YVO Feature Web Articles
01/08/2009 Yellowstone Lake Earthquake Swarm Summary as of 8 January 2009
Seismic activity at Yellowstone Lake in Yellowstone National Park increased in late December 2008. As of January 8, 2009, the seismic activity has markedly decreased. Earthquake swarms within the Yellowstone caldera are typical, with magnitudes occasionally ranging above 4.0. All earthquakes with magnitudes greater than 2.0 have now been reviewed by YVO seismologists. See our new article, Yellowstone Lake Earthquake Swarm Summary as of 8 January 2009 for more information about this swarm and past activity.
11/09/2007 Recent ups and downs of the Yellowstone Caldera
The November 9, 2007 issue of Science Magazine features an article, Accelerated uplift and magmatic intrusion of the Yellowstone Caldera, 2004 to 2006, by YVO scientists from the University of Utah and USGS. Using GPS and another satellite-based technique (InSAR), the authors find that parts of the Yellowstone Caldera rose as much as 7 cm (~3") per year from 2004 to 2006. The uplift is most noticeable at the White Lake GPS station, as has been discussed in our monthly YVO updates over the past year. Chang and his colleagues credit the relatively rapid uplift to magma entering the region beneath the Yellowstone Caldera. During this period of uplift, there have been relatively few earthquakes at Yellowstone. Heat and gas flow from the geysers and hot springs also remain unchanged. Calderas such as Yellowstone can display this sort of geologic behavior, even for centuries or millennia, without erupting. Read more about the uplift in our article Recent ups and downs of the Yellowstone Caldera.
02/28/2006 Satellite Technologies Detect Uplift in the Yellowstone Caldera
This March 2006, the journal Nature published a paper by YVO scientist Charles Wicks and colleagues about a period of uplift in the northern part of the Yellowstone caldera. For more information about the recent findings, please see Satellite Technologies Detect Uplift in the Yellowstone Caldera.
03/11/2005 Did you see Supervolcano on television?
BBC and the Discovery Channel produced a new docudrama and documentary about Yellowstone. For more information on the docudrama and documentary see see our docudrama question and answer page.
10/15/2004 Earthquake Swarms at Yellowstone
In April 2004 there was an increase in earthquake activity, called a swarm, at Yellowstone National Park that drew interest from scientists and the public. Swarms can occur on volcanoes or in tectonically active areas. There have been many swarms recorded over the past 40 years at Yellowstone. For more information see our Earthquake Swarms at Yellowstone article.
1/1/2004 Frequently asked questions about findings at Yellowstone Lake
In 2003, articles in the press reported a "bulge" beneathYellowstone Lake that generated some concern about possible dangers for residents or visitors to the area. Click here for answers to some of the questions we were asked by the public and press.
11/2003 Notable Changes in Thermal Activity at Norris Geyser Basin Provide Opportunity to Study Hydrothermal System
There were were notable changes in thermal activity at Norris Geyser Basin in 2003. These changesresulted in the closure of the Back Basin Trail and temporarydeployment of a monitoring network by YVO. Learn more.
