Relax, the Yellowstone ‘supervolcano’ is not about to erupt

So, there's a video that's been going around the web over the past few days that's apparently got a lot of people spooked about a possible eruption of the supervolcano that lies beneath Yellowstone National Park.

Let's take a look at it:

It's a little unusual, perhaps, to see bison running down the road like that, but it's far from terrifying.

Leo Leckie, the man who recorded the video apparently agrees, as this is the description he posted on the YouTube video page:

Despite this, some have taken a whole different stance on the video. Far from being a happy moment of watching animals enjoy a good run on a nice spring day, it's a portent of apocalypse, as these bison are obviously running for their lives due to an impending eruption of the Yellowstone supervolcano!

Now, there is a supervolcano under Yellowstone National Park. That much is true. It's also true that there are frequent earthquakes in the park and there was even a magnitude 4.8 tremor on the morning of Sunday, March 30. Sensors monitoring these quakes, as well as the uplift of the magma under the park have even noted a recent increase in both over the past six months or so. There's also research that shows that the Yellowstone caldera has been releasing more helium than scientists thought it should be. Plus, the video clearly shows these bison running, and there doesn't seem to be any particular reason for it that we can see.

However, none of these things have anything to do with an impending eruption of the Yellowstone caldera, even when you take them all together. Earthquakes in the area are completely normal, as Yellowstone Public Affairs Chief Al Nash mentions in a recent video. The uptick in the number of earthquakes and the uplift of the magma under the park aren't unusual in any way, and they're perfectly in-line with another recent period of uplift (between 1996-2003). Although helium may become a new way to predict volcanic eruptions, the research that's being referred to in this case was showing how the last 2 million years had higher emissions compared to the previous 2 billion years. It wasn't about some recent surge in emissions. Lastly, as Mr. Leckie says, the bison in the video above are even running deeper into the park, not away from it (and note that the video was filmed over two weeks before the 4.8 magnitude earthquake).

The U.S. Geological Survey has a very informative page up now about the whole issue. No alerts have been called for the region. All activity is seen as normal.

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So, the Yellowstone supervolcano is not about to erupt now. What about in the future?

Yes, someday this supervolcano may blow, and if it does, it will be very bad for anyone living pretty much anywhere in North America. However, according to what Peter Cervelli, associate director for science and technology at the U.S. Geological Survey's Volcano Science Center in California told Reuters, if an eruption does occur, it's not likely to be for tens of thousands of years.

(YouTube screencapture courtesy: Discovery, edited by S. Sutherland)

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