actually the Yellowstone caldera can be timed with some precision as its eruptions depend directly on plate tectonics. Hence the historical record for its eruptions shows a pretty clear regularity (on historical timescales) making geologists believe that an eruption is due any millenium now (by geological record, in other words, it should erupt around now, give or take 10.000 years).
A supervulcano like yellowstone would take 50 years of buildup during with ground deformation and other things could be observed before it would explode and that is simply not happening
I No the feeling i can't work anymore my lower back is fubared after 4 surgeries doctors say they can't do anything else, i can at least walk a little bit
@@waynesligar5948 go to a chiropractor. Sometimes that's what it takes. And lol into CBD products. Helps with pain and inflammation and overall good for the body, without the intoxicating effects of THC
@@JosieThaCrusader my bottom 4 discs are fussed together, i have a pain pump inside me and one doctor is burning nerves. I went to a chiropractor in 2004 until i found out the discs where gone it was bone on bone so first surgery was 2006 what'd 3 months before o start going back to work a few hours a day then the screws in my back pulled out but i had to wait 6 months before they could go back in to put bigger screws. Found out my bones had gotten soft so i had to take medicine to strengthen them so the surgery would do better
As a former Yellowstone NP Ranger and Historian, I am also amazed about how you nailed the history of the Park. I wrote my thesis on how the Northern Pacific Railroad’s financier, Jay Cooke, single-handedly funded Yellowstone’s creation as a National Park. He needed a new destination for his train in the northern Wyoming territory and upon hearing Nathaniel Langford (from the Washburn Langford Doane Expedition) talking about a rumor he had heard about a place where the earth was like Hell, he financed the Expedition himself to find this place, hence the 1870 expedition. Langford was a man of tall tales and likely a narcissist tho. He made up a story about a campfire in Madison Junction where he came up with the idea of a “Nation’s Park”. Not really considering he told that story many years later. But the Expedition laid the groundwork for the Hayden Geological Expedition one year later which had artist Thomas Moran and photographer William H Jackson tagging along. That Expedition was instrumental since it was Moran’s artwork of Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone and Jackson’s photos that greeted Congressmen in 1872 when they voted on the Yellowstone Park Act of 1872 establishing the world’s first National Park. It didn’t cost Congress a dime though so that’s why it was almost unanimous. Jay Cooke took up the financing though as long as his train had first dibs to tourism! He made sure the train’s clientele followed the new rules though. Some didn’t and that’s why the US Army was brought in to establish Fort Yellowstone to protect it. Eventually in 1916 the NPS was formed (thanks to another billionaire, Borax businessman Stephen T Mather, who like Cooke pumped millions into making the NPS and became its first Director), and the Park Ranger outfits were just the old US Army ones (hence the flat Stetson hats and baggy pants).
Former Yellowstone Park Ranger here: I freaking love this channel! Simon nails it all. Hank Hessler, the now former head geologist of the Park, told me about how much he dislikes the 2012 movie and all the fake scare-porn documentaries about the supervolcano. He said that a remarkable thing has happened in the past 640,000 years. Norris Geyser Basin formed. What that did was give the magma chamber a kind of pressure release valve. It allows the chamber to decompress when gas builds up the pressure in the chamber. He said Yellowstone’s next eruption will be remarkable because it won’t be a megablast but rather a tame lava eruption. Norris Geyser Basin will be overrun with lava spewing out of geysers, fumeroles and hot springs. The Park will have to close but guess what? No Armageddon. This is all from the mouth of the most knowledgeable person on the Yellowstone Caldera.
Ya I don’t agree at all… it will erupt in full form again 100%… just comes down to when. I was no ranger but I lived in the GYE (Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem) for more than a decade, and studied the microbes in the hot springs when I thought I was going to get a degree in Biology. My friend made the discovery of the microbes and now runs the biology department at Stanford. Biology has nothing to do with Geology but living and studying in the park for that king only taught me that Yellowstone is just ticking away. Even if the geyser theory is correct, it would only take a mild earthquake cluster to moves rocks around and close up those vents. And Yellowstone gets dozens of earthquakes everyday.
Yellowstone is not the only active supervolcano that could have its finger pulled. Depending on who you ask, there are between six and twelve active supervolcanos in the world, with another eight that are might be active. Yellowstone is only the most studied and as a result gets the most press.
As a geochemist who has published research on the second very large eruption at Yellowstone, this was definitely the best video on Yellowstone that I've watched. I like that you mentioned that the majority of eruptions at Yellowstone are very small explosive/effusive events, rather than cataclysms.
WHY NOT JUST LANCE THE BOIL? You can easily avert the explosion . SIMPLY DRILL ABOUT 100 OIL PIPELINES IN THE UPPER AREA ABOVE THE CALDERA AND BLEED OF THE HIGH PRESSURE GASES. THIS IS CALLED LANCING THE BOIL. USING VALVES YOU CAN CONTROL THE PRESSURE REDUCTION . YOU CAN ALSO DIVERT THE HOT GASES FOR ENERGY PRODUCTION FOR THE WHOLE OF AMERICA. I JUST SAVED AMERICA. THIS IDEA IS COPYRIGHTED.
Misplaced modifier: "As a geochemist ... this". You said that "this" was a geochemist, you didn't say that YOU were a geochemist. Minus 1 point. Uphold the Friends of the Gerund!
My grandfather ran a cattle ranch until he passed away. It was located in southeastern Wyoming. But he was also involved with rural electrification and had a chance to travel also. He used to tell me that “Yellowstone was full of oddities, while Yosemite was the prettiest place he ever visited.”
Honestly, I feel much safer in Yellowstone than in Yosemite. I doubt there's another mountain range on earth that has no many rocksli9des, rock falls, and even large chunks of mountains breaking loose. I have no doubt that most of the people who have gone missing out there an dover the decades are buried under a whole lot of rock.
Luckily for me, my history teachers in high school was not dissimilar. One of them at one point turned Henry VIII and his wives into a game show. The other tried to explain the impaling of a French king in 'less explicit terms' (in order to avoid the word 'impaling'), before realizing that was way worse and going "they spitted him like a pig, okay?"
As an Australian all I hear is 'cooler temperatures' and 'more rain' and I can think is; so the Yellowstone Super Eruption could lead to an Australian Golden Age?
@@Xavier7392 "Poor choice of words"? I'm afraid I do not know what you mean. I just wanted to report that it's not only Australia and the West of North America that's suffering from drought.
Why would humanity contemplate impending doom? Have we done anything so bad to warrant annailation? The answer is yes. The first extinction wasn't by asteroid, but by water. A worldwide flood was the reason for that. It was mass murder to the point of self- extinction. (Genesis 4:23,24) The Creator rescued that generation through one good man and his family along with two of every species He brought them through that flood in a giant wood box called Noah's Ark. Today humanity is working toward self-extinction again. For many years we have established legalized murder. Abortion has caused death to over 100 million children worldwide along with recent reports of 21 million people dead in the PRC from CV19. However, there will be good people rescued again by the millions. (1&2 Thessalonians, but particularly 2 Th.4:16-18).
20:56 - There is a very simple word in the english language used to describe such an illness brought on by inhaling volcanic dust.... Pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis. I'm surprised Simons script writer didn't slip that one in to this video.
Basically, you inhale the particles which are sharp and glassy. The particles cut the tissues and embed themselves further into the lungs, causing internal bleeding in the alveolus. The loss of blood and the resulting secondary infections will finish you off. Pretty straightforward really.
Having lived through mt.st.helens covered in over 3ft of ash thinking nuclear warheads had hit the west coast and never seeing any loved ones again...what a experience for a 17 year old
Made a Fortune cleaning peoples gutters, cars, windows, siding. Vacuums useless. H2O only way. Remember Mt. Hood rumbled long time. Suddenly switched to St. Helens. Quicker it blew.
Simon, I would very much enjoy you doing a show on "floating rescue stations". These were used by both the English and the Germans during WW 2. They were to help save lives of downed pilots and seaman who had survived having their ships sunk. Other names for these floating stations are "Ocean Hostels", "Horton's Boyan", "Sea Rescue Bouyans", "Lobster Pots", and "Sea Shanties". Until today, I myself did not know they had ever existed. I would like you to pass along another "learn something new every day". Just as your videos have taught me many new things almost daily. tyvm for your time.
