By Strange Sounds -Mar 22, 2020
The Norris Geyser Basin Is Mysteriously Breathing In And Out In The Yellowstone Caldera And Scientists Suggest The Phenomenon Is Due To Magma Intrusion
The Norris Geyser Basin, situated northwest of the Yellowstone Caldera, is inflating and deflating by several inches in erratic bursts since two decades. But the reason behind this sudden and violent ‘breathing’ remains a mystery… Or is it magma intrusion as suggested by a new study?In northwestern Wyoming, in the center of Yellowstone National Park, a bubbling caldera is the scar of a 640,000-year-old, gargantuan volcanic eruption.
The 3,472-square-mile park encompassing the caldera is filled with geologic wonderlands of sprouting geysers and effervescing pools, all ultimately driven by magma and superheated fluids churning in the rock below the surface.
One of these areas, Norris Geyser Basin to the northwest of the caldera, contains more than 500 hydrothermal features.
These tempestuous geysers and pools often change from day to day, but a much larger transformation has been taking place as well.
For more than two decades, an area larger than Chicago centered near the basin has been inflating and deflating by several inches in erratic bursts.
In a hyperactive volcanic region like Yellowstone, the exact causes of any specific movement are difficult to pin down. But a recent study in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth may help explain why this pocket of land has been breathing in and out.
More:
https://strangesounds.org/2020/03/norris-geyser-basin-mysterious-breathing-phenomenon-magma-intrusion.html
