Question: Why in Yellowstone seismic activity is high , given that the National Park is not in the area where the Pacific tectonic plate meets American plate?
Keywords: american plate, pacific plate, seismic activity, yellowstone
jonnyx7-
Recent Questions
- Hello. I wanted to ask…what does paleomagnetism particularly study? :)
- Do you expected to be one of the finalists?
- Why is water vapor only in the troposphere part?
- 1.How did Earth and other planets form?-su yaÅŸin
- Do you think the accumulation of tension can be prevented in order to reduce the intesity of earthquake? (1 Comment)
Recent Comments
- Thanks from your winner - Andi! (2 comments)
- Do you think the accumulation of tension can be prevented in order to reduce the intesity of earthquake? (1 comments)
- If there is an earthquake on Jupiter, Mars, Venus etc. will it still be called EARTHquake ? (1 comments)
- How do you measure the depth of an ocean ? (2 comments)
- What do you think of music like Ed Sheeran's songs? (1 comments)
Hi jonnyx7,
Besides seismic activity that is related to faults and plate tectonics, volcanoes also produce seismic activity, so-called volcanic tremors. The magma chamber below Yellowstone is fed from far below. When magma rises through cracks and voids and the surface above bulges, small seismic events can happen.
But before I say anything wrong (I’m no expert in volcanoes) maybe Rhian or one of the others could help me out? 🙂
All the best,
Andi
0
Hi!
I was also going to say that I’m not an expert, so maybe one of the others could give you a more accurate answer.
But I think that the main reason why the Yellowstone National Park area is characterised by so many earthquakes (apparently between 1000 and 3000 every year! – but generally rather small) is its high tectonic activity, because this area is crossed by a lot of faults.
I also wonder how many of the small earthquakes are cause by the volcanic activity, as Andy is also suggesting, given that there is an incredible amount of magma beneath the National Park. This is the reason why there are so many geysers in the area.
Maybe someone else knows the answer to that…
I’d love to visit this park! Have you ever been there?
0
Hi jonyx7,
Remember that tectonic activity is stronger in Plate boundaries but not restricted to. Tectonics is a product of geodynamics and bellow Yellowstone there is a hotspot (like Hawaii), which is part of the circulation path of the mantle. 🙂
0
You are right Jonnyx7, yellowstone is no where near a plate boundary so there shouldn’t be any activity there!
we explain the activity by saying that there might be a “mantle plume” in the area… this means that there is an area of molten material that has come from deep within the earth and has reached the surface under yellowstone. This plume is pushing up the surface of the crust as the magma tries to reach the surface. This moving of the crust and the movement of the magma causes big and small earthquakes in the area 🙂
0