I visited Yellowstone with my parents in the summer of 1959. I have vivid memories of the smells of the paint pots, the height of the geysers. The last campground we stayed in was called West Thumb. Two weeks after we left Yellowstone a large earthquake left a fault with over a metre of throw in West Thumb campground. I remember hearing the reports of that too.
A potentially better candidate would be Lazufre. It is a geologically highly active zone with an area of ~ 1750km² which is raised by 3 cm annually. It is not yet certain that this is a super volcano, because due to the height and remote location, there has so far been little research on it. However, the rise in soil and the seismic activity suggest that it could be a super volcano. He is also much more active than, for example. Yellowstone.
You can’t put “odds” on when a volcano erupts. Yellowstone has always been geologically active, throughout human history. I doubt it will erupt for thousands or maybe even millions of year
6:08 - "But even its two smaller super-eruptions were still what we call, 'pretty damn big.' " Sheesh...I didn't know there were going to be confusing technical terms used in this video. lol
Suppose cascadia quake hits a 12 or so and pops the top on Yellowstone and st hellen all at once thus half of America destroyed in a few hours talk about biblical happenings this could happen
Yup, that area is constantly changing. My Mother, who grew up 1930`s Wyoming, said that while visiting Yellowstone she was able to walk or crawl part way into an extinct geyser tube. There is a reason why there are summer traffic jams there; it`s similar to the Grand Canyon in the sense that little to nothing like it exists elsewhere in the world. Out of titanic tectonic dynamic forces arise titanic beauty and wonder. We truly marvel at such grandeur.
I lived in Spokane, WA when Mount St. Helens blew its top. this is about 250 miles as the ash flies. We got about 3" of ash. Clean up was a pain. Not because it was heavy, because it was so light. Try sweeping it and it billowed into the air. The fire department loaned out hoses that we could hook up to fire hydrants. The sludge this created was even harder to move even with a fire hose. We had to quit this when it was found how much the storm drains were clogging up. People who drove a lot were to find another problem. In just a month the fine ash would put the equivalent of 100,000 miles of wear on the engines. I never wore a mask although a lot of people did. I had a chest x-ray 3 years ago to check for mesothelioma. My lungs are completely clear. So, even if the ash was in my lungs then, it isn't now.
I'm ready! I've got a nice lawn chair and a significant amount of whiskey. However, I'm not getting my hopes up. December 22, 2012 welcomed in the most epic hangover I've ever had...
I can only imagine this is what happened: Simon: "Writing team, everybody's concerned about the coronavirus. How do we distract them?" Writing Team: "Let's do a Geographics episode where we remind everyone there's a supervolcano beneath Yellowstone." Simon: "That's kinda cruel. ...But still brilliant all the same. Bring me the script when it's ready."
And if you live in the Western Cordillera of North America we also have the inevitable "big one" earthquake which is apparently way overdue to happen anytime now
That's because it isn't. The mentally-devolved Evo-Bang-Bangs constantly utter "Millions or Billions of YAYERRRRRS AGOOOOO!!" which simply means, "We have no idea". 🤣
The three known times that a super eruption had occurred, each one has been smaller than the last, with the last one being a very large lava flow. According to USGS: The rhyolite magma chamber beneath Yellowstone is only 5-15% molten (the rest is solidified but still hot), so it is unclear if there is even enough magma beneath the caldera to feed an eruption.
Spoiler; it doesn't. This is one of the first things you learn in college level geology classes as someone brings up the myth that yellowstone will be the death of us
Correct. It will be a pretty eruption of lava though at Norris Geyser Basin, where the molten magma is just a few miles under your feet. I remember the two summers I worked there people would walk off the boardwalk (ignoring the signs saying not to) and their shoes would MELT. The ground can get extremely hot in places.
I love hearing about the science of the Yellowstone super volcano, but-as you alluded to-most documentaries talk about the possibility of a super eruption like it’s going to happen and my anxiety can’t take it. Thank you for this wonderfully informative yet non-threatening explanation. It’s my new favorite video on this entire platform.
Even Tambora gave ample warning signs for a couple of years before it blew it's top off. I don't know what these crackpots are going on about. Volcanos are not made out of TNT that can just suddenly detonate for no particular reason. What ultimately makes them dangerous is the pressure build-up. Volcanic activity that follow earth quakes are much more tame. The earth cracks, and look, magma starts flowing up. And this is what is most likely to happen to Yellowstone. There are already many fault lines reaching almost all the way to the magma chamber, and since more than half of it is under the mountains now, any pressure build-up is likely to just cause an earth quake that opens a channel to the vicinity of the main chamber... going to suck hard for the plants and animals in the main basin, as that's the easiest way out...
Whenever Simon covers these science geeky locations all I can think of is how much more I'd have enjoyed school if he was the teacher. For that matter, that applies to all his channels, regardless of topic.
Angela Chouinard if Simon was all of my tutors at college, I would have gone to University for sure, but my actual tutors temporarily killed my enthusiasm for subjects I’d loved for years
I still remember Math Class where the teacher always said "You won't always have a calculator with you. You need to learn how to do math for yourself." Me: Hey Google, what's 2+2? Google: I wouldn't know as I'm too busy being in your pocket 24/7.
yes, schools now a days don't actually "educate" students like they use to.....fyi i graduated in 91 so i missed out on the "proficiency test" scam🤔🤔😞😞😞😞🇺🇸🦅🇺🇸
You mentioned how the hotspot moved across southern Idaho, but it would have been very helpful to see a graphical illustration of that. A map of the major eruption sites and corresponding timeline. I've seen things like that and they are fascinating. I grew up amid the ancient lava flows in east Idaho and I'm still learning about how it was all formed. There are multiple extinct calderas along the Snake River that trace back to the migrating hotspot (plate movement).
No mention of island park or Henrys lake calderas, or how there’re only a few areas in Yellowstone where the walls of the current caldera is clearly visible
@@travisburton2948, exactly. The Snake River Volcanic Province. Basically, a scar in the landscape burnt into it like a blowtorch melting metal plate. There's been a series of supervolcanoes formed in the area over the last 45 million years. Each one of them appearing progressively further to the ENE of the previous one. Now, we're under Yellowstone and it's still moving in the general direction on the ENE. It may go quiet once it moves under the Rockies proper, but then again it may break through in the weak spots. Who's to say.
@@freedomrider266 dyslexia doesn't just mean mirroring the word. Most people with dyslexia reverse pairs of letters. They dont just straight up write full words backwards.
Funny how you Americans think your mispronunciations are actually correct. Your ways might be fine in the land of corn syrup, guns and grits, but "American English" is rather quaint to we Brits, oh and wrong.
As someone who lives in Michigan, roughly 1000 miles as the crow flies from Yellowstone, its insane to think of the distance the effects would travel. And the effects it would have on the Great Lakes would be catastrophic.
I live in Taupo, that photo shown is the view from my kitchen window. The caldera was formed around 26,000 years ago during the 'Oruanui Eruption' and last massive eruption (the biggest one) was 1800 years ago known as the Taupo Eruption.
HiPlainsDrifter - Sadly you’re correct, no amount of crimes, ineptitude or lack of character is an issue for Republicans. Why is that? Republicans used to be the Christian party just four short years ago, now you have zero principals or integrity. When did you abandon your faith and start worshiping -satin- Satan?
As someone who lives in Utah and has heard all their life that there is a good chance we will all die from a Yellowstone explosions this was very reassuring
Describing the devastating effects of a super volcano on the climate as “a decade where every day is like a wet November in northern England.” is so terrifyingly accurate hahaha
@@riserevelation8471 Yeah, you think Vesuvius is bad? Try the under the entire Bay of Naples called The Phlegraean Fields (Italian: Campi Flegrei). There's also Santorini (or Thera/Thira) in Greece.
Hope you get to visit Ashfall Fossil beds State park in Nebraska some day. Yellowstone was In Idaho when it destroyed the whole Ecosystem and preserved it in fine ash there. The park built a building over the dig site, preserving a whole herd of Camels, and other animals where they died.
@@twotone3471 Ashfall is only about 100 miles from where I live and have been there a few times. Awesome look into the past as well as scary to think about being covered in ash. We go up to royal a couple times every year to do some trout fishing in the creek nearby.
My word, Simon’s enthusiasm for disaster is difficult to beat as he regales the listener with tales of dire catastrophe. His glee is almost palpable as he gets stuck into the geologic record of magma chambers, ash clouds, and toxic fumes. Anyone for a vacation in Yellowstone?
At least when you visit, you get to see some very weird and beautiful sites (& can drive south to the Grand Tetons, which aren't weird but are still very scenic). If Yellowstone blows supervolcano style, you'll die in most of western North America whether you visit or not. The entire world would have a bit of a volcanic winter (the 19th century "year without a summer" was due to a smaller eruption). Might as well make some memories while you may.
I love the history of Yellowstone. It was one of the first topics I learned about in college. So many historical figures and so many amazing stories. You really should do a series, no one has ever done it. I would watch the hell out of it! Even it’s ghost stories are amazing.
My only quibble with this video is that he says that the hour spot under Yellowstone waited until it got under a "thin bit" before it began is eruptions. The Yellowstone hot spot had been spring for millions of years prior to its current Yellowstone era. You can track super eruptions from Yellowstone back across Idaho and Oregon, and even out into the pacific.
Earthquake Lake nearby in Montana was caused by an earthquake in Yellowstone. It created a large lake in a valley where a bunch of campers we're camping one night and killed a bunch of them. Fascinating place if you're in the area
For an example of how far ash from even a small volcano can spread: I live in central Alberta. After Mt. Saint Helens blew, whenever it rained, there were muddy rain marks on windows and cars.
I was planning a visit to Yellowstone in June, but because of the pandemic I had to cancel my trip. I practically live on the other side of the globe, which means it would take me more than a day of flying to get there. Hopefully I'll get the chance someday
"The 300 geezers in Yellowstone" sounded like your describing a couple of bus loads of pensioners visiting the National park. Thanks for the constant content , keep it up big fella.
That’s funny you said that cause immediately after I read that comment he said that phrase and it was followed by the diagram at 17:07 and from a certain point of view (or a perverted mind) can be viewed as magma up some chicks bum
Personally I think the world's population should be divided up and given a hemisphere each: people who hoard toilet paper to the western hemisphere. People who hoard baked beans and ammo to the Eastern. Clearly we have nothing in common anyway.
When I think of Yellowstone I think of Ash Fall Nebraska in the United States. It's a paleontological site that you can visit and examine the dig site. It was created when Yellowstone last erupted. The ash fall killed and buried almost every animal and the fossils are preserved in the obviously volcanic ash. It's a great experience.
@@jeremyturner2873 Yes, but Medicare & Social Security are not Socialism. They had money taken out of their paychecks specifically for these two programs, so they would have them when they retired. These two programs are not funded by Payroll Taxes that everybody pays into! If you are self-employed, you don't have to pay into them. Just payroll tax. But then, you cannot withdraw from them either!
Everyone is always talking about Yellowstone, but there are in fact two other “super volcanoes” in the USA; Yellowstone being the most famous, but no one ever talks about the Long Valley caldera in California, and the Valles caldera in New Mexico. All three are just sitting there waiting for the itch!!!
@@JABoyle3875 I think the kill zone is 250 mile radius. At 700 miles, you’ll have feet of hot, fine ground glass ash falling everywhere. Roofs will collapse from the weight and people will slowly choke to death on the ash. Not pretty! Put yourself on the east coast, and you’ll have a nuclear winter. The sun will be obscured for months if not years. Society will complete collapse, with massive starvation, mayhem, rape, murder, and Cannibalism. Truly apocalyptic.
The 2nd major eruption from Yellowstone wasn’t technically a supereruption since it only deposited 280km3 of tephra a supereruption produces at least 1000km3 of tephra:)
We have always been told volcanoes form over thousands and thousands of years BUT my mother had a huge book collection of bound magazine articles from the 1800's from her dad and there was a story of a Mexican farmer who was trying to till his field but the land started rising rapidly. Overnight it became a huge hill. Within a week it was a full blown volcano and erupted causing terrible damage. I think sometimes a natural disaster can crop up unexpectedly practically over night, and yes sometimes it is over the course of a long time.
@@seiyuokamihimura5082 That seems to be almost the same scenario yet the book I read it out of was published in the mid to late 1800's and that volcano erupted after only one week and not several years. They surely had easy to obtain photographs in 1943 and in 1952 when paricutin erupted. The articles of the book of combined magazines had no photos only drawings, and lots of them. It was an extremely old old book belonging to my grandfather, and then my mother.
Simon: "The odds of yellowstone erupting in any year are about 0.00014%." 2020: "Oh sweet, now I know what I will do in october!" Simon: "It's actually more likely that another chixulub-sized asteroid will come slamming into earth." 2020: "... and what I will do in november."
1:40 - Chapter 1 - The exploding earth 6:00 - Chapter 2 - The great eruptions 9:00 - Mid roll ads 10:30 - Chapter 3 - The invisible volcano 15:00 - Chapter 4 - The volcano made visible 18:45 - Chapter 5 - The world on fire
Here’s the fortunate thing about supervolcanoes like Yellowstone. Cataclysmic eruptions are extraordinarily rare events! Yellowstone has actually erupted over 100 times since its last catastrophic eruption. All of those eruptions were much smaller in scale than the last cataclysmic eruption. The affects of the other smaller eruptions were mainly localized in nature to the immediate Yellowstone region. So if Yellowstone decides to erupt within our lifetime, then fortunately the odds are overwhelming that it will be a relatively small localized eruption. The odds of a catastrophic eruption from Yellowstone in our lifetime is absolutely astronomical!
I drive for roughly 10 hours every weekend. This channel and the War and Bio channels have provided me with so much entertainment and knowledge on the boring road......I don't watch...I just listen and drive and laugh and learn.
Change your outlook and you’ll change your mood. Instead of being scared and thinking of it as impending death, be happy and think of it as an impending reason to not have to work anymore.
On holiday in Yellowstone in 1977,my parents wanted to take a picture of my and my brother in front of Old Faithful.I suddenly got the feeling that it was a bad idea to be anywhere near Yellowstone.When St Helens erupted,my father said to me that my feeling was correct.
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actually the Yellowstone caldera can be timed with some precision as its eruptions depend directly on plate tectonics. Hence the historical record for its eruptions shows a pretty clear regularity (on historical timescales) making geologists believe that an eruption is due any millenium now (by geological record, in other words, it should erupt around now, give or take 10.000 years).
Krakatowa was a super volcano tho
You should do Mount St. Helens some time
Mont Saint-Michel maybe this would be a good one??
Love your videos! But, without being an asshole, I would love to see more maps, to see for example where the dust cloud would have ended
"If Yellowstone suddenly went Old Testament on America's ass" lol, love how he says stuff like this with straight face.
Bro super volcanos all over the world are acting up, I think old testament on the world has a greater probability of hqppening this or next year.
That was the best line in the video
That statement made me burst out laughing
A supervulcano like yellowstone would take 50 years of buildup during with ground deformation and other things could be observed before it would explode and that is simply not happening
British humour be like thta
5:39 "forming a depression the size of Rhode Island"
hey man leave my personal life out of this
U ok Mark?
