A. L. Kaplan

Tag: yellowstone

  • Countdown to the Day of Reckoning – 9 Days – Supervolcano

    IMG_0477Tour guide: Welcome to Yellowstone National Park. I hope you enjoy our visit. By the way, you are standing in the caldera of a geologically active supervolcano.

    Me: Wait. What? Shouldn’t they have mentioned that before entering the park?

    At least 48 super-eruptions have been discovered by geologist, but what does that mean?

    The volcanic explosivity index goes to 8 and that’s where a supervolcano hangs. They can spew 240 cubic miles of material. Pressure builds up in these volcanoes until they blow big time.

    IMG_0475

    So, what would happen if Yellowstone supervolcano had another VEI 8 eruption? It would probably blanket much of the United States under a blanket of ash. A friend of mine lived in Seattle around the time Mt. St. Helen erupted. One of the biggest problems was the ash. Even a thin coat can make roads slick and clog up filters. You don’t want to be breathing that stuff.

    It would also cool things down a bit for a few years. Think mini ice age.

    No need to worry. There have been no signs that any of the world’s supervolcanoes will erupt anytime soon. The last time one went was 26,500 years ago in New Zealand.

    For more information check these site:

    https://www.usgs.gov/faqs/what-a-supervolcano?qt-news_science_products=0#qt-news_science_products

    https://www.vox.com/2014/9/5/6108169/yellowstone-supervolcano-eruption

     

    Don’t forget to pickup a copy of STAR TOUCHED.

    Startouched front cover2Eighteen-year-old Tatiana is running from her past and her star-touched powers eight years after a meteor devastates earth’s population.

  • An Important Job

    Soot billowed up with every step Jim took. He tightened the rag covering his face and trudged on. Nothing could keep the noxious partials from seeping into every crevasse of his clothes. Before he was even halfway to his destination his skin felt gritty and uncomfortable.

    Satellite dishes studded the barren landscape. Most of the huge white structures sported mounds of debris. They were meant to detect incoming enemy missiles so the projectiles could be destroyed before obliterating humanity. Disaster came anyway, but not from an attack.

    He closed his eyes, remembering the day the world ended. Explosions roared across the planet, jettisoning debris from the bowels of the earth into the sky like an unkempt pimple. Earth’s skin contorted with waves. Yellowstone vanished in seconds, along with most of Wyoming, Montana, and Idaho.

    It was only by some strange twist of fate that the satellite dishes survived. Even Jim’s survival was a quirk. A colleague called in sick last minute, putting Jim at the monitoring station when the super volcano erupted. Designed to withstand a nuclear holocaust, the underground bunker was well protected and stocked. Too bad the same couldn’t be said for the rest of the country.

    Jim climbed up into one of the dishes and pulled a shovel from his pack. There was no one left to fire missiles, but it was still his job to maintain these machines. With each shovelful he removed debris, letting bits of his sanity drift in the breeze with the dust.