Could We Stop Yellowstone from Erupting with a Giant Geothermal Power Plant?

Re:Could We Stop Yellowstone from Erupting with a Giant Geot... by habinero on Monday December 11, 2023 @04:30AM (#38598995)

I've seen several professional geologists answer this question, and no, really, volcanos don't work that way.

For one, the scale is way, way too big. It's like stabbing an elephant with a needle and expecting it to bleed out.

Also, the dangerous type of magma is extremely viscous and gas-rich. It doesn't flow like Hawaiian lava does.

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Re:Could We Stop Yellowstone from Erupting with a Giant Geot... by Someone on Monday December 11, 2023 @05:48AM (#38599399)

But in this case, we want the elephant to (significantly) bleed out, so won’t we need a BIG needle?

If you want to move lots of heat away fast, you either need a big pipe or a very high flow rate.

“Gas-rich”, to me, also sounds as if it would be more dangerous.

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Re:Could We Stop Yellowstone from Erupting with a Giant Geot... by habinero on Monday December 11, 2023 @12:51PM (#38602882)

In this analogy, the needle is as big as we can make it.

Gas-rich is where the danger is, as I understand it. Those gasses expand as they get closer to the surface, and if they're trapped in viscous magma that doesn't flow easily and puts a lot of stress on the rocks above.

The fluid basaltic lavas of Hawaii don't explode, they flow out and make shield volcanos.

Check out geologist Shawn Wilsey's videos.

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