Super Volcano: The Ticking Time Bomb Beneath Yellowstone National Park

Despite growing evidence of geothermic activity under America's first and foremost national park, it took geologists a long time to realize that there was actually a volcano beneath Yellowstone. And then, why couldn't they find the caldera or crater? Because, as an aerial photograph finally revealed, the caldera is 45 miles wide, encompassing all of Yellowstone. What will happen, in human terms, when it erupts?

Greg Breining explores the shocking answer to this question and others in a scientific yet accessible look at the enormous natural disaster brewing beneath the surface of the United States. Yellowstone is one of the world's five "super volcanoes." When it erupts, much of the nation will be hit hard.

Though historically Yellowstone has erupted about every 600,000 years, it has not done so for 630,000, meaning it is 30,000 years overdue. Starting with a scenario of what will happen when Yellowstone blows, this fascinating study describes how volcanoes function and includes a timeline of famous volcanic eruptions throughout history.

• Volcanoes (Smithsonian-science)
• When Humans Nearly Vanished: The Catastrophic Explosion of the Toba Volcano
• The Year Without Summer: 1816 and the Volcano That Darkened the World and Changed History
• Krakatoa: The Day the World Exploded: August 27, 1883
• The 1959 Yellowstone Earthquake (Disaster)
• Death in Yellowstone: Accidents and Foolhardiness in the First National Park, 2nd Edition
• 9.0 Cascadia Earthquake Survival: How to Survive the Coming Megathrust Quake That Will Devastate the Pacific Northwest
• Full-Rip 9.0: The Next Big Earthquake in the Pacific Northwest
• Empire of Shadows: The Epic Story of Yellowstone
• Windows into the Earth: The Geologic Story of Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks