Super Volcano
The Ticking Time Bomb Beneath Yellowstone National Park
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- $9.99
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- $9.99
Publisher Description
Despite growing evidence of geothermic activity under America's first and foremost national park, it took geologists a long time to realize that there was actually a volcano beneath Yellowstone. And then, why couldn't they find the caldera or crater? Because, as an aerial photograph finally revealed, the caldera is 45 miles wide, encompassing all of Yellowstone. What will happen, in human terms, when it erupts?
Greg Breining explores the shocking answer to this question and others in a scientific yet accessible look at the enormous natural disaster brewing beneath the surface of the United States. Yellowstone is one of the world's five "super volcanoes." When it erupts, much of the nation will be hit hard.
Though historically Yellowstone has erupted about every 600,000 years, it has not done so for 630,000, meaning it is 30,000 years overdue. Starting with a scenario of what will happen when Yellowstone blows, this fascinating study describes how volcanoes function and includes a timeline of famous volcanic eruptions throughout history.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Science writer and author Breining (Return of the Eagle) gives readers a solid introduction to modern volcanology in this look at "super volcanoes" in general (those that "have expelled at least 1,000 cubic kilometers of magma... all at once") and the Yellowstone caldera-"potentially the most explosive, most violent, most deadly active volcano on the planet"-in particular. Most readers will be astonished to learn that 2.1 million years ago, the area that is now Yellowstone National Park burst "with the force of hundreds of thousands" of Hiroshima-sized explosions; more surprising is that the site is past due for another, possibly larger eruption. Breining has done a public service by bringing these hazards to light with straight-forward writing and a well-organized text, clearly explaining complicated, violent geological processes without ignoring the awe-inspiring beauty of volcanic landscapes. He also includes the history of geological studies in Yellowstone, the critically important field of plate tectonics and what kind of fossils are generated by sudden, magma-induced death. Reviewing the largest known eruptions, Breining enumerates still-active threats to populations in Indonesia, Japan, New Zealand, Naples, Italy and, of course, the U.S. Bolstered by clearly laid-out maps, Breining's talent for elucidating complex phenomena makes this one of the best books on volcanoes a general reader can hope for.
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