Talk: Yellowstone Hotspot

Join us for our June Lunchtime Expedition, The Case for a Long-Lived and Robust Yellowstone Hotspot, presented by Victor E. Camp and Ray E. Wells. The in-person talk takes place in the Center’s Coe Auditorium. If you prefer to join us online, you may register in advance via Zoom webinar: https://us02web.zoom.us/.../reg.../WN_s_hb7fUrTzaHTDImF2IArw
 

The Yellowstone hotspot (YHS) is well-known for producing super-eruptions far more explosive than those of human experience, but less is known about the ultimate source of these eruptions and the longevity of the hotspot itself. The energetic source appears to derive from a plume of hot material that extends well into the Earth’s interior to the core-mantle boundary at a depth of 2,900 km. Camp and Wells discuss evidence for a long-lived and robust YHS first manifested by early marine volcanism offshore of Washington and Oregon 56 million years ago.

Support for the Draper’s Lunchtime Expedition series has been made possible by Sage Creek Ranch and the Nancy-Carroll Draper Charitable Foundation.