Massive Reservoir of Molten Rock Discovered Beneath Yellowstone's Supervolcano

Seismologists have discovered a reservoir of molten rock beneath the Yellowstone supervolcano that's 4.4 times larger than the shallower, long-known magma chamber. The findings reveal a bit more about this active region.

"For the first time, we have imaged the continuous volcanic plumbing system under Yellowstone," said Hsin-Hua Huang, one of the researchers, in a news release. "That includes the upper crustal magma chamber we have seen previously plus a lower crustal magma reservoir that has never been imaged before and that connects the upper chambers to the Yellowstone hotspot plume below."

The magma chamber and magma reservoir aren't full of molten rock. Instead, the rock is hot, mostly solid and sponge-like with pockets of molten rock within it. This latest study actually reveals that the upper magma chamber averages about 9 percent molten rock, consistent with earlier estimates of 5 percent to 15 percent melt, and the lower magma reservoir is about 2 percent melt.

So what does this mean? The hot rock in the newly discovered, deeper magma reservoir would fill the 1,000-cubic-mile Grand Canyon about 11.2 times. The previously known magma chamber, in contrast, would only fill the Grand Canyon 2.5 times.

That said, this doesn't mean that Yellowstone's plumbing system is closer to erupting than before. It's only that scientists have used advanced techniques to get a better understanding of this system.

"It gives us a better understanding of the Yellowstone magmatic system," said Fan-Chi Li, the co-author of the new study. "We can now use these new models to better estimate the potential seismic and volcanic hazards."

The findings reveal a bit more about Yellowstone's volcanic activity. It's important to keep a careful watch on this activity as activity in the region continues.

The findings are published in the journal Science.

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