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Talk: The Case for a Long-Lived and Robust Yellowstone Hotspot

June 2, 2022 @ 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm MDT

Steens Mountain escarpment of eastern Oregon, looking east into the Alvord basin. The escarpment is composed of thin lava flows cut by vertical dikes that feed the initial eruptions of the Columbia River flood basalts. These 17-million-year-old basalts represent the first direct manifestation of the Yellowstone hotspot.

The Case for a Long-Lived and Robust Yellowstone Hotspot

By Victor E. Camp and Ray E. Wells

June 2, 2022
Free

Join us for our June Lunchtime Expedition, The Case for a Long-Lived and Robust Yellowstone Hotspot, presented by Victor E. Camp and Ray E. Wells. The in-person talk takes place in the Center’s Coe Auditorium, with a virtual option available.


If you prefer to join us online, you may register in advance via Zoom webinar: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_s_hb7fUrTzaHTDImF2IArw

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar. By registering, your e-mail address will be added to our list for updates on upcoming Lunchtime Expedition and Draper After Dark speakers. You can unsubscribe from that list at any time, either by clicking “Unsubscribe” at the bottom of those e-mails or by contacting [email protected].


About the presentation

The Yellowstone hotspot (YHS) is well-known for producing super-eruptions far more explosive than those of human experience, but less is known about the ultimate source of these eruptions and the longevity of the hotspot itself. The energetic source appears to derive from a plume of hot material that extends well into the Earth’s interior to the core-mantle boundary at a depth of 2,900 km. We discuss evidence for a long-lived and robust YHS first manifested by early marine volcanism offshore of Washington and Oregon 56 million years ago (Ma). This generated the Siletzia oceanic plateau that accreted onto the Pacific Northwest coast at 50 Ma. The YHS was overridden by North America at this time and shielded beneath the subducting Farallon plate from 42 to 34 Ma. As the YHS eventually broke through the slab it would produce a linear track of volcanic provinces that decreases in eruption age from the Oregon-Nevada border region through southern Idaho to Yellowstone National Park. Early eruptions along this trend generated high-potassium volcanism, with coeval “adakite” volcanism above the hot plume center. High-volume flood-basalts of the Columbia River Basalt Group erupted at 17–16 Ma, marking full arrival the YHS plume from beneath the subducting slab, followed by the classic bimodal volcanism that defines the Yellowstone-Snake River Plain hotspot track from late Miocene to recent time.

Steens Mountain escarpment of eastern Oregon, looking east into the Alvord basin.  The escarpment is composed of thin lava flows cut by vertical dikes that feed the initial eruptions of the Columbia River flood basalts.  These 17-million-year-old basalts represent the first direct manifestation of the Yellowstone hotspot.”
Steens Mountain escarpment of eastern Oregon, looking east into the Alvord basin. The escarpment is composed of thin lava flows cut by vertical dikes that feed the initial eruptions of the Columbia River flood basalts. These 17-million-year-old basalts represent the first direct manifestation of the Yellowstone hotspot.

About the speakers

Ray E. Wells
Ray E. Wells

Ray Wells received his BS in Geological Science from Penn State, his MS from the University of Oregon, and his PhD from the University of California, Santa Cruz. He has been investigating the geologic evolution and seismic hazards of the Cascadia subduction zone in the northwestern United States for the U.S. Geological Survey since 1975. He is a recipient of the Distinguished Service Award of the Department of the Interior, and was the 2017 recipient of the Geological Society of America’s Geologic Mapping Award in honor of Florence Bascom.

Victor E. Camp
Victor E. Camp

Vic Camp received his BS in Geological Sciences from Marshall University, his MS from Miami University, and his PhD from Washington State University. He spent 10 years in Africa, Iran, and Saudi Arabia before obtaining a teaching and research position at San Diego State University in 1988. His research is well-published in the international literature with more than 4,500 citations. His current research focus is on the geologic evolution of volcanic terrains in the Pacific Northwest, with a specific interest on volcanism related to the early history of the Yellowstone hotspot. He was inducted as a Fellow of the Geological Society of America in 2021.


Upcoming Lunchtime Expeditions

July 7: Can Behavior Help Species Cope with a Changing Climate
August 4: Land Rematriation with Buffalo Restoration is Reconciliation
September 1Bats & Bones: What’s New at the Draper Natural History Museum?
October 6The Costs of Thermoregulatory Behavior: How Are Moose in the Cody Region Coping as Summers Intensify? 
November 3Evidence for Glaciation in the Northwestern Big Horn Basin and the Absaroka and Beartooth Mountains
December 1Camps, Kills, and Mountain Landscapes: Records of Bison

Support for the Draper’s Lunchtime Expedition series has been made possible by Sage Creek Ranch and the Nancy-Carroll Draper Charitable Foundation.

Organizer

Draper Natural History Museum
Phone
307-578-4078
Email
amyp@centerofthewest.org
BUFFALO BILL CENTER OF THE WEST ◦ 720 Sheridan Avenue ◦ Cody, WY 82414 ◦ 307-587-4771Contact Us
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