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Used to guide in Yellowstone. This has no bearing on the greater Yellowstone Caldera (supervolcano) which spans nearly 30miles by 40miles. In my time there I ne
by Aeroi 2y ago
Used to guide in Yellowstone. This has no bearing on the greater Yellowstone Caldera (supervolcano) which spans nearly 30miles by 40miles. In my time there I never saw anything like this. If you're ever in a situation similar to this, run as fast and as far as you can.
The interesting thing about geysers and pools is how relatively predictable they are... until they are not. A mathematical and statistical person would have a lot of fun building prediction models for all the different geysers.
- 0xdde 2y ago> A mathematical and statistical person would have a lot of fun building prediction models for all the different geysers. It's so popular that one of the datasets immediately available in base R is the set of waiting times between eruptions for a Yellowstone geyser [1]. [1] https://www.rdocumentation.org/packages/datasets/versions/3.6.2/topics/faithful https://www.rdocumentation.org/packages/datasets/versions/3....
- verandaguy 2y agoIn fairness, the geyser in question is Old Faithful, among the best-known geysers in the world, renowned for its regularity. I’m not sure that it’s particularly more regular than most other geysers, but that’s what is known for.
- dmckeon 2y agoBefore a 1959 earthquake, Old Faithful had a very regular cycle time - thus the name. Since then, the name has become less apt.
- adamredwoods 2y agoVery exciting time for a geologist! Once every few hundred years I'm guessing?
- bandyaboot 2y agoThey’re not that rare. The USGS statement references a few examples of similar events including one from 2009 in this same basin, one from 1989 in the Norris basin, and another (small) event in the Norris basin earlier this year.
- radishingr 2y agoAnd never forget excelsior geyser (crater) just up the road.
- glennon 2y agoOver 60 observations of this hot spring erupting in some fashion over the last 18 years. https://geysertimes.org/geyser.php?id=Black+Diamond https://geysertimes.org/geyser.php?id=Black+Diamond Many of the reports mention black water and rocks and "big" -- so not particularly rare. This eruption appears to be larger though -- typically the rocks and debris do not make it to the boardwalk.
- glennon 2y agoA geyser gazer friend of mine shared the following image pair: a "before" Google Earth image and a USGS overhead image captured today after the event. The debris field surrounding the spring is evident -- including the damaged boardwalk. (links to a png) https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Dcd55YX7oF8KPrHsog75vPS_Mc9tDWru/view https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Dcd55YX7oF8KPrHsog75vPS_Mc9...
- qingcharles 2y ago[flagged]
- deleted 2y ago[deleted]
- kbutler 2y ago
- ethbr1 2y ago> If you're ever in a situation similar to this, run as fast and as far as you can. Yellowstone tourists have a proud tradition of not running from things they should be.
- aargh_aargh 2y agoOh yeah, bring it, mama bear...
- johnla 2y agoI think most of them are new to this type of nature so you're stuck in "is this normal? Am I in danger? If I run, will I look like a fool?" So you're standing there and looking for other people's reactions before making your own. So it's a bunch of people frozen and looking at each other before 1 person makes a run for it and everyone else does too.
- jsbg 2y agoThey're presumably referring to people e.g. taking selfies with bison.
- chrisco255 2y agoYeah, lots of folks think they have a similar demeanor to cows and don't realize they are in danger while doing so.
- jimmaswell 2y agoEven cows can be dangerous if you make them mad.
- chrisco255 2y agoOf course but bison are way less predictable and don't have 10K years of selective breeding for docile behavior like modern cattle do.
- Aeroi 2y agoA great followup for someone looking to dive into the statistical side of this would be the Steamboat Geyser in Yellowstone. [1] (Worlds tallest active geyser) It has a pretty irregular major eruption pattern. What people often forget, is that geysers don't wait for the day time, so many events occur at night when nobody is around to witness the beauty. When a geyser like this only erupts a handful of times a year and for approximately 3 minutes, you have to get very very very lucky to witness it. Especially when you take into account how enormous YNP is. [1] https://www.nps.gov/yell/learn/nature/steamboat-geyser.htm#:~:text=Tucked%20away%20in%20the%20Norris,300%20feet%20(91%20m) https://www.nps.gov/yell/learn/nature/steamboat-geyser.htm#:....
- malingo 2y agoJust this morning when I couldn't sleep I was reading the Wikipedia E-M algorithm page with its illustration of clustering the bimodal eruption distribution of Old Faithful: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Expectation%E2%80%93maximization_algorithm https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Expectation%E2%80%93maximiza...
