HN Explorer

Ask HN: Could Wastewater Injection in TX and OK Trigger the Yellowstone Caldera?

2 points by fowkswe ↗ HN
Is it possible that all the increased seismic activity in OK and TX could loosen the Earth's crust enough to cause the Caldera to erupt?

6 comments

[ 1.6 ms ] story [ 19.7 ms ] thread
oldmancoyote
It's not possible. At that scale the Earth is not rigid enough to transfer the strain that far, and the forces involved are too small.

The activity of the Yellowstone Caldera results from large scale processes in the Crust and Mantle. Direct injection into the caldera MIGHT be enough to trigger an eruption that was already imminent.

Qualifications: Degrees in geology and retired from the USGS.

fowkswe
Thanks.

Is there some distance from the caldera where crust disturbance would definitely not be a factor? 1 mile? 100 miles? Greater?

oldmancoyote
The answer to that question is very iffy. I don't feel I can answer it. I'll just say that injection into the caldera during a period of uplift due to magma movement is a bad idea.
brudgers
Oklahoma and Texas are over 1000 miles and several mountain ranges from the Yellowstone Caldera. New Madrid, Mo is closer.

[1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Madrid_Seismic_Zone

fowkswe
Good point. What about the drilling activity in the Dakota's and / or Alberta - Saskatchewan?
brudgers
They are closer to Yellowstone and further from New Madrid. Curious if you have ever been to the Yellowstone Caldera.