I No the feeling i can't work anymore my lower back is fubared after 4 surgeries doctors say they can't do anything else, i can at least walk a little bit
@@waynesligar5948 damn dude🙏🏾🤘🏾🌎
@@waynesligar5948 go to a chiropractor. Sometimes that's what it takes. And lol into CBD products. Helps with pain and inflammation and overall good for the body, without the intoxicating effects of THC
@@JosieThaCrusader my bottom 4 discs are fussed together, i have a pain pump inside me and one doctor is burning nerves. I went to a chiropractor in 2004 until i found out the discs where gone it was bone on bone so first surgery was 2006 what'd 3 months before o start going back to work a few hours a day then the screws in my back pulled out but i had to wait 6 months before they could go back in to put bigger screws. Found out my bones had gotten soft so i had to take medicine to strengthen them so the surgery would do better
As a former Yellowstone NP Ranger and Historian, I am also amazed about how you nailed the history of the Park. I wrote my thesis on how the Northern Pacific Railroad’s financier, Jay Cooke, single-handedly funded Yellowstone’s creation as a National Park. He needed a new destination for his train in the northern Wyoming territory and upon hearing Nathaniel Langford (from the Washburn Langford Doane Expedition) talking about a rumor he had heard about a place where the earth was like Hell, he financed the Expedition himself to find this place, hence the 1870 expedition. Langford was a man of tall tales and likely a narcissist tho. He made up a story about a campfire in Madison Junction where he came up with the idea of a “Nation’s Park”. Not really considering he told that story many years later. But the Expedition laid the groundwork for the Hayden Geological Expedition one year later which had artist Thomas Moran and photographer William H Jackson tagging along. That Expedition was instrumental since it was Moran’s artwork of Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone and Jackson’s photos that greeted Congressmen in 1872 when they voted on the Yellowstone Park Act of 1872 establishing the world’s first National Park. It didn’t cost Congress a dime though so that’s why it was almost unanimous. Jay Cooke took up the financing though as long as his train had first dibs to tourism! He made sure the train’s clientele followed the new rules though. Some didn’t and that’s why the US Army was brought in to establish Fort Yellowstone to protect it. Eventually in 1916 the NPS was formed (thanks to another billionaire, Borax businessman Stephen T Mather, who like Cooke pumped millions into making the NPS and became its first Director), and the Park Ranger outfits were just the old US Army ones (hence the flat Stetson hats and baggy pants).
Quite interesting. And I think being a Park Ranger at Yellowstone seems like a dream career.
Cheers! What did you think of the BBC movie "Supervolcano"? Was it accurate?
Imagine if they’d thought about the whole world 🙄
I'd love to work there until my life ends. I'm going on 70. Won't be long now. 😂😂😂
@@infledermaus hopefully
OMG there are over 300 Geezers in Yellowstone? Somebody help those poor crotchety old men, they’re trapped above magma pools!
Dang you for beating me to that comment!
I should have read further down on the comments before I made my joke. Darn it. You win.
Ha! Came down here looking for this comment - well done! :-)
MAG-MA!
😂😂😂
0.00014% chance of erupting.
2020: Come on, big money, big money, no whammy, no whammy-STOP!
that is very funny
Just nuke it that’ll fix it
Anybody just feel that?
2020 just figured out the sequence to the whammy board
2020: goodness what a idea. Why didn’t I think of that?
Former Yellowstone Park Ranger here: I freaking love this channel! Simon nails it all. Hank Hessler, the now former head geologist of the Park, told me about how much he dislikes the 2012 movie and all the fake scare-porn documentaries about the supervolcano. He said that a remarkable thing has happened in the past 640,000 years. Norris Geyser Basin formed. What that did was give the magma chamber a kind of pressure release valve. It allows the chamber to decompress when gas builds up the pressure in the chamber. He said Yellowstone’s next eruption will be remarkable because it won’t be a megablast but rather a tame lava eruption. Norris Geyser Basin will be overrun with lava spewing out of geysers, fumeroles and hot springs. The Park will have to close but guess what? No Armageddon. This is all from the mouth of the most knowledgeable person on the Yellowstone Caldera.
I suspect you and Hessler are correct but that story wouldn't get any clicks.
What does "freaking" mean?
Listen to Prem Rawat!
Maybe ,maybe not . You can't really predict nature 100%
Ya I don’t agree at all… it will erupt in full form again 100%… just comes down to when. I was no ranger but I lived in the GYE (Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem) for more than a decade, and studied the microbes in the hot springs when I thought I was going to get a degree in Biology. My friend made the discovery of the microbes and now runs the biology department at Stanford. Biology has nothing to do with Geology but living and studying in the park for that king only taught me that Yellowstone is just ticking away.
Even if the geyser theory is correct, it would only take a mild earthquake cluster to moves rocks around and close up those vents. And Yellowstone gets dozens of earthquakes everyday.
I wouldn't be surprised if it never erupted at all,
2020 is almost over, what else could possible go wrong!
Yellowstone: Pull my finger.
Yellowstone is not the only active supervolcano that could have its finger pulled. Depending on who you ask, there are between six and twelve active supervolcanos in the world, with another eight that are might be active. Yellowstone is only the most studied and as a result gets the most press.
@@Future-Preps35 Don't forget Long Valley and Valles Caldera...
Don't worry, you still have November 3rd to look forward to.
@@Future-Preps35 if the next few years keep getting worse they may both erupt at the same time
XD
_Corona virus is the worst thing to happen to humans this year_
Yellow Stone Volcano " *Hold my magma* "
It would be the firework-studded sendoff to 2020 that we're all expecting at this point. A veritable cherry on top of the shit sundae.
So far
Hey, you could have made Chernobyl worse if you were any more arrogant
Dork
@@marcinfmpl3801 sounds like someone need to go to the infirmary.
The voice of Knowledge: "... a secret place in Idaho with candy-floss trees..."
Me: He knows too much...
As a geochemist who has published research on the second very large eruption at Yellowstone, this was definitely the best video on Yellowstone that I've watched. I like that you mentioned that the majority of eruptions at Yellowstone are very small explosive/effusive events, rather than cataclysms.
WHY NOT JUST LANCE THE BOIL? You can easily avert the explosion . SIMPLY DRILL ABOUT 100 OIL PIPELINES IN THE UPPER AREA ABOVE THE CALDERA AND BLEED OF THE HIGH PRESSURE GASES. THIS IS CALLED LANCING THE BOIL. USING VALVES YOU CAN CONTROL THE PRESSURE REDUCTION . YOU CAN ALSO DIVERT THE HOT GASES FOR ENERGY PRODUCTION FOR THE WHOLE OF AMERICA. I JUST SAVED AMERICA. THIS IDEA IS COPYRIGHTED.
Is the above commenter idea even feasible ?
No, it’s a troll
Misplaced modifier: "As a geochemist ... this". You said that "this" was a geochemist, you didn't say that YOU were a geochemist. Minus 1 point.
Uphold the Friends of the Gerund!
Bruce Willis 😅
*Watching in 2019*: “oh that would be really scary but probably not going to happen.”
*Watching in 2020*: “oh no...”
Lmao..that's why I'm here👀👀🤦♂️
This was uploaded in 2020.
I had by bets on aliens for June but no bingo :/
I don’t know why you would’ve thought it wouldn’t happen. It’s way over due and literally a ticking time bomb.
@@PostalPatriot556 did you even watch the video? Lmao
My grandfather ran a cattle ranch until he passed away. It was located in southeastern Wyoming. But he was also involved with rural electrification and had a chance to travel also.
He used to tell me that “Yellowstone was full of oddities, while Yosemite was the prettiest place he ever visited.”
Você acha que eu sou Thet em Yellowstone 🌋 ele vem Adormecido há 6040 milhões de anos ele quer despertar . porque não já passou da Hora né #
.Have you ever been to Yosemite? He's right
Honestly, I feel much safer in Yellowstone than in Yosemite. I doubt there's another mountain range on earth that has no many rocksli9des, rock falls, and even large chunks of mountains breaking loose. I have no doubt that most of the people who have gone missing out there an dover the decades are buried under a whole lot of rock.
if simon had been my history teacher back in school, I would have paid a lot more attention.
You'd have suffered from PTSD and afraid to leave the house.
@@andygreen3575 nah .. not with the way he tells it .. I'd love to hear him audio book a Stephen King novel with commentary it would be brilliant!
😆
I'm homeschooled and I use his videos as part of my history class
More like geography teacher
Luckily for me, my history teachers in high school was not dissimilar. One of them at one point turned Henry VIII and his wives into a game show. The other tried to explain the impaling of a French king in 'less explicit terms' (in order to avoid the word 'impaling'), before realizing that was way worse and going "they spitted him like a pig, okay?"
"Three hundred geezers..." Hmmm, North American Geezer Society convention, sounds about right.
He mispronounces alot of words trying to sound "smart"
@@rickardrakkoon2500 Its just his accent.
