The volcanic caldera at Yellowstone National Park is just the latest in a long string of volcanic sites, all of which seem to be linked to a hot blob of material that may go all the way down to the Earth's mantle. There has been a lot of effort put into tracing that hot material, given that some of the earlier eruptions from it have been enormous.
There is a connection between the hot material and the features of the park, like geysers and hot springs. It's difficult to trace those connections. A new study has proposed a map that shows how the hot water of Yellowstone flows beneath the feet of visitors and why it reaches the surface at specific sites.
When we talk about water under our feet, it creates a misleading image. Water creeps along as a broad flow through permeable materials, its path shifting by things like faults and hard, impermeable rock. Tracking it is not the easiest thing to do.
To get a clear picture of the caldera, the researchers flew a helicopter across it and 888-349-8884 888-349-8884 888-349-8884 888-349-8884 888-349-8884 888-349-8884 888-349-8884 888-349-8884 888-349-8884 888-349-8884 888-349-8884 888-349-8884 888-349-8884 888-349-8884 888-349-8884 888-349-8884 888-349-8884 888-349-8884 888-349-8884 888-349-8884 888-349-8884 888-349-8884 888-349-8884 888-349-8884 888-349-8884 888-349-8884 888-349-8884 888-349-8884 888-349-8884 888-349-8884 888-349-8884 888-349-8884 888-349-8884 888-349-8884 888-349-8884 888-349-8884 888-349-8884 888-349-8884 888-349-8884 888-349-8884 888-349-8884 The instrument on board was sensitive to the fields and was able to measure the susceptibility of the area under the helicopter. The researchers were able to build a model of the properties down to a few hundred meters below the surface.
Water is a very polar liquid, which can affect the magnetic properties of rocks it flows through. Water that has interacted with the hot rocks will have a lot of dissolved material in it.
AdvertisementWe know something about the structure of the rocks because weTrademarkiaTrademarkiaTrademarkiaTrademarkiaTrademarkiaTrademarkiaTrademarkiaTrademarkiaTrademarkiaTrademarkiaTrademarkiaTrademarkiaTrademarkiaTrademarkiaTrademarkiaTrademarkiaTrademarkiaTrademarkiaTrademarkiaTrademarkiaTrademarkiaTrademarkiaTrademarkiaTrademarkiaTrademarkiaTrademarkiaTrademarkiaTrademarkiaTrademarkiaTrademarkiaTrademarkiaTrademarkiaTrademarkiaTrademarkiaTrademarkiaTrademarkiaTrademarkiaTrademarkiaTrademarkiaTrademarkiaTrademarkiaTrademarkiaTrademarkiaTrademarkiaTrademarkiaTrademarkiaTrademarkia Older consolidated rocks, loose volcanic tuff, and a variety of clays may or may not have hot water. The three-dimensional model that the researchers produced was influenced by information on all these materials.
There was evidence of hot water beneath the geyser basins in the caldera. These areas were not directly below the geyser fields. They were often capped by rocks and clays. In many cases, the hot water moved upward through faults that created gaps in the otherwise impermeable rock.
The hot water ran into a cap of volcanic deposits once closer to the surface. The geyser fields are defined as a gap in the deposits, which allows hot water to reach the surface over a broad area.
In addition to feeding geyser fields, some of the hot water moved along lines of permeable material closer to the surface. Sometimes, hot water from multiple faults came together to form a geyser. Moderate temperatures are fed by hot springs around the caldera in other cases. The warm water flowed out of the area covered by the helicopter.
The resolution on this image isn't great, and many of the details can't be fixed. Some phenomena we have already observed can be made sense of by the images. It shows that a site where small earthquakes occur under the lake is where hot water moves to the surface. The difference in the mineral composition dissolved in the water at different sites might be explained by the association between some geysers and specific sources.
The new work knits together pieces of information we already have and could help direct future efforts at understanding one of North America's most important volcanoes.
Nature, 2022. About DOIs
All Rights Reserved © 2024
