New Yellowstone Theory

Above, one of many hot springs in Yellowstone National Park. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Most everyone who has taken even a scant look at Yellowstone National Park and its wonders know that below the surface of the park lies a supervolcano.

But what researchers and scientists debate on is where the source for Yellowstone's heat comes from.

A new theory on this has, pardon the pun, surfaced.

The Citizen Tribune reported:

Newly published research contradicts what has been a long-held — although fervently debated — theory about the hotspot underlying the Yellowstone supervolcano. 

Geologists at the University of Illinois used seismic waves that travel through the earth after earthquakes and explosions to produce an almost X-ray-like view of what’s going on underground. The information was then fed through a supercomputer to mimic different geologic scenarios that are known to have occurred over the past 20 million years in an attempt to come up with an explanation for the Yellowstone hotspot. 

Their conclusion? Yellowstone’s heat is being funneled west from the geologically active Pacific Coast.

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