A previous study suggested, however, that the Yellowstone volcano may have experienced “a three-fold decrease in its capacity to produce super-eruption events”.
While there seems to have been no shortage of claims and speculations about the possibility of a devastating eruption of the Yellowstone supervolcano, scientists actually attempted to determine whether it’s possible to make a long-term prediction regarding such an event, the Daily Express reports.
According to the newspaper, geochemist Professor Kenneth Sims from the University of Wyoming studied the volcano’s radiocarbon isotopes in order to achieve that goal.
Delving into the matter at hand, the Discovery Channel’s ‘Curiosity’ series explained how exactly “radon gas might provide the answer”, as when “radon decays it forms radioactive isotopes with unique chemical signatures that scientists can measure”.
The series also provided a rather graphic description of why exactly scientists might want to predict a future Yellowstone eruption.
And the newspaper also points out that a previous study actually suggested that the volcano’s power may be waning, with the research’s author, University of Leicester volcanologist Thomas Knott, saying that “the Yellowstone hotspot” has apparently “experienced a three-fold decrease in its capacity to produce super-eruption events”.
Sourse: sputniknews.com
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