[snip] . . . Environmental activist Erin Brockovichand dozens of military veterans rallied outside the Supreme Court today as the justices heard arguments that an electronics company was responsible for contamination at its old plant in Asheville, North Carolina.
The case, CTS Corporation v. Waldburger, will decide if federal environmental law preempts North Carolina’s statute of repose, which imposes a 10-year limit to file a claim. A ruling by the Supreme Court in favor of CTS Corporation could create a climate in which corporate polluters would be “rewarded” for concealment and material misrepresentation of their environmental problems. . .
History: “The volcanic eruptions, as well as the continuing geothermal activity, are a result of a great cove of magma located below the caldera’s surface. The magma in this cove contains gases that are kept dissolved only by the immense pressure that the magma is under. If the pressure is released to a sufficient degree by some geological shift, then some of the gases bubble out and cause the magma to expand. This can cause a runaway reaction. If the expansion results in further relief of pressure, for example, by blowing crust material off the top of the chamber, the result is a very big gas explosion.”
Yelowstone is an 8 on the VEI Index: “super-colossal” (if it blows).
Documentary: Yellowstone National Park & the Caldera Super Volcano
” . . . Although the YouTube video says the animals are leaving, park spokesman Dan Hottle told the Jackson Hole Daily (http://bit.ly/1hcK4VV) that they are actually running toward the park’s interior and the volcano. “
[snip] . . . “The “Red Alert” status for Borah Peak Mountain (the largest in Idaho), this report states, means that an eruption is forecast to be imminent with significant emission of ash into the atmosphere likely.. . . . . . . Critical to note about Borah Peak Mountain and central Idaho, this report says, is that it is a part of what is called the Intermountain Seismic Belt (ISB) [photo map 1st right] which extends from Southern California and connects many of the Western United States regions, most particularly the Yellowstone Caldera, and is overdue for a catastrophic volcanic eruption event. . . .”
(Reuters) – Hundreds of low-level and medium-sized earthquakes have struck central Idaho since last month, puzzling geologists who wonder whether the ruptures portend a much larger temblor to come or are merely the rumblings of a seismic fault previously thought to be dormant. . . .
. . . . “The earthquakes are happening at 5 km, which is 3.1 miles. That’s 15,000 feet of rock that need to move a tenth of a foot a year,” said [BLM geologist] Hendrick. Challis sits close to the Lost River Fault, the site of Idaho’s biggest earthquake, a 6.9 in 1983. . .
A warning issued today by the Ministry of the Russian Federal for Civil Defense, Emergencies and Elimination of Consequences of Natural Disasters (EMERCOM) has advised the World Organization of Volcano Observatories (WOVO) that a “Red Alert” status level for the Borah Peak Mountain in Idaho (North America/United States) may be warranted in the coming weeks due to increased volcanic-seismic activity detected by both ground and satellite observations.
” . . . At the University of Utah, seismologist Katherine Whidden said she doesn’t believe devastation in the Salt Lake Valley would approach the level it did in Haiti, but she also acknowledged it would be plenty bad.
“The problem we have here is that all the population is right on top of the fault,” Whidden said.
A 7.0-magnitude earthquake would likely create a 5- to 10-foot rift along the responsible fault line.“
At the University of Utah, seismologist Katherine Whidden said she doesn’t believe devastation in the Salt Lake Valley would approach the level it did in Haiti, but she also acknowledged it would be plenty bad.
“The problem we have here is that all the population is right on top of the fault,” Whidden said.
“The last major earthquake took place in 1877. Since then the plates have moved about 10 metres closer together,” says Tilmann. “The tension that’s built up can only be freed by a major quake.”
The most recent earthquake in early April did release some pressure, but wasn’t enough to relieve the entire segment.
The Louisiana Sinkhole Bugle 