RECENT DISCOVERIES OF YELLOWSTONE’S MAGMATIC PLUMBING SYSTEM, SEISMIC SWARMS AND THEIR RELATIONSHIP TO CURRENT DEFORMATION

Recent geophysical discoveries have been made that enlightens our understanding of the Yellowstone magmatic system. In addition, ongoing seismic swarm activity and surface deformation provides us with data that allows us to test these new models of the Yellowstone magmatic system. Here we present results that show the complete magmatic plumbing system from the mantle plume that feeds Yellowstone’s volcanic system to the upper crustal magma reservoir that provides the heat and energy for the famous hydrothermal features and past volcanic eruptions. In addition, we use ongoing deformation signals of caldera uplift as well as accompanying seismic swarm activity to infer source geometries within the tomographically imaged Yellowstone magma chamber. Moreover, we explain a possible connection between the M4.8 Norris area earthquake, that occurred on March 30, 2014, and the caldera uplift pattern that continues at the present.