[Rockhounds] Yellowstone volcano super-eruptions appear to involve multiple explosive events News

[Kreigh Tomaszewski]

The last super-eruption at Yellowstone volcano, which occurred 631,000
years ago, was not one huge explosion. Instead, new research suggests it
was a series of eruptions or multiple vents spewing volcanic material in
rapid succession.

According to the U.S. Geological Survey's (USGS) *Yellowstone Volcano
Observatory 2022 Annual Report*
<https://pubs.usgs.gov/circ/1508/cir1508.pdf>(opens in new tab), published
May 4, fieldwork over the past year has provided new geological evidence
that "the formation of Yellowstone Caldera was much more complex than
previously thought." A caldera is a large crater that forms after the
collapse of a volcano following an eruption.

Yellowstone is one of the world's biggest volcanic systems. It sits above
one of Earth's "hotspots" — areas in the mantle where hot plumes rise and
form volcanoes on the crust above. It has produced *three caldera-forming
eruptions*
<https://www.usgs.gov/volcanoes/yellowstone/summary-eruption-history#:~:text=Three%20extraordinarily%20large%20explosive%20eruptions,density%20currents%20over%20vast%20areas.>(opens
in new tab) in the past 3 million years: the Huckleberry Ridge Tuff
eruption, 2.1 million years ago; the Mesa Falls eruption, 1.3 million years
ago; and the Lava Creek eruption, 631,000 years ago.

https://www.livescience.com/planet-earth/volcanos/yellowstone-volcano-super-eruptions-appear-to-involve-multiple-explosive-events