Supervolcano is Active Under Yellowstone Park

Isn't that a pretty picture? Grand Prismatic Spring is one of Yellowstone National Park's many hot springs and geysers fueled by underground thermal energy.

A new study has found that Yellowstone is rising faster than has ever been measured before, due to an influx of magma several miles beneath the surface. It has been rising three inches a year since 2004! The surface is inflating like a bellows due to an infusion of magma about 6 miles (10 kilometers) underground.

Yellowstone sits on a volcano that is hundreds of times bigger than Mt. St. Helens. While there is no sign of an imminent eruption, it would certainly be something to see. Much of Yellowstone sits in a caldera that is 40 miles across! The caldera was formed when the cone of the massive volcano collapsed in a titanic eruption 640,000 years ago. The most recent flare up was 70,000 years ago. Volcanic heat continues to fuel the park's famous geysers and hot springs.

I had no idea that there was a volcano under Yellowstone. It is a place I have always wanted to visit. Isn't it amazing that such beauty can arise out of the ashes of destruction? Just like Hawaii...It gives added understanding to the legend of the Phoenix.