Yellowstone Supervolcano Contains Much More Magma Than Previously Thought, Scientists Say

Yellowstone Supervolcano Contains , Much More Magma Than Previously Thought, , Scientists Say.

ABC News reports that new Yellowstone research was published on Dec.

1 in 'Science.'.

Researchers found that in addition to containing substantially more magma under its caldera.

The lava is moving at shallow depths, which gave way to previous eruptions.

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We found that it's likely that Yellowstone's crustal magma reservoir holds more melt than previously was thought, Ross Maguire, study author, via ABC News.

Study author Ross Maguire said that previous studies estimated partial melt fraction to be between 5% and 15%, but now there appears to be up to 20%.

The findings indicate the potential for future eruptions, though there aren't any signs that one will happen any time soon.

While Yellowstone draws attention for its ability to produce "catastrophic, explosive eruptions," Maguire says that's not the volcano's most common type of eruption.

They would be of a similar size to what's happened in the very recent Yellowstone history that's produced a series of lava flows that filled the most recent caldera after the most recent really large eruption, Ross Maguire, study author, via ABC News.

Still, researchers say constant monitoring of Yellowstone's subsurface is crucial to determine if circumstances start to dramatically change