Monthly update of activity at Yellowstone Volcano (December 1, 2022)

Just a few days ago, Mauna Loa, the tallest active volcano on the planet, started erupting for the first time in 38 years. Mike Poland, the scientist-in-charge of the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory, talks about the parallels and differences between Hawaiian and Yellowstone volcanism and describes recent activity at Yellowstone in this monthly update for December 1, 2022. What’s similar? Both Yellowstone and Hawaiian volcanoes occur in the middle of tectonic plates, far from plate boundaries. Both are “powered” by what we call hotspots, anomalous areas of melting sourced deep within the earth. As it rises up, it burns its way through the tectonic plate and lava erupts onto the surface to form a volcano. As the tectonic plate moves, the volcano is carried away from the hotspot source, and the hotspot punches through again to create a new volcano. So for hotspots, you can follow a trail of volcanoes that gets older and older the farther you get from the hotspot. In Hawaii, this is a trail of old islands