Parts of Yellowstone National Park closed after massive supervolcano beneath it melts roads

[Skidmore]

Paging Woody Harrelson! Seriously, though, the thought of that caldera possibly exploding is one scary prospect.

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2014/07/14/parts-of-yellowstone-national-park-closed-after-massive-supervolcano-beneath-it-melts-roads/

Tourists at Yellowstone National Park are being barred from areas of the park because the massive underground supervolcano beneath it is melting the asphalt roads.

“It basically turned the asphalt into soup. It turned the gravel road into oatmeal,” Yellowstone spokesman Dan Hottle said. In particular, Hottle said that the road between the park’s most popular attraction, Old Faithful, and Madison Junction has been dangerously compromised.

[ChisolmTrailDem]

1. I used to live near there. I was always amazed at seeing steam coming out of the ground

in places far from Yellowstone, especially in the winter.

"As bizarre and alarming as it might sound to tourists, according to park officials it’s all perfectly normal stuff." - http://www.geek.com/news/yellowstone-national-park-limits-visitor-access-because-roads-are-melting-1599072/

Here's video: http://www.weather.com/news/yellowstone-national-park-closes-popular-geysers-attractions-due-melting-road-20140710

[lovuian]

2. I couldn't believe the difference when I saw Yellowstone

10 years ago and now.....many more geysers

[bigtree]

5. I'd think that would indicate a pressure release

. . .rather than a build-up that would indicate something bigger blowing.

[kentauros]

10. A "pressure release" would be magma coming to the surface.

The geysers are just the water getting boiled beneath the surface by the hot stone. That stone is still solid; water would never make it to magma.

I read a similar story on this a few days ago. The geologist studying it said that the percent chance of it blowing up was something on the order of 0.00001 %

[progressoid]

3. Cool.

er...hot.

[eShirl]

4. Is it fixin' to pop?

[Motown_Johnny]

16. any millennia now

It is just a matter of time (on a geological scale).

[heaven05]

6. major size

for a volcano--35 by45 miles circumference. Super volcano.

[geek tragedy]

7. Ruh roh. When that one blows, it will be a planet-altering event and the

single most important event since history began.

[Hekate]

14. Probably not *that* cataclysmic, but certainly a Western-US-altering event.

I read about it quite a few years ago (probably in The Smithsonian), and believe me I would not want to be within several hundred miles of such an event.

I always wanted to go see Yellowstone and Old Faithful, but if the roads are melting .... well, maybe not just now.

[geek tragedy]

15. Volcanoes like Krakatoa and Tambora altered the entire planet's climate for years.

Tambora caused snow to fall in NY. In June.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Year_Without_a_Summer

[Art_from_Ark]

17. The roads aren't really "melting"

http://www.nps.gov/yell/parknews/14047.htm

[Hekate]

18. LOL, and thanks for the info. Maybe I'll get to Yellowstone after all.

[Art_from_Ark]

19. It's a fantastic place

I've been there twice-- once in May, and once in August. It snowed (flurried) both times. I was lucky with the August visit, because I arrived on National Park Service Birthday (August 25) and was able to enter free of charge.

[Baclava]

8. “Road closures are business as usual for us.”

nothing to see here - move along

[kentuck]

9. I visited once..

and it was scary as hell to me. Walking along a wooden path, with big bubbling, gurgling ponds on either side, with the smell of sulphur, was quite distracting.

You did not get the feeling that you were walking over stable ground...

[Art_from_Ark]

11. The park's official web site says that "All roads and entrances are open".

The road between Madison Junction and Old Faithful was temporarily closed for repairs but is now open. The park says there is "no indication of increased hydrothermal activity in the area."

http://www.nps.gov/yell/parknews/14047.htm

[UTUSN]

12. I'm skeered but also OLD so what can I do n/t

[applegrove]

13. If she ever blows I hope to be close enough that I go quickly. I would not want to die

slowly as the sun is blocked out for 100 years.

[Mbrow]

20. I have a place

about 17 miles from the West entrance, and live about 100 mile from there. I love traveling in the park during the off season and snowmobiling the mountains on the edge of the park, absolutely glorious.

[MinM]

21. Warehouse 13

There was a storyline in the Season 2 finale of Warehouse 13 which involved exploiting this geological perfect storm .. With the idea of creating an apocalyptic event. Life and art...