@@chendaforest yeah his accent comes from English people trying to sound smarter. The accent is called "the queen's english"
The British talk funny
The Showshown Indians knew about those old geezers.
As an Australian all I hear is 'cooler temperatures' and 'more rain' and I can think is; so the Yellowstone Super Eruption could lead to an Australian Golden Age?
Probably the best place to be if Yellowstone blows. Atmosphere would still be impacted though.
Australia is already living a golden age. We just don't tell anyone. 🇦🇺
As somebody living in the east of Germany: I hear you!
A decade of rainfall is what we need to regenerate our ground water.
@@johannageisel5390 poor choice of words... hope everything's ok.
@@Xavier7392 "Poor choice of words"?
I'm afraid I do not know what you mean.
I just wanted to report that it's not only Australia and the West of North America that's suffering from drought.
Let's distract ourselves from our impending doom by watching a video about our impending doom.
Brilliant. :D
😀
Why would humanity contemplate impending doom? Have we done anything so bad to warrant annailation? The answer is yes. The first extinction wasn't by asteroid, but by water. A worldwide flood was the reason for that. It was mass murder to the point of self- extinction. (Genesis 4:23,24) The Creator rescued that generation through one good man and his family along with two of every species He brought them through that flood in a giant wood box called Noah's Ark.
Today humanity is working toward self-extinction again. For many years we have established legalized murder. Abortion has caused death to over 100 million children worldwide along with recent reports of 21 million people dead in the PRC from CV19. However, there will be good people rescued again by the millions. (1&2 Thessalonians, but particularly 2 Th.4:16-18).
You shouldn’t believe all you read in books m8 , chilax 😂😂😂
@Jeff Stevens can't the eruption be postponed for a few days, I'm going on vacation!
Ernest Imken what belief is this
omg when Simon basically said “don’t run, pick a god and pray” I LOST it
Major woody Yellowstone won’t touch you, but all the lava, ash, pyroclastic flow, explosions of the ground, ECT... is sure as shit going to get you
@Major woody I'm sure for me, dying in lava will be good practice for burning in hell.
oh wait it's a fairytale
This is a truth. God said when the earth shakes, don't run like the hea than.stand & praise the Lord, He will save us.
Magna is on the move everywhere.
@@jeannettelatour9089 lmao if he cared about us he wouldn't have blown up the volcano to begin with
20:56 - There is a very simple word in the english language used to describe such an illness brought on by inhaling volcanic dust....
Pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis.
I'm surprised Simons script writer didn't slip that one in to this video.
that's not a word, that's a sentence that forgot it's spacing
That’s a HUGE miss. Would have been brilliant to include that lung disease.
Basically, you inhale the particles which are sharp and glassy. The particles cut the tissues and embed themselves further into the lungs, causing internal bleeding in the alveolus. The loss of blood and the resulting secondary infections will finish you off. Pretty straightforward really.
@@woomeebly also cause abnormal bone growth which is something
That's not a word, that's a keymash
Having lived through mt.st.helens covered in over 3ft of ash thinking nuclear warheads had hit the west coast and never seeing any loved ones again...what a experience for a 17 year old
God bless you...you've already suffered enough.
Made a Fortune cleaning peoples gutters, cars, windows, siding.
Vacuums useless. H2O only way.
Remember Mt. Hood rumbled long time. Suddenly switched to St. Helens. Quicker it blew.
This reminds me of a meme I saw the other day: your chances of being killed by a cat are low but never zero
Cows kill more people than sharks.
Which makes sense since you don't see cows in the ocean very often.
(But really, they do.)
I have owned a few cows , true statement , you have to keep an eye on them.
@@josephmclennan1229 that is a smart mooove
How does a cow kill somebody? I'm genuinely curious and i dont want to google it
@Sasha Kazmar: Your chances of being killed _by pretty much anything_ is low but not zero.
Simon, I would very much enjoy you doing a show on "floating rescue stations". These were used by both the English and the Germans during WW 2. They were to help save lives of downed pilots and seaman who had survived having their ships sunk. Other names for these floating stations are "Ocean Hostels", "Horton's Boyan", "Sea Rescue Bouyans", "Lobster Pots", and "Sea Shanties". Until today, I myself did not know they had ever existed. I would like you to pass along another "learn something new every day". Just as your videos have taught me many new things almost daily. tyvm for your time.
I visited Yellowstone with my parents in the summer of 1959. I have vivid memories of the smells of the paint pots, the height of the geysers. The last campground we stayed in was called West Thumb. Two weeks after we left Yellowstone a large earthquake left a fault with over a metre of throw in West Thumb campground. I remember hearing the reports of that too.
The odds of Yellowstone erupting in many years are about 0.00014%.
2020: Hold my beer...
Never tell me the odds!
A potentially better candidate would be Lazufre.
It is a geologically highly active zone with an area of ~ 1750km² which is raised by 3 cm annually.
It is not yet certain that this is a super volcano, because due to the height and remote location, there has so far been little research on it.
However, the rise in soil and the seismic activity suggest that it could be a super volcano.
He is also much more active than, for example. Yellowstone.
But odds are pretty good for a huge asteroid. Could we maybe drop Chicxulub on Yellowstone in the next week or two? It'd solve SO many problems!
You can’t put “odds” on when a volcano erupts. Yellowstone has always been geologically active, throughout human history. I doubt it will erupt for thousands or maybe even millions of year
There are many worrisome volcanoes. Like Fuji for example. And many we think are extinct - like we thought Pinatubo was in 1992
Tambora: "HA, did you hear him? He said that I'm the biggest volcanic eruption in human history! Yes!"
Toba: "Challenge me."
Simon you weren’t supposed to tell them about the candy forest
I heard him say candy forest. Where is this.
@@korgothkillings2032 It is next to Big Rock Candy Mountain of course XD.
@@joshmiller7870 Yup. There's a lake of stew and of whiskey, too. You can paddle all around it and a big canoe
@@StrangeScaryNewEngland LOL
@@joshmiller7870 lets go to candy mountain Charlie!
6:08 - "But even its two smaller super-eruptions were still what we call, 'pretty damn big.' " Sheesh...I didn't know there were going to be confusing technical terms used in this video. lol
One of them caused a 60-mile length of mountain chain to collapse. I'd call that pretty damn big :-p
Those confusing tech terms are so most Americans can grasp the concept .. you know ..thanks to the "pretty damn bad" failing educational system here 😃
Suppose cascadia quake hits a 12 or so and pops the top on Yellowstone and st hellen all at once thus half of America destroyed in a few hours talk about biblical happenings this could happen
@@notme2day The education system isn't failing. It's accomplishing exactly what it set out to accomplish.
Yup, that area is constantly changing. My Mother, who grew up 1930`s Wyoming, said that while visiting Yellowstone she was able to walk or crawl part way into an extinct geyser tube. There is a reason why there are summer traffic jams there; it`s similar to the Grand Canyon in the sense that little to nothing like it exists elsewhere in the world. Out of titanic tectonic dynamic forces arise titanic beauty and wonder. We truly marvel at such grandeur.
"This would suck for campers.. " 😆
Especially those downwind...whew!.....
take that modern warfare
I lived in Spokane, WA when Mount St. Helens blew its top. this is about 250 miles as the ash flies. We got about 3" of ash. Clean up was a pain. Not because it was heavy, because it was so light. Try sweeping it and it billowed into the air. The fire department loaned out hoses that we could hook up to fire hydrants. The sludge this created was even harder to move even with a fire hose. We had to quit this when it was found how much the storm drains were clogging up. People who drove a lot were to find another problem. In just a month the fine ash would put the equivalent of 100,000 miles of wear on the engines. I never wore a mask although a lot of people did. I had a chest x-ray 3 years ago to check for mesothelioma. My lungs are completely clear. So, even if the ash was in my lungs then, it isn't now.
They should have kept all the ash to make Roman cement from.
Free building material for ages!
I'm ready! I've got a nice lawn chair and a significant amount of whiskey. However, I'm not getting my hopes up. December 22, 2012 welcomed in the most epic hangover I've ever had...
I so appreciate that, despite your accent and non-native status, you say Oregon more correctly than most Americans East of the Rockies. Bravo!!!
