Almost every time Yellowstone is mentioned in the media it has to be said that we are overdue for the planets next mega eruption. Ominous music plays and a deep throated announcer tells us of the doom that may come at any unexpected time.

But, apparently, that may not be true.

According to a story on the Montana Standard,  "In a word, no. In two words, no way. In three words, not even close. Yellowstone doesn't work that way."

"Volcanoes erupt when there is a sufficient supply of liquid magma in the subsurface and sufficient pressure to cause that magma to ascend to the surface. This does not generally happen on a schedule."

"Lava Flows they erupted in tight clusters, with several eruptions happening within the space of a few thousand years, separated by up to hundreds of thousands of years with no eruptions. This is because the Yellowstone magma reservoir system receives new magma only in discontinuous batches, causing several eruptions in a short period of time with long periods of quiet in between these episodes."

 

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