Yellowstone’s next eruption is potentially being held off thanks to one hidden feature

The supervolcano in Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming has long been associated with fears of an extinction-level event when it erupts for the first time in more than 70,000 years (even though the US Geological Survey says the volcano is not overdue for an eruption and won’t wipe out humanity), but now researchers have discovered something which might explain why Yellowstone hasn’t erupted for so long.

In research published in Nature last month, American academics from Texas, Utah and New Mexico found a “sharp reflective cap” made of magma around 3.8 kilometres beneath Yellowstone’s surface, which has been described as a “lid” of sorts for “helping to trap pressure and heat below it”.

Brandon Schmandt, co-lead of the study and professor of Earth, environmental and planetary sciences at Rice University in Texas, said of the findings: “Although we detected a volatile-rich layer, its bubble and melt contents are below the levels typically associated with imminent eruption.

“Instead, it looks like the system is efficiently venting gas through cracks and channels between mineral crystals, which makes sense to me given Yellowstone’s abundant hydrothermal features emitting magmatic gases.”

To put it another way, per Schmandt, it’s like “steady breathing” – bubbles rise and are released through a kind of “natural pressure-release valve”, which then reduces the risk of eruption by, quite literally, letting off steam.

And the build-up of gas could now be a potential 'early warning sign' of unrest at the site, the researchers suggested.

The study follows research published at the start of the year, which pointed to a particular region of the national park where the volcano is likely to erupt next.

Why not read…

• Two enormous volcanoes could be set to erupt in 2025 - should we be worried?
• Missing cat in Yellowstone National Park returns home after travelling 800 miles in three months

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