Yellowstone – Supervolcano Documentary
The documentary is on Yellow stone American first national park located in Wyoming spreading across Idaho and Montana. The Super volcano is absolutely disastrous than atomic bomb. Having occurred in the past the documentary investigates the source of its power, to discover its ramification when it happens (“Yellowstone Supervolcano”).
Yellow Stone Park is popular because of its colourful springs, mud pots and geysers. President Ulysses Grant had special interest in the vast wilderness and put measures to protect it. Beneath the wilderness park is a constant moving molten rock bigger than Mount Everest (“Yellowstone Supervolcano”). Earth Scientist Michael Rampino is unsure on when the volcano will explode. If it were to occur there will be increase of seismic activities, ground deformation, large changes in geyser base and the eruption would spread for more than 100miles, this is according to geologist Hank Heasler (“Yellowstone Supervolcano”).
The Yellowstone super volcano is likely to happen because it has erupted before. The eruptions have occurred in different times and leading to catastrophic damages. The lava eruptions caused several volcanoes across the caldera which resulted to the Yellowstone super volcano (“Yellowstone Supervolcano”). These eruptions wiped out the surface and all living animals especially in Nebraska where animals inhaled the ashes of the volcano. The effects of the ashes were further proved in the Tambora eruption which is 50% smaller than the Yellowstone (“Yellowstone Supervolcano”).
Presently each year there is a new eruption forming a caldera moving further to the North. Due o these movements, the Yellowstone has become the most studied eruption in the world. The researchers are mainly concerned with seismic and ground deformation activities in the Yellowstone which are the main causes of volcanic eruption (“Yellowstone Supervolcano”). According to researchers, when the lava erupts from the spaces created by earthquakes and the geysers will increase, the magma containing high pressure which will push the ground resulting to large eruptions. The consequence of the eruptions will be catastrophic, the ashes will clear the agricultural fields, and meaning that the food will be scarce; the growing season will be short or nonexistent leading to draught and starvation. The ashes will clear the livestock and other animals (“Yellowstone Supervolcano”).
The development of technology has helped geologist document activities in the caldera, recent information show that the area has been raising. The satellite image has shown the magma chamber completely filled (“Yellowstone Supervolcano”). The Tambora and Mount Pinatubo are some of the vivid and recent illustration of catastrophic consequence of eruptions (“Yellowstone Supervolcano”). The Pinatubo altered the global climate for two years affecting the global temperature by two degrees. The Toba eruption created Lake Toba in India, the eruption is believed to have lasted for more than two weeks dropping ashes. The Toba eruption destroyed the early population of the early man and spread to several parts in Africa (“Yellowstone Supervolcano”).
In conclusion, the Yellowstone Park is the one of the beautiful scenes in the county but what lies beneath it can be the end to the human race. The eruption will lead to far worse interruptions in the global temperature and climate. The effects of the eruptions may happen in the future because of the noticeable activities in the ground and the fact that it once happened.
Hawaii Volcanic Eruption 2017
The documentary recognises the beautiful scenery of Hawaii created by volcanic eruption and ironically threatened by it. Geo Physicist Mike Poland explains on the movement of plates over the six hotspots filled with molten rock explaining why volcanoes are popping up all the time (“Remillard Hawaii Volcanic Eruption”). The Hawaiian Island started as a volcano formed out of magma reaching the earth surface or lava. The island was formed by five volcanoes: Kohala, Mauna Kea, Hualalai, Kilauea and Mauna Loa (“Remillard Hawaii Volcanic Eruption”). The volcanoes are dominant and have influenced the habitation of the communities around. The Hualalai has attracted interest of researchers because unlike the other mountains it has not erupted in many years. The Hualalai volcano last erupted approximately 400 years ago spreading lava in an area estimated or stretching to Manhattan, San Francisco and Miami combined.
Oceanographer George Pararas emphasizes on how catastrophic the eruption would be because of the infrastructure built over the lava. Kilauea eruption has been documented as slow and the longest in history. The eruption in the 1790 killed 80 Hawaiian mainly due to asphyxiation. The devastation of the Kilauea is only a tip of the iceberg (“Remillard Hawaii Volcanic Eruption”).
However, the geologists are scared of the Mauna Loa volcano. The volcano in the 1868 was devastating and was worsen by the lava flow to the lake. Oceanographer George Pararas states that these eruptions tend to have a cycle between 100-150 years and if that is the case then in 10years or so Mauna Loa might erupt again. A 1950 lava flow followed a previous path and if it were to occur in the modern time it would surely follow the same path (“Remillard Hawaii Volcanic Eruption”). Scientist Robert Tiling emphasizes that the structure extends below the sea level and adding to the fact that it has the largest surface coverage it makes it the largest volcano in the world. The structure has several spaces and the steepness of the Mauna Loa would certainly increase the speed of the lava flow.
A recent earthquake in 2006 had some tangible effects on the Hawaiian people including a power outage for three days, but the sad reality is what will happen when one of the volcanoes erupts reaching a magnitude of 8.0. The USGS has wired up the volcanoes to gather enough data in addition to the satellite images. The data has shown magma accumulation in the Mauna Loa. The data are used to anticipate when an eruption could happen is one thing but a greater challenge is identifying the exact area of a volcanic eruption (“Remillard Hawaii Volcanic Eruption”).
Frank Trusdell is confident that by looking at the past events then it would be more practicable and predictable to deal with future eruptions. The magma movement would allow the USGS enough time to warn the people in Hawaii of the impending eruptions. The USGS has put measures to contain an eruption of the Kohala volcano, however, what will happen if all the five volcanoes erupts at the same time. The documentary is emphatic that the Mauna Loa volcano will erupt in the next coming years this is attributed to the fact that the Mauna Loa has been erupting at periodically after 50 years (“Remillard Hawaii Volcanic Eruption”). The only hope left is that the USGS can find enough data to pin point exact location of the eruptions, absence of exact location and the steepness of the volcano will be catastrophic to the human life and infrastructure.
Works Cited
Documentary Lab. “Yellowstone – Supervolcano Documentary.” Online Video clip. You Tube. Published on Nov 26, 2014. Accessed on Feb 18, 2017. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4PivGtYK_D4
Shirly, Remillard. “Hawaii Volcanic Eruption.” Online video clip. You Tube. Published on Apr 15, 2016. Accessed on Feb 18, 2017. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DMuRaiUcpmM