Yellowstone Supervolcano

Amy have you tried Googling

Or can you even get Google

What I do know amy, is when that supervolcano blows none of us are going to be worrying about school assignments.

Our gooses will be cooked.

WAY beyond Plinian.

Eruptions are measured on a scale called the Volcanic Explosivity Index, which is like earthquake magnitudes in that each number represents a tenfold increase in power.

A VEI-4 eruption would be like Mt. Pelee in 1902, where the pyroclastic surge/flow (I forget which) overran and incinerated a town, and Eyjafjallajokull in 2010, which produced huge clouds of ash that closed down European air traffic.

Ten times more powerful than that would be a VEI-5 Eruption. Examples would be Mt. Vesuvius in 79 AD, and Mt. St. Helens in 1980. These are the Plinian eruptions you mentioned.

Ten times more powerful than that would be a VEI-6 Eruption. An example would be Krakatoa in 1883, an eruption that erased an entire island and caused the loudest sound ever to be recorded by humans (the shock wave traveled around the planet three times).

Ten times more powerful than that would be a VEI-7 Eruption. Examples would be the 1620 BC eruption of Thera, which wiped out the Minoan civilization and resulted in the legend of Atlantis, and the 1815 eruption of Tambora, which caused the "Year Without a Summer" and prompted Mary Shelly to write Frankenstein.

Ten times more powerful than that would be a VEI-8 eruption. An example would be the Toba eruption of 74,000 years ago, which almost caused the human race to go extinct, resulting in a genetic bottleneck that is still detectible in our genes today.

Yellowstone is a VEI-8 volcano.

It'll definitely be an unfavorable event, but we would probably survive. After all, we know what to prepare for, and have technology that will allow us to react.

The volcano is fairly distant from large cities, so the pyroclastic surge will only overrun towns and villages.

The heavy ash might take out Denver. I can't imagine people being on the roofs of Denver's skyscrapers shoveling off ash while the volcano is erupting (talk about dangerous work), so all of Denver's skyscrapers will probably go down just like the World Trade Center did. But it is also possible that the wind will blow the ash to the north instead of the south, sparing Denver of any significant ashfall.

East of the Mississippi the main threat will be lightweight ash, which will chew up any motors that are running, and will dramatically shorten your lifespan if you inhale it, but is a problem that can be reasonably managed if people take adequate precautions.

Here's a good link on geysers. http://www.nps.gov/yell/naturescience/geysers.htm
My wife and I were there last May, and it's an amazing place on earth. Old Faithful now spouts about ever 88 minutes.

During our stay in Yellowstone, we saw Old Faithful spout three times. This picture isn't Old Faithful, but there are literally hundreds in the park with most as pools. The colors on some are really beautiful.

Thank you Cis
Many participants would provide such beautiful and informative illustrations if only typical purchased software would provide capability of ordinary cut and paste

You are welcome! If you'd enjoy seeing my travel blog, go to www.travelpod.com/members/c.i.222 I have "almost all" my journeys there.

Cis thank you for that link; as an erstwhile writer myself if not world traveler I am most deeply impressed