I can only imagine this is what happened:
Simon: "Writing team, everybody's concerned about the coronavirus. How do we distract them?"
Writing Team: "Let's do a Geographics episode where we remind everyone there's a supervolcano beneath Yellowstone."
Simon: "That's kinda cruel. ...But still brilliant all the same. Bring me the script when it's ready."
... it can always be worse.
I can only imagine how this video would go if Simon treated every channel like Business Blaze...
Let's distract ourselves from our impending doom by watching a video about our impending doom.
Brilliant. :D
@@resileaf9501 ,
Hey... it works!
And if you live in the Western Cordillera of North America we also have the inevitable "big one" earthquake which is apparently way overdue to happen anytime now
I live in Wyoming, if Yellowstone goes up, I'm cracking open a beer, put on the sun glasses, and watching.
Coronachan: Look upon my works and despair
Yelowstone Caldera: I'm gunna do what's called a pro-gamer move.
Boardwipe🤣
F Disk - to Blackscreen in Warp Speed
Calderachan
I find it absolutely amazing that after 4.6 BILLION years of existing this planet still contains such tremendous energy inside
If it didn't, we wouldn't be here.
@@bobdol8398 Actually the dominant source of internal heating of the Earth is the decay of the unstable atomic nuclei of radioactive isotopes.
@@bobdol8398 It's finite.
Not by anything resembling the scale of multicellular life, of course, but finite nonetheless.
But the people that lives inside the planet, not so much
That's because it isn't. The mentally-devolved Evo-Bang-Bangs constantly utter "Millions or Billions of YAYERRRRRS AGOOOOO!!" which simply means, "We have no idea". 🤣
The three known times that a super eruption had occurred, each one has been smaller than the last, with the last one being a very large lava flow. According to USGS: The rhyolite magma chamber beneath Yellowstone is only 5-15% molten (the rest is solidified but still hot), so it is unclear if there is even enough magma beneath the caldera to feed an eruption.
Spoiler; it doesn't. This is one of the first things you learn in college level geology classes as someone brings up the myth that yellowstone will be the death of us
@@6000hall toba would likely to kill most of us before yellowstone. By us i mean me & my indonesian neighbors along w/ singapore and malaysia.
Correct. It will be a pretty eruption of lava though at Norris Geyser Basin, where the molten magma is just a few miles under your feet. I remember the two summers I worked there people would walk off the boardwalk (ignoring the signs saying not to) and their shoes would MELT. The ground can get extremely hot in places.
@@ima7333 my money is on one of the 2 big faults (St Andreas and Cascadia) for the next disaster coming to NA.
Campi Flegrei in Italy anyone?
Show show knee The name "Shoshone" comes from Sosoni, a Shoshone word for high-growing grasses
Thank you lol saved me from going indepth on that
I live in shoshone county idaho we say the same way he did, there are three different tribes of shoshone
@Jeff Oliver Geezers probably checkin out the geysers.
@Jeff Oliver Yeah, that one hurt my ears
Sometimes I think he does it on purpose....
Pandemic: Stay at home. Super Volcano: Run like hell. Mother Nature: OK humans, you're so smart? Super Volcano during Pandemic. Checkmate.
On the bright side we've found a cure to the pandemic.
@Coal Dust XIII
Pretty sure death cures stupidity if folks are drinking bleach.
There's a great song by Hypnogaja called Kill the Humans, I think it would fit this scenario.
raven lord 😂😂 can we add an asteroid to make extra damn sure?!
Go up
I love hearing about the science of the Yellowstone super volcano, but-as you alluded to-most documentaries talk about the possibility of a super eruption like it’s going to happen and my anxiety can’t take it. Thank you for this wonderfully informative yet non-threatening explanation. It’s my new favorite video on this entire platform.
Even Tambora gave ample warning signs for a couple of years before it blew it's top off. I don't know what these crackpots are going on about. Volcanos are not made out of TNT that can just suddenly detonate for no particular reason. What ultimately makes them dangerous is the pressure build-up. Volcanic activity that follow earth quakes are much more tame. The earth cracks, and look, magma starts flowing up. And this is what is most likely to happen to Yellowstone. There are already many fault lines reaching almost all the way to the magma chamber, and since more than half of it is under the mountains now, any pressure build-up is likely to just cause an earth quake that opens a channel to the vicinity of the main chamber... going to suck hard for the plants and animals in the main basin, as that's the easiest way out...
Whenever Simon covers these science geeky locations all I can think of is how much more I'd have enjoyed school if he was the teacher. For that matter, that applies to all his channels, regardless of topic.
I agree, Simon would make a fantastic teacher.
Angela Chouinard if Simon was all of my tutors at college, I would have gone to University for sure, but my actual tutors temporarily killed my enthusiasm for subjects I’d loved for years
he IS a teacher to all of us...for free!
I still remember Math Class where the teacher always said "You won't always have a calculator with you. You need to learn how to do math for yourself."
Me: Hey Google, what's 2+2?
Google: I wouldn't know as I'm too busy being in your pocket 24/7.
yes, schools now a days don't actually "educate" students like they use to.....fyi i graduated in 91 so i missed out on the "proficiency test" scam🤔🤔😞😞😞😞🇺🇸🦅🇺🇸
You mentioned how the hotspot moved across southern Idaho, but it would have been very helpful to see a graphical illustration of that. A map of the major eruption sites and corresponding timeline. I've seen things like that and they are fascinating. I grew up amid the ancient lava flows in east Idaho and I'm still learning about how it was all formed. There are multiple extinct calderas along the Snake River that trace back to the migrating hotspot (plate movement).
No mention of island park or Henrys lake calderas, or how there’re only a few areas in Yellowstone where the walls of the current caldera is clearly visible
Craters of the Moon.
Just look at the snake river gorge on a topo or satellite map, basically where an eraser wiped away a section of rockies.
I live in Boise so I’ve been to all the eruption sites
@@travisburton2948, exactly. The Snake River Volcanic Province. Basically, a scar in the landscape burnt into it like a blowtorch melting metal plate. There's been a series of supervolcanoes formed in the area over the last 45 million years. Each one of them appearing progressively further to the ENE of the previous one. Now, we're under Yellowstone and it's still moving in the general direction on the ENE. It may go quiet once it moves under the Rockies proper, but then again it may break through in the weak spots. Who's to say.
"Never Tell Me the Odds."
- Confucious -
And Han Solo lol
Everyone in 2012: OMG the world's gonna end! The Mayan's predicted it! 😱
The Dyslexic Mayan who meant to write 2021: 👁👄👁
A dyslexic would have written it as 2102.....You've still got some time there dear Ashley...
@@freedomrider266 dyslexia doesn't just mean mirroring the word. Most people with dyslexia reverse pairs of letters. They dont just straight up write full words backwards.
@@xjunkxyrdxdog89 so... 2120?
@@erikho6936 Or 2021, you imbecile. Nice job missing his point entirely.
I worked with a couple people who went home that night thinking we wouldn't b back the next day
The way he pronounces geysers makes me think of old geezers.
\m/ GZR \m/
same here lol
There were 300 old people in Yellowstone that day.
He has been told. I think he is now doing it on purpose.
Funny how you Americans think your mispronunciations are actually correct. Your ways might be fine in the land of corn syrup, guns and grits, but "American English" is rather quaint to we Brits, oh and wrong.
As someone who lives in Michigan, roughly 1000 miles as the crow flies from Yellowstone, its insane to think of the distance the effects would travel. And the effects it would have on the Great Lakes would be catastrophic.
I live in Taupo, that photo shown is the view from my kitchen window. The caldera was formed around 26,000 years ago during the 'Oruanui Eruption' and last massive eruption (the biggest one) was 1800 years ago known as the Taupo Eruption.
God bless you!
"... Because trying new things is scary."
You... you just get me.
I hate to be a grammar nazi but Shoshone is prounounced, "show show knee".
I was wondering if someone was gonna point that out.
The "Showsown" live among the "geesuhs".
**shuh-show-nee. We’re all a bit of a grammar cop lol
Not to be nitpicky, but I think you meant you hate to be a linguistic coach ....
@@StyxRiverGynoid cunning linguistic skills
The perfect sendoff to the shitstorm that is 2020 is for yellowstone to explode on december 31st.
