Yellowstone Volcano Expert to Speak at USU March 23

Don’t bother dragging out the freeway barriers, as actors Tommy Lee Jones and Anne Heche did in 1997’s action thriller, Volcano, in their frenzied attempt to stop the raging monster’s lava flow.

The “Coast is Toast” drama, depicting a giant volcanic eruption in downtown Los Angeles, has enough factual errors to make scientists cringe, but the potential of the Yellowstone supervolcano to cause widespread destruction is no joke, says USU Geology Department head John Shervais.

 

“Yellowstone National Park sits atop one of the world’s largest volcanoes and it’s still active,” says Shervais. “It has the potential for wiping out large portions of the western United States.”

 

On Friday, March 23, USU’s Geology Department welcomes a renowned expert on the Yellowstone volcanic region to campus. USU alum and University of Utah professor of geology and geophysics Robert B. “Bob” Smith presents the talk, “Shaking and Baking of the Yellowstone Hotspot” at 3:30 p.m. in the Taggart Student Center Auditorium, room 227. Smith’s lecture is free and open to all.

 

“Bob Smith is the top authority on Yellowstone and gives a great talk,” says Shervais. “This is a presentation everyone will enjoy.”

 

Smith, who earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees from USU in 1960 and 1965, respectively, has conducted research in the Yellowstone-Teton region for more than 40 years. He’s the coordinating scientist of the Yellowstone Volcanic Observatory, where he directs the Yellowstone seismic and GPS network.

 

During his talk at USU, Smith will share colorful seismic tomographic images of the Yellowstone plume, along with GPS data that show how magma and other fluids are moving beneath the earth’s surface.

 

Smith serves as chair of the EarthScope Science and Education Committee and chair of the Advisory Committee of the Southern California Earthquake Center. He is senior author of the popular science book, Windows into the Earth: The Geologic Story of Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks, published in 2000 by Oxford University Press.

 

Parking for the lecture is available in the university parking terraces at 850 E. 700 North and 700 E. 600 North. The USU campus is served by Logan Transit District Routes 1 and 4, with a bus stop at the Veterinary Science building on 700 North.

 

For more information about Smith’s talk, contact the USU Geology Department at 435-797-1273.

 

 

 

Contact: John Shervais [shervais@cc.usu.edu]; 435-797-1274