Origin of Yellowstone Hotspot

October 20, 2005

USU geologist John Shervais is leading a drilling project in Idaho's Snake River Plain volcanic province to test the plume hypothesis. Is the Yellowstone hotspot the result of a volcanic upwelling of molten material from the earth's mantle beneath the continental crust? Or is there another explanation for the migrating hotspot that underlies the Yellowstone plateau?

For more information, contact John Shervais, department head and professor, Geology Department, College of Science, Utah State University, 435-797-1274.

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