- firewolf34 2y agoIf ya can't sleep, ya might as well learn something. Thanks for the link! Sincerely, ~also can't sleep.
- LeonB 2y agoHmmm — isn’t it possible that too much awareness of our pending apocalyptic peril at the mercy of the Yellowstone Caldera is what’s arresting your slumbers in the first place?
- progmetaldev 2y agoIf only my late night existential crises were based on realistic apocalyptic peril, rather than some kind of unknown that's impossible to put into words. At least then, there's some kind of science and "natural rules" to limit the exposure.
- radishingr 2y agoHonestly, I would be more worried about an elephant rampage, as it is significantly more likely.
- LeonB 2y agoSheesh! Now I definitely won’t sleep, house as I am in this flimsy house, not in any way robust enough to withstand the inevitable rampaging herd.
- this_steve_j 2y agoI recently discovered the channel “Radio chatter for sleep” which contains old space shuttle air to ground link recordings. Hope you find something that works. https://youtube.com/@radiochatterforsleep?si=JafAcX4-u4fRrmLi https://youtube.com/@radiochatterforsleep?si=JafAcX4-u4fRrmL...
- InDubioProRubio 2y agoIs a geyser not inherently self-destructive? As in its a load-bearing pressure test-run on a random set of connection in stone. Meaning the rock fracks itself, and only the valve to above ground allows for repeated runs? Or do they fix fractures with minerals?
- pfdietz 2y agoThere's nothing about a geyser that requires rock to be fractured during an eruption. Geysers occur due to positive feedback as liquid water is removed, reducing the pressure on underlying heated water, allowing it to boil.
- sqeaky 2y agoSort of a temporary equilibrium of boiling temperatures as long as water keeps coming out? but because water supply is finite that will only be a few second or ms?
- pfdietz 2y agoIt's that water that's kept liquid when it's sufficiently deep will now boil when that overlying water is removed. It keeps boiling until it cools enough that it's no longer above the boiling point at the reduced pressure.
- consf 2y agoThe complexity and variability of geothermal features
- bnug 2y agoAnyone know how apparent bot posts like this wind up here? Third one I've seen today, now easy to notice after someone pointed it out on another topic.
- progmetaldev 2y agoI can only theorize, but my guess is that a human signs up, then allows the bot to post. I get this quite often from clients where they have an online form with a reCAPTCHA, and they are getting regular spam. I have to explain that some bots are able to figure out the reCAPTCHA, as well as let them know that sometimes real humans are just paid to fill out forms and bot detection isn't going to help in those cases. This is especially true with services like Fiverr.
- consf 2y agoI can assure you that I am genuinely here to engage in discussions as a real person!
- progmetaldev 2y agoI assumed so, your comment was too relevant
- consf 2y agoGood luck with recognizing bots, but you're mistaken this time
- bnug 2y agoFair enough. Why don't you fill out your profile? I would love to read it as I'm always curious about the backgrounds of people who's behavior or personality I don't understand, and you're essentially vaguely summarizing the topics in all of your posts, which strikes me as different from anything I've experienced.
- animal531 2y agoAnother tip, if you're running away from rocks falling out of the sky (or extremely big hailstones) then at least put an arm over your head. It might just save your life.
- toss1 2y agoAnother tip for falling objects (although this applies only on the descent phase, so more for objects falling from cliffs or building above you): If when looking up, the object has an apparent motion (left/right/back), it won't hit you, and certainly don't move in the direction it appears to be moving. If it appears stationary in the sky, it WILL hit you or very close, so move fast. Best default strategy with limited time & options is to hug the rock face, especially under an overhang.
- syngrog66 2y ago> and certainly don't move in the direction it appears to be moving. I hereby dub this the Ridley Scott's Prometheus Rule
- staplung 2y agoIt's not just for falling objects. In ship navigation this is known as Constant Bearing, Decreasing Range. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constant_bearing,_decreasing_range https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constant_bearing,_decreasing_r...
- toss1 2y agoYup! Also applies to cars on intersecting roads especially at odd angles; if it's staying in the same spot in the windshield/side window, one of you needs to change speeds or you'll have an unscheduled rapid disassembly at the intersection. It's also a real problem for certain intersection angles where vehicles or bicycles with unfortunate timing will be obscured behind the A-Pillar until nearly too late. There was an article (iirc) on HN years ago about just such an intersection repeatedly injuring/killing bicyclists. I once had to seriously threshold brake at an off-angle intersection to avoid a fire truck running a red light, when the timing/speed/distance/angle all lined up to hide the entire truck behind the A-Pillar for a few seconds approaching the intersection.
- billsmithaustin 2y agoJust playing back what you said because it's surprising. You're saying that explosion was not caused by water that was superheated by the supervolcano below the greater Yellowstone Caldera? It was heated by some other source? Interested because I was there a few weeks ago.
- mapt 2y agoA defined hydrothermal basin like this is heated by a very local pocket of magma or more properly magma-that-has-mostly-solidified-into-hot-rock, only a kilometer or so deep in this case, that has leaked up from multiple layers of deeper basins creeping up through faultlines, and which is being gradually cooled by water seepage in a dynamically stable way. Depending on the area, there may or may not be an intermediary superheated brine functioning as a heat transport mechanism, per https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geothermal_areas_of_Yellowstone https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geothermal_areas_of_Yellowston... Local explosions like this are not very indicative of movements in the county-sized reservoir of magma ten times deeper down that underlies the entire caldera. Local hydrothermal basin, upper magma chamber, lower magma chamber, mantle plume: https://www.yellowstonepark.com/news/supervolcano-magma-chamber-mapped/ https://www.yellowstonepark.com/news/supervolcano-magma-cham...
- burtonator 2y ago> If you're ever in a situation similar to this, run as fast and as far as you can. I really really want to underscore this point. You're literally standing on top of ground and under that is boiling water. If that breaks and you fall in you're going to be in boiling water with no way to get out and you will die screaming. Also NEVER walk on ground that has no vegetation. If you look around a geyser you will see that the ground is white and has no vegetation. That's because the temperature is too high and it has water under it that's heating the ground. Walk on that and there's a chance you will fall in. In the back country there are no fences so you can fall right through the crust.
- sandworm101 2y ago>> Also NEVER walk on ground that has no vegetation. There are also places on this planet where toxicity issues preclude vegetation. If there are fumes coming through the soil so powerful that grass doesn't grow, take the hint.
- sqeaky 2y agoThey mean never in the context of fleeing from these explosions. My sidewalk has no vegetation, but that is because I weedwhacked on Tuesday not because a geyser 10 meters away is flash boiling water in a pressure vessel made of stone and glass shrapnel-to-be.
- lostlogin 2y agoWhite Island exploded and killed 22 visitors here in New Zealand in 2019 [1]. As you say, if an eruption starts, run. Video from that day is chilling, with comment made about how different to normal the pools looked. Those with uncovered skin suffered horribly, and it’s quite surprisingly how little covering was helpful. There is a good documentary on it [2]. [1] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/2019_Whakaari_/_White_Island_eruption https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/2019_Whakaari_/_White_Island... [2] https://m.imdb.com/title/tt21439528/ https://m.imdb.com/title/tt21439528/
- HeyLaughingBoy 2y agoI saw that movie. Not much scares me, but that did!
- advantager 2y agoI am a groundwater modeler (hydrogeologist) and often work in fractured rock (mainly for mining clients). No experience with modeling for hydrothermal projects though. While the physics of modeling fluid flow in these environments is possible (e.g. discrete fracture networks), mapping and having confidence in the distribution and actual inter-connectivity of the fractures (i.e. preferential flow pathways) is incredibly difficult.
- ethbr1 2y agoIs the difficulty because the sensing techniques give general but not-localized results? I.e. porosity in an area, but no information about specific connected fissures? Or something else? My cousin is in hydrogeology as well! Fascinating subject!
- radishingr 2y agoWhat is the accuracy of the mapping you do and is it destructive? Do you deal with hot systems (steam/water equilibrium matters)?
- strangattractor 2y agoSurprisingly no one stopped to take selfie:)
- lelanthran 2y ago> This has no bearing on the greater Yellowstone Caldera (supervolcano) which spans nearly 30miles by 40miles. In my time there I never saw anything like this. If you're ever in a situation similar to this, run as fast and as far as you can. What would be the point of running if the Yellowstone Caldera actually goes bang? I mean, where would you run to? The resulting destruction would be greater than that experienced by the asteroid collision that ended the dinosaurs. You're better off staying put and vaporising than dying of asphyxiation a week later.
- xenadu02 2y agoI believe the poster was saying two things separately: 1. This issue is not some precursor to the caldera becoming active - it is a irregular but normal part of areas with geysers. 2. If a geyser, hot spring, etc starts looking different, acting different, or there is an unexpected explosion run away from it quickly. The negative effects will be localized so distance is helpful.