University of Utah seismologists discovered and made images of a reservoir of hot, partly molten rock 12 to 28 miles beneath the Yellowstone supervolcano, and it is 4.4 times larger than the shallower, long-known magma chamber.

The hot rock in the newly discovered, deeper magma reservoir would fill the 1,000-cubic-mile Grand Canyon 11.2 times, while the previously known magma chamber would fill the Grand Canyon 2.5 times, says postdoctoral researcher Jamie Farrell, a co-author of the study published online today in the journal Science.

This animation shows the underground volcanic plumbing system beneath the Yellowstone supervolcano in Wyoming, as revealed by a new University of Utah seismic imaging study. The green lines represent the boundary of Yellowstone National Park.

Poster Comment:

Not Good for anyone within 1,500 miles. Fortunately, my goal is to move further away from both Yellowstone and the New Madrid fault.