Two leading geological scientists present “The Case for a Long-Lived and Robust Yellowstone Hotspot” in a free talk on June 2 at noon in the Buffalo Bill Center of the
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IMAGE: The break in slope is coincident with a discontinuity representing a regional three- to five-million-year hiatus separating two distinct styles of volcanic activity in the Cascadia backarc region. The lower. view more
Credit: Victor Camp and Ray Wells
Boulder, Colo., USA: The Yellowstone hotspot is well known for generating supereruptions in the geologic past that are far more explosive than historic examples. The origin and sustained longevity of the hotspot is less understood but is focused on two competing models, where the ascent of hot mantle is derived from either a deep-seated mantle plume or a shallow mantle source.