smith said the geoelectric and seismic images of the Yellowstone plume look somewhat different because "we are imaging slightly different things." Seismic images highlight materials such as molten or partly molten rock that slow seismic waves, while the geoelectric image is sensitive to briny fluids that conduct electricity.

Seismic images of the plume made by Smith in 2009 showed the plume of molten rock dips downward from Yellowstone at a 60-degree angle and extends 150 miles (240 kilometers) west-northwest to a point at least 410 miles (660 km) under the Montana-Idaho border — as far as seismic imaging could "see."

The new electrical conductivity images show the conductive part of the plume dipping more gently, at an angle of perhaps 40 degrees to the west, and extending perhaps 400 miles (640 km) from east to west. The geoelectric image can "see" to a depth of only 200 miles (320 km).

The lesser tilt of the geoelectric plume image raises the possibility that the seismically imaged plume, shaped somewhat like a tilted tornado, may be enveloped by a broader, underground sheath of partly molten rock and liquids, Zhdanov and Smith say.

"It's a bigger size" in the geoelectric picture, Smith said. "We can infer there are more fluids" than shown by seismic images. Despite differences, he said, "this body that conducts electricity is in about the same location with similar geometry as the seismically imaged Yellowstone plume."

The new study has been accepted for publication in Geophysical Research Letters, a journal of the American Geophysical Union, which plans to publish it within the next few weeks.

[American Patriot]

And still, you wanna live in Idaho?

/chuckles

I really don't wanna live 450 miles south of Yellowstone any more

[wallis]

Peterle,

Yep, the secret is out. It is the Americans. They were trying to dig a tunnel to North Korea, but they took a wrong turn at Alburqueque.

[Will that joke never die?]

[American Patriot]

Peterle,

Yep, the secret is out. It is the Americans. They were trying to dig a tunnel to North Korea, but they took a wrong turn at Alburqueque.

[Will that joke never die?]

LMAO (Leave it to Bugs Bunny)

[Phil Fiord]

I'd expect that if TSHTF, a Bugs Bunny cartoon with the Albuquerque quote will be on tv at the time.

[Ryan Ruck]

Just on FNC an earthquake has hit Washington D.C.

It is reported to be the Founding Fathers turning over in their graves.



But seriously, there has been an earthquake. 5.8 magnitude.







Earthquake List for Map Centered at 37°N, 80°W

Update time = Tue Aug 23 17:53:48 UTC 2011
Here are the earthquakes in the Map Centered at 37°N, 80°W area, most recent at the top.
(Some early events may be obscured by later ones.)
Click on the underlined portion of an earthquake record in the list below for more information.

	MAG	UTC DATE-TIME y/m/d h:m:s	LAT deg	LON deg	DEPTH km	LOCATION
MAP	5.8	2011/08/23 17:51:03	37.875	-77.908	6.0	15 km ( 9 mi) S of Mineral, VA
MAP	2.2	2011/08/22 08:00:32	41.131	-80.708	5.0	3 km ( 2 mi) SSW of Girard, OH
MAP	1.5	2011/08/17 15:42:26	35.757	-83.964	10.2	1 km ( 1 mi) NE of Maryville, TN

[Ryan Ruck]

Actually, just upgraded to a 6.0

Didn't feel anything in Ohio...

Interestingly my dog barked around that time for no apparent reason (like she heard someone in the driveway or on the porch).