Magma is the explosive lifeblood of volcanoes. The Yellowstone supervolcano, centered in northwestern Wyoming, has plenty stored beneath its geyser-laden surface. But magma is a mixture of both solid and liquid parts, and not all of it can erupt.
To find out just how much geologic goulash can potentially come out of the volcano if it erupts, scientists applied a relatively new technique to a 20-year-old catalog of seismic data. Their study, published Thursday in the journal Science, concludes that there is more molten rock in Yellowstone’s upper magma reservoir than previously thought: 16 percent to 20 percent of it is liquid, compared with older estimates of about 10 percent.
“There’s been a really big magmatic system there for two million years,” said Brandon Schmandt, a geophysicist at the University of New Mexico and an author of the study. “It does not look like it’s going away, that’s for sure.”
However, that doesn’t mean Yellowstone is more hazardous than before, said Michael Poland, the scientist-in-charge at the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory who wasn’t involved with the study.