It is NOT going to blow, relax OP.
Quoting: Anonymous Coward 7532892 1000x above normal Helium Gas releases are a sure sign something really big is up with Yellowstone...not saying it will erupt but ...in any other volcano it would be a sure sign of it...and 1000x the normal amount of gas release? That would be about fitting for the type of eruption Yellowstone could deliver..at least 1000x more powerful than any normal volcano around those parts, the continued uplift in that area is also a good sign of up and coming trouble...
1) Vertical Ground Displacement as well as horizontal
2) Gas emissions of Helium 1000x the normal level.
3) Earthquake swarms getting more frequent and larger.
4) Cracks forming in ground surface.
I don't know about you..but this all looks pretty convincing to me that Yellowstone is getting ready to do something big..
Not to be a jerk but...
1,000 times the "normal" amount of helium does not equal 1,000 times the impact of a "normal eruption".
For instance, if a DORMANT volcano typically puts out (and this is purely as a simplified, non-realistic example for simplification purposes) 20 parts per billion of helium per hour, to then watch it go to 20,000 parts of helium per billion per hour, does NOT mean that it will suddenly explode with the power of 1,000 "regular volcanoes".
It just means that the output of helium released has increased by 1,000-fold. It also means that, hmmm, activity is increasing in this once-inactive volcano....maybe it is worth watching over the next few years. In all probability, however, it go back to "sleep" after a few, small belches and rumbles.
If the starting reading was almost zero, it really doesn't take much of an increase in helium output to reach that thousand-fold increase.
The two are not directly related...at all.
If anything bothers me about Yellowstone, it is the ground displacement, as this has a direct correlation with magma volume and relocation.
It would be best if there were several, smaller releases of material than one, grand event.
Weren't they (the petrol companies) considering boring there for reserves?
Could end up being a trigger, or a saving release valve.
Perhaps this activity is a cover story to find out what is really going on out there, under the park.
