Comments on: Is the yellowstone caldera safe? https://gregladen.com/blog/2011/02/26/is-the-yellowstone-caldera-saf/ Sat, 19 Mar 2011 22:53:22 +0000 hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.4.6 By: Tütüne Son https://gregladen.com/blog/2011/02/26/is-the-yellowstone-caldera-saf/#comment-499874 Sat, 19 Mar 2011 22:53:22 +0000 http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/2011/02/26/is-the-yellowstone-caldera-saf/#comment-499874 A bore hole the depth of the Kola bore would easily reach the Yellowstone magma chamber, but it would also encounter heat sooner.

]]> By: Linda VP Hawaiian Names https://gregladen.com/blog/2011/02/26/is-the-yellowstone-caldera-saf/#comment-499873 Sat, 19 Mar 2011 21:52:16 +0000 http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/2011/02/26/is-the-yellowstone-caldera-saf/#comment-499873 I think it’s going to blow. One big earth quake and BOOM, that thing is going to pop. I’ve been worried about Mt. Fuji too. Especially with this recent earth quake. I’m surprised it didn’t go right along with it. Just a matter of time. It’s coming soon.

]]> By: Greg Laden https://gregladen.com/blog/2011/02/26/is-the-yellowstone-caldera-saf/#comment-499872 Sat, 12 Mar 2011 04:21:36 +0000 http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/2011/02/26/is-the-yellowstone-caldera-saf/#comment-499872 I think the USSR did drill a deep hole, the Kola Bore. The target depth was 15K, but they only reached something like 12K meters. Had they been drilling from the bottom of the ocean, they would be tickling the bottom of the earth’s crust, but on the continent the crust is closer to 50K. The soviet project was thwarted by heat, and I’d assume that their findings shape the current thinking on drilling into hot spots.

A bore hole the depth of the Kola bore would easily reach the Yellowstone magma chamber, but it would also encounter heat sooner.

I can’t honestly say that this is a scientific impossibility. Indeed, maybe we should be trying to do this just for the energy! But from an engineering perspective it would be a nightmare.

Which is probably why we should actually do it.

]]> By: Lazy https://gregladen.com/blog/2011/02/26/is-the-yellowstone-caldera-saf/#comment-499871 Sat, 12 Mar 2011 03:16:38 +0000 http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/2011/02/26/is-the-yellowstone-caldera-saf/#comment-499871 Additionally is your point that the likelyhood of this erupting within the next 100 years or so, so small that its not worth worrying about?

]]> By: Lazy https://gregladen.com/blog/2011/02/26/is-the-yellowstone-caldera-saf/#comment-499870 Sat, 12 Mar 2011 03:13:04 +0000 http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/2011/02/26/is-the-yellowstone-caldera-saf/#comment-499870 Thanks for the reply, but a follow up. Didnt the Soviets drill a super deep bore back inthe 70’s? Is the difference here the Soviets didnt hit magma but a bore into the Yellowstone caldera would and this would cause the problems you described?

is this something that is a scientific imposibility or just one that is beyond our ability to engineer it?

]]> By: Greg Laden https://gregladen.com/blog/2011/02/26/is-the-yellowstone-caldera-saf/#comment-499869 Sat, 12 Mar 2011 01:28:22 +0000 http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/2011/02/26/is-the-yellowstone-caldera-saf/#comment-499869 Good question. The ability to drill a hole is roughly inverse to what you get out of it. Near surface steam pressure pockets or mud under pressure can be drilled into (dangerously) and pressure release (but it won’t really be controlled (it will be very messy … see this: http://tinyurl.com/yll3knx). A hole deep enough to penetrate a deeper and more meaningful (as in caldera-eruption size and depth) would take years to drill, would be at the edge of our ability to do so, and once the bore reached the magma the rock around the hole and all the deeper parts of the drilling equipment would melt and the hole re-seal.

]]> By: Lazy https://gregladen.com/blog/2011/02/26/is-the-yellowstone-caldera-saf/#comment-499868 Sat, 12 Mar 2011 00:03:48 +0000 http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/2011/02/26/is-the-yellowstone-caldera-saf/#comment-499868 Silly question, by why cant the Yellowstone caldera be drilled and the excess pressure releived in a controled manner instead of allowing to build up?

]]> By: Ali https://gregladen.com/blog/2011/02/26/is-the-yellowstone-caldera-saf/#comment-499867 Tue, 08 Mar 2011 17:51:49 +0000 http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/2011/02/26/is-the-yellowstone-caldera-saf/#comment-499867 wat can I say…. Wild Wild West has already Reached the Peak of Knowledge and Education……

]]> By: Alejandro Álvarez Silva https://gregladen.com/blog/2011/02/26/is-the-yellowstone-caldera-saf/#comment-499866 Wed, 02 Mar 2011 19:30:42 +0000 http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/2011/02/26/is-the-yellowstone-caldera-saf/#comment-499866 Muy interesante y al menos nos ha quitado en gran parte un susto de encima, tal como nos lo había presentado un programa de televisión de amplia audiencia no hace mucho. Saludos:
Alejandro Álvarez

]]> By: Greg Laden https://gregladen.com/blog/2011/02/26/is-the-yellowstone-caldera-saf/#comment-499865 Wed, 02 Mar 2011 15:06:34 +0000 http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/2011/02/26/is-the-yellowstone-caldera-saf/#comment-499865 People: Arkham’s mention of a Yahowhatever tag refers to a badly behaved bit of code or something in his comment which was removed (did you see the bare HTML bleeding out of the “posted by” box? I made it go away so that’s why that part of his post makes no sense.

Arkham, you made a poorly worded and obnoxious post which you suddenly thought better of, and threw in the “snark”label as an afterthought. My reaction to you telling me to shut up and to not speak without your approval was mild. Then, you apologized for having been unclear, then you call me out for having not understood your unclearness, even though I’ve acknowledged that we are on the same page and I misunderstood your post.

So, your next apology will be forthcoming, I assume.

Or am I assuming too much?

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