[Rockhounds] Yellowstone's reawakened geyser won't spark a volcanic 'big one'

[Kreigh Tomaszewski]

A geyser hiding under *Yellowstone National Park*
<https://www.livescience.com/29720-yellowstone-national-park-old-faithful-super-volcano.html>
recently
reawakened. But don't worry: That doesn't mean the supervolcano beneath the
park will erupt soon, a new study finds.

In March 2018, following a 3.5-year-long nap, *Steamboat Geyser*
<https://www.livescience.com/65802-yellowstone-geyser-record.html> suddenly
erupted, spewing steam, mud, sand and rocks into the air. The previously
dormant geyser erupted 32 times in 2018, a record-breaking 48 times in 2019
and another 48 times in 2020 (its previous record of 29 eruptions was set
in 1964), the *U.S. Geological Survey reported Monday*
<https://www.usgs.gov/center-news/yellowstone-volcano-observatory-year-review-what-happened-2020?qt-news_science_products=4#qt-news_science_products>
(Jan.
4).

Some scientists feared that the geyser's dramatic outbursts were a
harbinger of volcanic activity at Yellowstone. But it turns out Steamboat's
frequent eruptions do not portend a volcanic blast, according to the new
study, published online Jan. 4 in the journal *Proceedings of the National
Academy of Sciences* <https://www.pnas.org/cgi/doi/10.1073/pnas.2020943118>.

https://www.livescience.com/steamboat-geyser-no-yellowstone-volcanic-eruption.html