Nah, November 2nd on Election Day. LOL! It would be BIBLICAL! 🤪
@@Erin-Thor
then have tobo re-erupt and thats about it for most of humanity
If Trump gets reelected, I welcome the supervolcano apocalypse.
It will surely be better than four more years of that nimrod in the White House.
HiPlainsDrifter - Sadly you’re correct, no amount of crimes, ineptitude or lack of character is an issue for Republicans. Why is that? Republicans used to be the Christian party just four short years ago, now you have zero principals or integrity. When did you abandon your faith and start worshiping -satin- Satan?
@@Erin-Thor I too worship soft Satin fabrics.
As someone who lives in Utah and has heard all their life that there is a good chance we will all die from a Yellowstone explosions this was very reassuring
I grew up in utah and heard that too. Weird they teach you about that there lmao
I'm in Utah now, but even if I moved back to Colorado, I'd still be screwed.
So... I guess you guys haven't heard of Wah Wah Springs? You're sitting on a super volcano 30 times larger than Yellowstone. Sleep tight!
But won't the famous magic underwear protect Utah?
Describing the devastating effects of a super volcano on the climate as “a decade where every day is like a wet November in northern England.” is so terrifyingly accurate hahaha
Could you do one on Taupo. I’m a New Zealander and we here always feel sad when we get left out of things
I'm Australian I can sympathise.
i agree. I live in Colorado, so the thought of Yellowstone is very scary. But, I would like to learn more about other supervolcanos in other places.
At least you’re left out of Covid?
Don’t forget the one in Italy
@@riserevelation8471 Yeah, you think Vesuvius is bad? Try the under the entire Bay of Naples called The Phlegraean Fields (Italian: Campi Flegrei). There's also Santorini (or Thera/Thira) in Greece.
In geology class we calculated how screwed we would be if it exploded. Answer: Extremely.
Hope you get to visit Ashfall Fossil beds State park in Nebraska some day. Yellowstone was In Idaho when it destroyed the whole Ecosystem and preserved it in fine ash there. The park built a building over the dig site, preserving a whole herd of Camels, and other animals where they died.
@@twotone3471 Very cool. Adding to my bucket list.
Thanks. Added to my places to see.
Indeed....I just checked....I live within 750 kilometres of the place
@@twotone3471 Ashfall is only about 100 miles from where I live and have been there a few times. Awesome look into the past as well as scary to think about being covered in ash. We go up to royal a couple times every year to do some trout fishing in the creek nearby.
My word, Simon’s enthusiasm for disaster is difficult to beat as he regales the listener with tales of dire catastrophe. His glee is almost palpable as he gets stuck into the geologic record of magma chambers, ash clouds, and toxic fumes. Anyone for a vacation in Yellowstone?
Yes please. A quick death would be better than survival. Rather like all out nuclear war.
@@john1703 I imagine that depends on the amount of hours you've spent playing Fallout.
At least when you visit, you get to see some very weird and beautiful sites (& can drive south to the Grand Tetons, which aren't weird but are still very scenic). If Yellowstone blows supervolcano style, you'll die in most of western North America whether you visit or not. The entire world would have a bit of a volcanic winter (the 19th century "year without a summer" was due to a smaller eruption). Might as well make some memories while you may.
Geographics: "It'll most likely not erupt."
2020: *"You challenging me?"*
Unsicnkable. Titanknic to
The odds of Yellowstone erupting are exactly 100% - someday.
I love the history of Yellowstone. It was one of the first topics I learned about in college. So many historical figures and so many amazing stories. You really should do a series, no one has ever done it. I would watch the hell out of it! Even it’s ghost stories are amazing.
leave the ghost stories for the 'History' Channel.
My only quibble with this video is that he says that the hour spot under Yellowstone waited until it got under a "thin bit" before it began is eruptions. The Yellowstone hot spot had been spring for millions of years prior to its current Yellowstone era. You can track super eruptions from Yellowstone back across Idaho and Oregon, and even out into the pacific.
We need to learn more about that place in Idaho with candyfloss trees, please.
me: *sees pyroclastic flow barreling towards me* "Hello darkness my old friend..."
Avatar of fire is a mofo .
I'd have to start choking the ol chicken so everyone would know it was me.
Thats if you're lucky... the leidenfrost effect could really screw us over
"You don't run from a pyroclastic flow, you don't hide from a pyroclastic flow, you _die_ in a pyroclastic flow." - A volcanologist
lmfao thank you now i have no choice but listen to simon and garfunkle bastard lol
This is probably my 5th video of yours and I have to say I absolutely love them! Thank you so much for making them!
Earthquake Lake nearby in Montana was caused by an earthquake in Yellowstone. It created a large lake in a valley where a bunch of campers we're camping one night and killed a bunch of them. Fascinating place if you're in the area
Yellowstone- extremely unlikely- sign of relief
Cascadia- 1 in 3 chance- I may never sleep again
Lol I live within the reach of both disasters lol
What’s next Biden gets reelected? lol
Just go to a different source and get different odds.
@@prepperjonpnw6482 and trump supporters accused democrats of having derangement syndrome 🤔
I watched this about a year ago and again tonight because I was anxious and wanted to put my anxieties into perspective. It worked! Thanks Simon.
Yellowstone has a 0.000014% chance of erupting.
2020: Hold my corona...
You win.
We gunna die fam bet
Magnetic field reversal: I'm gonna destroys this mans whole career.
MA MA MA myyyy corona
So who is the worst meme?
Hold my beer: hold my beer
All we need now is a large asteroid headed straight for Yellowstone
I feel giddy at the thought
Yeah.. punching straight through the crust and triggering an instantaneous release of all the magma in one huge burst..
Can we build prisons there and tell them they can build GEOTHERMAL plants to cool it and buy time.. motivation 4tw. 🎵🎁🐔
@@AdstarAPAD we could just paint one side of the asteroid white cuz we can see them.. thanks to NASA nerds.
2020 Goals.
Thank you for making this videos. Really top notch and thoroughly entertaining. And excellent writing. Keep it up. I look forward to each one.
For an example of how far ash from even a small volcano can spread:
I live in central Alberta. After Mt. Saint Helens blew, whenever it rained, there were muddy rain marks on windows and cars.
"All old testament on America's ass" Simon Whistler 2020
There really should be a warning on these videos not to drink tea while watching them: I nearly sprayed the keyboard.
I want that as a poster or t-shirt
@@Korschtal Or any beverage actually.
@@jamesfry8983I'd like that as well.
He already is, I think.
I was in Northwestern Wyoming about 20 years ago. The geologic history that makes it dangerous makes it awesomely beautiful.
Something tells me the USA is the biggest market for Simon's channels.
It's because we have the biggest looming apocalyptic disasters, and more of them.
It may be that just have to comment on everything. We really do think we're pretty funny😅
We're less like to turn off when he pronounces things wrong, and instead run to the comment section.
Yeah, were a pretty screwed up country which is a real tragedy considering our potential.
@@GaryR55 we’re like Australia but everything that wants to kill you doesn’t give you any warning
I was planning a visit to Yellowstone in June, but because of the pandemic I had to cancel my trip. I practically live on the other side of the globe, which means it would take me more than a day of flying to get there. Hopefully I'll get the chance someday
Maybe Yellowstone will visit you soon...
Where are you now, Sir?
@@wuodanstrasse5631 I'm in Singapore
@@BlokenArrow Im.
😮❤😂🎉
"The 300 geezers in Yellowstone" sounded like your describing a couple of bus loads of pensioners visiting the National park. Thanks for the constant content , keep it up big fella.
I thought I was the only one who noticed!
"geologists, volcanologists and other people whose jobs ended in 'ologist' studied the Park" - Please confirm whether they included a proctologist.
That’s funny you said that cause immediately after I read that comment he said that phrase and it was followed by the diagram at 17:07 and from a certain point of view (or a perverted mind) can be viewed as magma up some chicks bum
Yup, Yellowstone needs an enema!
A proctologist is someone they'd send to study the blockage on the banks of the Potomac River at Washington, D.C. .
At least it's not a gynecologist.
