YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK — A new study suggests Yellowstone's supervolcano could become active in just a few decades if the right conditions developed.
Arizona State University researchers analyzed minerals in ancient fossilized ash from the most recent mega-eruption and believe the supervolcano became active after two injections of magma into the reservoir underneath the caldera, National Geographic reported.
They found the minerals showed that the critical changes in temperature and composition built up over a few decades.
Geologists previously thought it took centuries for supervolcanoes to go active.
Supervolcanoes have an eruption magnitude of 8 on the Volcano Explosivity Index (VEI) and spit out more than 1,000 cubic kilometers (240 cubic miles) of hot rock and ash, according to Science Alert.
For now Yellowstone's supervolcano hasn't shown any indications of an eruption, although experts agree there's no way of knowing when the next blast will occur.
Arizona State University researchers analyzed minerals in ancient fossilized ash from the most recent mega-eruption and believe the supervolcano became active after two injections of magma into the reservoir underneath the caldera, National Geographic reported.
They found the minerals showed that the critical changes in temperature and composition built up over a few decades.
Geologists previously thought it took centuries for supervolcanoes to go active.
Supervolcanoes have an eruption magnitude of 8 on the Volcano Explosivity Index (VEI) and spit out more than 1,000 cubic kilometers (240 cubic miles) of hot rock and ash, according to Science Alert.
For now Yellowstone's supervolcano hasn't shown any indications of an eruption, although experts agree there's no way of knowing when the next blast will occur.
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