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Mantle plumes transport heat from deep in the mantle to the crust and create what we call “hot spot” volcanism. Plumes of magma rise through the mantle, melting rocks in the crust, and creating magma reservoirs of partially molten, partially solid rock. This shallow body of magma is caused by heat convection in the mantle. Magma (molten rock from below the earth’s crust) is close to the surface in the greater Yellowstone area. Siegel, 2000 Magma, Hot Spots, and the Yellowstone Supervolcano
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#VOLCANO BOX INDEX WINDOWS#
The location of Yellowstone's three calderas and two resurgent domes.Īdapted with permission from Windows into the Earth by Robert Smith and Lee J. This volcanism remains a driving force in Yellowstone today. About 2.1 million years ago, the movement of the North American plate brought the Yellowstone area closer to the shallow magma body. This 500-mile trail of more than 100 calderas was created as the North American plate moved in a southwestern direction over a shallow body of magma. Subsequent volcanic eruptions can be traced across southern Idaho towards Yellowstone. This ongoing stretching process increased about 17 million years ago and created the modern basin and range topography (north–south mountain ranges with long north–south valleys) which characterizes much of the West, including the Yellowstone area.Ībout 16.5 million years ago, an intense period of volcanism initiated near the borders of present-day Nevada, Oregon, and Idaho. This period of volcanism is not related to the present Yellowstone volcano.Īpproximately 30 million years ago, vast expanses of today’s West began stretching apart along an east–west axis. The Absaroka Range along the park’s north and east sides was formed by numerous volcanic eruptions about 50 million years ago. From the end of the Mesozoic through the early Cenozoic, mountain-building processes formed the Rocky Mountains.ĭuring the Cenozoic era (approximately the last 66 million years of Earth’s history), widespread mountain-building, volcanism, faulting, and glaciation sculpted the Yellowstone area. During the Precambrian and the subsequent Paleozoic and Mesozoic eras (541 to 66 million years ago), the western United States was covered at times by oceans, sand dunes, tidal flats, and vast plains.
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Rocks of this age are found in northern Yellowstone and in the hearts of the nearby Teton, Beartooth, Wind River, and Gros Ventre mountain ranges. Most of Earth’s history (from the formation of the earth 4.6 billion years ago to approximately 541 million years ago) is known as the Precambrian time.