So that’s what the geezers were doing there!
simon can say it wont erupt in our life, but i am still stocking up on toilet paper just in case
knock that shit of .........damn hoarders lol
Funny.
Personally I think the world's population should be divided up and given a hemisphere each: people who hoard toilet paper to the western hemisphere. People who hoard baked beans and ammo to the Eastern. Clearly we have nothing in common anyway.
@@politicallycorrectredskin796 it is kinda funny that they are asscenteric like that huh?
Toilet paper and face masks 😝
When I think of Yellowstone I think of Ash Fall Nebraska in the United States. It's a paleontological site that you can visit and examine the dig site. It was created when Yellowstone last erupted. The ash fall killed and buried almost every animal and the fossils are preserved in the obviously volcanic ash. It's a great experience.
In the early 70’d, my father, and mother took us on vacation...Yellowstone was a visiting stop. It is a huge area...just where there were walk paths!
Wait, there is a place in Idaho with candy-floss trees? As an Idahoan I NEED to know where this is.
Kurt Pryor
The Lorax has entered the chat
I speak for the trees....
Same man
They're around Idaho Falls ;3
I live in Shelley which is outside of Idaho Falls.
Go to the Big Rock Candy Mountain and turn North, once you cross the river of chocolate you should see the candy-floss trees.
Who else got this recommended right after that video disproving the Yellowstone myth?
me.
Me
Yep.
Yep!
fuck. I'm a sheep.
You should do a video on Ta Prohm, the Cambodian temple with the tree roots growing all over it.
siv9939 def not enough interesting about one temple. The whole Angkor, sure.
lol "the 300 geezers in Yellowstone..."
Aaron Queen
Ehhh where’s my health care you whippersnapper!!
@@SRW_ sorry we made cuts to your health care ....but we got a lovely park
@@SRW_ "You kept saying Socialism was evil, so we cancelled your Medicare and Social Security."
Lots of geezers in that area ...Careful, they have canes and walking sticks
@@jeremyturner2873 Yes, but Medicare & Social Security are not Socialism. They had money taken out of their paychecks specifically for these two programs, so they would have them when they retired. These two programs are not funded by Payroll Taxes that everybody pays into! If you are self-employed, you don't have to pay into them. Just payroll tax. But then, you cannot withdraw from them either!
Everyone is always talking about Yellowstone, but there are in fact two other “super volcanoes” in the USA; Yellowstone being the most famous, but no one ever talks about the Long Valley caldera in California, and the Valles caldera in New Mexico. All three are just sitting there waiting for the itch!!!
Let it explode, it’ll only add to everything going wrong right now 😂
You're a ripe optimist
It would definitely track
With one difference...a volcano is outside human interference
This whole virus business could have been caused by ourselves
If everything's so bad, why are you still here?
I’d rather not die due to famine or some roving bands of post apocalyptic gangs and warlords.
If Yellowstone goes, its better to get as close as you can, because the farther away you are, the more suffering you will endure
Yeah true if you live within 500miles I'd just run towards it because there's no point in running away...
@@dannycowan4579atim me who lives less than 100 miles 😶
When Armageddon happens, I'm moving to Kentucky. They are 20 years behind the rest of the world.
I’m 700 miles away…probably quickly dead anyways.
@@JABoyle3875 I think the kill zone is 250 mile radius. At 700 miles, you’ll have feet of hot, fine ground glass ash falling everywhere. Roofs will collapse from the weight and people will slowly choke to death on the ash. Not pretty! Put yourself on the east coast, and you’ll have a nuclear winter. The sun will be obscured for months if not years. Society will complete collapse, with massive starvation, mayhem, rape, murder, and Cannibalism. Truly apocalyptic.
The 2nd major eruption from Yellowstone wasn’t technically a supereruption since it only deposited 280km3 of tephra a supereruption produces at least 1000km3 of tephra:)
Exactly just because it can erupt doesn't mean it can only super erupt. People need to get off the fear mongering train.
We have always been told volcanoes form over thousands and thousands of years BUT my mother had a huge book collection of bound magazine articles from the 1800's from her dad and there was a story of a Mexican farmer who was trying to till his field but the land started rising rapidly. Overnight it became a huge hill. Within a week it was a full blown volcano and erupted causing terrible damage. I think sometimes a natural disaster can crop up unexpectedly practically over night, and yes sometimes it is over the course of a long time.
Monte Nuovo in Italy went from a flat plain to a 400' tall mountain in 7 days.
Was it paricutin?
@@seiyuokamihimura5082 That seems to be almost the same scenario yet the book I read it out of was published in the mid to late 1800's and that volcano erupted after only one week and not several years. They surely had easy to obtain photographs in 1943 and in 1952 when paricutin erupted. The articles of the book of combined magazines had no photos only drawings, and lots of them. It was an extremely old old book belonging to my grandfather, and then my mother.
Catastrophism is out of fashion. Catastrophic things do happen though!
@@EuroYank more like a volcanic hill. I don't think you can say something that's 400 feet tall a mountain
300 geezers blowing in the park.. Now thats a creepy headline :).
Nah. I'll bet that happens in Golden Gate Park all the time.
Amazing. Over 1K people didn't think this was a good essay on Yellowstone. I thought it was excellent.
Simon: "The odds of yellowstone erupting in any year are about 0.00014%."
2020: "Oh sweet, now I know what I will do in october!"
Simon: "It's actually more likely that another chixulub-sized asteroid will come slamming into earth."
2020: "... and what I will do in november."
Please. December's getting a double strike if 2020 has its way
🤣🤣😂
2021 bring on Cascadia fault will even it out
And in December, Cthulhu shall rise
Just as a little Christmas extra
Simon says 300 geysers... I see 300 old folk with walkers in my mind.
If you go to Yellowstone, that’s exactly what you’ll see.
1:40 - Chapter 1 - The exploding earth
6:00 - Chapter 2 - The great eruptions
9:00 - Mid roll ads
10:30 - Chapter 3 - The invisible volcano
15:00 - Chapter 4 - The volcano made visible
18:45 - Chapter 5 - The world on fire
You need more like and comments to bump it up higher
i was looking for you!
“Yellowstone going Old Testament on America’s arse.” ROTFLMBAO! LOVE. IT. 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
'as in the days before Noah'. Boom!
whats a rotflmbao
As someone who lives in Wyoming, the title alone made me giggle.
Sweetwater county here.
Grew up next door in southern Montana. Yellowstone's destructive ability is a bedtime story.
Park county here
Grew up in Weston County, plenty of friends and family over there in Park!
Grew up in Sheridan County and lived in Laramie for years. I'm homesick. Nice to see a fellow Wyomingite on here
Here’s the fortunate thing about supervolcanoes like Yellowstone. Cataclysmic eruptions are extraordinarily rare events! Yellowstone has actually erupted over 100 times since its last catastrophic eruption. All of those eruptions were much smaller in scale than the last cataclysmic eruption. The affects of the other smaller eruptions were mainly localized in nature to the immediate Yellowstone region. So if Yellowstone decides to erupt within our lifetime, then fortunately the odds are overwhelming that it will be a relatively small localized eruption. The odds of a catastrophic eruption from Yellowstone in our lifetime is absolutely astronomical!
I've heard it said, When Yellowstone pops it's cork, It will make Krakatoa seem like a fart in a bathtub.
8:11 ...300 geezers? I've seen a lot more old geezers at Yellowstone than that. Lots of old grannys, too.
I drive for roughly 10 hours every weekend. This channel and the War and Bio channels have provided me with so much entertainment and knowledge on the boring road......I don't watch...I just listen and drive and laugh and learn.
Change your outlook and you’ll change your mood. Instead of being scared and thinking of it as impending death, be happy and think of it as an impending reason to not have to work anymore.
You'd have to work more than you ever did, just to stay alive...
If Yellowstone erupts and USA rebuilds in the aftermath, I might go into vacuum cleaner sales.
Perhaps a business for cleaning filters - vacuum cleaners, ACs, cars, you name it
On holiday in Yellowstone in 1977,my parents wanted to take a picture of my and my brother in front of Old Faithful.I suddenly got the feeling that it was a bad idea to be anywhere near Yellowstone.When St Helens erupted,my father said to me that my feeling was correct.