A new study of Death Valley’s Ubehebe (You-bee Hee-bee) Crater presents two bold conclusions. The first deduction places the crater’s age between 800-1,200 years old. Traditionally accepted estimates placed the crater around 2,000 to 6,000 years old. The second resolution claims that with this younger geological date, Ubehebe may possibly explode again, with the proper conditions of groundwater and magma mixing.
The research team, based at Columbia University’s Lamont-Doherty Earth Observation, released their study in the January 18, 2012 issue of the journal Geophysical Research Letters, a publication of the American Geophysical Union (AGU). The paper (letters) was titled, “Do phreatomagmatic eruptions at Ubehebe Crater (Death Valley, California) relate to wetter than present hydro-climate?” The presentation was authored by Peri Sasnet, Brent M. Goehring, Nichols Christie-Blick, and Joerg M. Schafer.
According to the article, “A volcanic explosion crater may have future potential,” by the web site Watts Up With That?–The world’s most viewed Site on Global Warming and Climate Change (http://wattsupwiththat.com), the team of scientists, lead by Brent Goehring (now at Purdue University) and Professor Nicholas Christie-Blick of Lamont-Doherty, went on a field trip to Death Valley and Ubehebe Crater, with National Park approval, to collect rock samples to study the crater.
Back in the lab, Goehring and geochemist Joerg Schaefer “applied recent advances in the analysis of beryllium isotopes..so they could pinpoint when the stones were unearthed,” reported Watts Up.
The resulting paper from the rock study, besides dating Ubehebe Crater between 800-1,200 years old, also believes there may still be enough groundwater and magma around, for possibly creating another eruption in the crater area. The observed levels of springs and groundwater levels put the water-table about 500 feet below the crater floor. Based upon the researchers’ calculations, “it would take a spherical magma chamber as small as 300 feet across and an even smaller pocket of water to produce a Ubehebe-sized incident.”
Wired Science at http://www.wired.com/wiredscience, says there are a couple problems with the way this news is being reported: “However, there are no signs that any new magma is anywhere near Ubehebe, making a new eruption a little trickier.”
Secondly, Wired says the estimated ages in the Geophysical Research Letters, “are Beryllium-10 exposure ages–notoriously tricky.” Wired went on to say, “Now we just need to follow up with other techniques and studies to support these new ages for Ubehebe Crater.”
Ubehebe Crater was created from the mixing of magma and groundwater, resulting in what is called a phreatomagmatic explosion. The explosion sent out super heated steam, volcanic ash, and deadly gases. An informative plaque at the crater says, “The explosion spewed shattered rock over a six-square-mile area, in some places to depths of 150 feet.” The crater is a half-mile across and 500 feet deep.
Not to worry. More than likely, a surprise eruption will not occur. Scientists say, “Any reactivation of the crater would almost certainly be presaged by warning signs, such as shallow earthquakes and opening of steam vents; this could go on for years, before anything bigger happens.” So, geologically speaking, we will more than likely miss this explosive event.
Marta Becket, 87, the dancing legend of the Mojave Desert is scheduled to perform her final stage show at the Amargosa Opera House , in Death Valley Junction, CA, February 12, 2012. Becket celebrates 45 years of entertaining the public, introducing them to the art of theatrical dance. As a ballerina, Becket could dance en pointe [...]
The first meteor shower for 2012 will occur in the dark morning hours of January 4. It is the Quadrantid shower, visible near the end of the handle of the Big Dipper constellation. According to EarthSky.org (http://earthsky.org/astronomy-essentials/earthskys-meteor-meteor-shower-guide) “Although the Quadrantids can produce over 100 meteors per hour, the sharp peak only lasts for a few hours, and [...]
