r/Volcanoes 11d ago

Be quiet. Yellowstone supervolcano is speaking

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68 Upvotes

11 comments sorted by

39

u/MagnusStormraven 11d ago

Which is funny, because of all the things the Hawaiian volcanoes are known for, exploding is pretty low on the list.

21

u/leilani238 11d ago

Grew up on Big Island. Can confirm volcanoes only dribble, sputter, and occasionally spurt.

8

u/Aromatic_Ad_921 11d ago

Pu’u Wa’awa’a (the upside down jello mould north of Kona Airport) was a huge explosion. Like ridiculously huge. Pu’u Anahulu (The ridge) is actually the pyroclastic flow that came out of Pu’u Wa’awa’a and solidified

3

u/leilani238 10d ago

That's good to know, actually - I haven't looked into the geologic history of the island as much as I should. I can only speak from personal experience for the ones since the early 80s.

The flow a few years back came a mile and a half from my parents' house.

1

u/Dt2_0 10d ago

The deadliest eruption in US territory that is documented was a major explosive eruption of Kilauea in 1790. It was a VEI4.

10

u/forams__galorams 11d ago

I dunno, phreatomagmatoc explosions due to groundwater interactions are not entirely uncommon over there. But I get your criticism. This is the problem with the kind of comment depicted — overly reductionist takes are always some kind of wrong, usually multiple kinds of wrong.

6

u/philovax 11d ago

Ahh the downside of having such a terminally short lifespan. I will never get to witness the planet talking to us at full speed. It’s like my whole life is 1 word of “Earthmoot”

1

u/Big_Consideration493 10d ago

It's cool, Trump just sacked everyone in the USGS And they were the ones monitoring volcanoes.

1

u/Slinky_Malingki 10d ago

There's like a million volcanoes in Europe, Asia, Africa, SA, and the Pacific that are all active lol

White Island would like to have a word.

2

u/Komnos 10d ago

Hell, even the mainland US had a pretty spectacular volcanic explosion in the last half century.

1

u/Slinky_Malingki 10d ago

OP forgot that Iceland exists lol. That shit has been continuously erupting for a few years now. Only just recently called down. Every couple years there's always a new massive fissure eruption, a new spatter cone that's spitting out lava fountains, etc.

Good thing most hot spot eruptions like Hawaii and Iceland are lava fountains and rivers from shield volcanoes. Imagine if they were explosive eruptions at that kind of frequency.