New model reveals mantle wind fueling Yellowstone supervolcano

28 Mwezi wa sita, 2026

Imeripotiwa na AI

Researchers have developed a three-dimensional model showing that a broad eastward-moving mantle wind supplies magma to Yellowstone rather than a deep plume from Earth's core.

A team from the Institute of Geology and Geophysics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences built the model of western North America. It links the wind to remnants of the subducted Farallon Plate and shows how the flow creates a southwest-dipping channel through the lithosphere.

The channel allows hot asthenospheric material to rise and form the extensive magma mush system beneath the caldera. Yellowstone has produced two supereruptions in the past 2.1 million years.

The study, published in Science, matches existing geophysical and geochemical data. It offers a single framework for how large magmatic systems develop and persist under supervolcanoes worldwide.

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Jumatatu, 15. Mwezi wa sita 2026, 18:11:23