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Science News

Oregon Is Growing A Mystery Bulge 420

Posted by ScuttleMonkey from the state-on-a-hot-tin-lake dept.
nedwolf writes "LiveScience is reporting that a 100 square mile bulge has been rising in Oregon. First observed from a satellite using a relatively new technology called 'radar interferometry', some believe this to be the formation of a new volcano. I think it's just happy to see me."
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Oregon Is Growing A Mystery Bulge More

Oregon Is Growing A Mystery Bulge

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  • Baby Sister? (Score:5, Informative)

    by ackthpt ( 218170 ) * on Wednesday September 07, 2005 @12:17PM (#13500691) Homepage Journal
    Looks quiet [usgs.gov] now.

    To put things into perspective here's recent quakes [usgs.gov] throught the US, notice the activity in the state of California, to the south.

    Back in the late 90's there were swarms of minor earthquakes around the Long Valley Caldera [usgs.gov], the vicinity of California where Mammoth Lakes and Mammoth Mountain are located. Swarms of earth quakes, 4.0 (Richter) and lower, most lower than 2.0, were up to 600 per 24 hours for a period of about two weeks, and ground elevations were observed changing (similarly to those in Oregon) slightly, but as you can see all is quiet and nothing happened. Long Valley is the caldera of a very large, dormant volcano.

    Here [usgs.gov] is a good example of a swarm of aftershocks.

    • Obligatory Simpsons (Score:4, Funny)

      by TyfStar ( 747185 ) on Wednesday September 07, 2005 @12:55PM (#13501072)
      Has anyone looked toward their Garbage Removal manager? is Oregon going to be picking up & moving to Washington?

    • Re:Baby Sister? (Score:5, Insightful)

      by fbjon ( 692006 ) on Wednesday September 07, 2005 @01:16PM (#13501241) Homepage Journal
      We obviously don't need that kind of perspective here. I mean, just take a look at that box on TFA page with some images: "The Fury of Volcanoes".

      That's media perspective for you.

    • Back in the late 90's there were swarms of minor earthquakes around the Long Valley Caldera,


      After going dormant, it changed its name to the Long Valley SCO Group. Then it started suing all the other volcanos for emitting greenhouse gases, which its predecessor in interest, Mt. St. Helens, invented.


      Please try to get your facts straight next time, ok?

  • Maybe... (Score:4, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday September 07, 2005 @12:18PM (#13500706)
    it has dysentery

    /always died of dysentery...

  • When Asked for Comment... (Score:5, Funny)

    by ferrellcat ( 691126 ) on Wednesday September 07, 2005 @12:18PM (#13500709)
    When asked for comment, Oregon said, "I can't help it! California's been rubbing against me for millions of years!"

  • A bulge? (Score:4, Funny)

    by Durinthal ( 791855 ) on Wednesday September 07, 2005 @12:19PM (#13500712)
    But I thought America's wang was Florida.

  • Mr. President, Dr. Evil is on the line... (Score:5, Funny)

    by TripMaster Monkey ( 862126 ) * on Wednesday September 07, 2005 @12:19PM (#13500718)

    Good afternoon, gentlemen. As you are all no doubt aware, I have perfected a device capable of generating volcanoes at my whim. Even now I have raised a titanic bulge of liquid hot mag-ma under the state of Oregon. This device, which I've dubbed 'The Erupteron', has passed its field test with flying colors, I'm sure you'll agree...

    You see, gentlemen, 'The Erupteron' will be used to generate bulges under one of your major cities every six hours, causing them to sink into firey hot mag-ma, utterly destroying them...that is...unless you pay me...

            One hundred billion trillion fafillion dollahs!!!

            (cue dramatic music)

    Gentleman, you have my demands...peace out.

  • an alternate theory (Score:5, Funny)

    by Savatte ( 111615 ) on Wednesday September 07, 2005 @12:19PM (#13500727) Homepage Journal
    The U.S. hit puberty and Oregon got the country's first zit

  • This would be a shield volcano (Score:5, Informative)

    by ReformedExCon ( 897248 ) <reformed.excon@gmail.com> on Wednesday September 07, 2005 @12:20PM (#13500733)
    A shield volcano is formed when a large pool of magma forms and pushes the land above it upwards. These types are not likely to erupt, though they will erupt violently if the magma is able to push through the surface (kind of like a giant geologic pimple). These volcanos are great for tourism because of the typically accompanying hot springs and year-round greenery.

    I like Oregon a lot. I just wish it were easier to get to.
    • After all, somebody could be hiding WMDs down there!

    • Re:This would be a shield volcano (Score:4, Insightful)

      by Martin Blank ( 154261 ) on Wednesday September 07, 2005 @12:27PM (#13500811) Homepage Journal
      I wonder how possible it will be to get geothermal energy from this if that is the case.

    • Re:This would be a shield volcano (Score:5, Funny)

      by nes11 ( 767888 ) on Wednesday September 07, 2005 @12:44PM (#13500976)
      "These volcanos are great for tourism... "

      New Orleans was great for tourism too. Maybe we should build a city on top of this bulge.

    • I like Oregon a lot. I just wish it were easier to get to.

      I live there, and just for curiousity's sake, why's it hard to get to?

    • Re:This would be a shield volcano (Score:5, Informative)

      by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday September 07, 2005 @12:50PM (#13501018)
      Volcano lesson for the day:
      This is not a shield volcano.

      A shield volcano is actually made by layers and layers of basaltic magma. Hawaii (the large, flat volcanos) are shield volcanos. Basaltic magma is very hot, iron rich, and flows easily. It tends to bubble and gurgle, not explode. There's a reason hawaiian eruptions don't produce ash clouds - no big explosion.

      http://volcanoes.usgs.gov/Products/Pglossary/Shiel dVolcano.html [usgs.gov]

      In Oregon, we have very few shield volcanos. Most of ours are composite volcanos (made from lava pusing up a dome, plus layers of flowing ash) and cinder cones (made from piles of ejected cinders). Our magmas are rhyolitic, meaning they contain little iron, it is at relatively cooler temperatures, and tend to explode violently (like Mount St. Helens or the famous Mount Mazama... now crater lake).

      http://vulcan.wr.usgs.gov/Glossary/StratoVolcano/d escription_composite_volcano.html [usgs.gov]

      • Re:This would be a shield volcano (Score:4, Informative)

        by IceAgeComing ( 636874 ) on Wednesday September 07, 2005 @01:36PM (#13501402)
        In Oregon, we have very few shield volcanos. Most of ours are composite volcanos (made from lava pusing up a dome, plus layers of flowing ash) and cinder cones (made from piles of ejected cinders). Our magmas are rhyolitic, meaning they contain little iron, it is at relatively cooler temperatures, and tend to explode violently

        But eastern Oregon is full of basalt, and the Malhuer Basin is one giant, flat basalt flow. And if you've seen the lava fields around Bend, the boulders are dark red, very sharp, and contain occasional pockets of obsidian. This doesn't seem to fit with your statements.

        • Re:This would be a shield volcano (Score:5, Informative)

          by the phantom ( 107624 ) * on Wednesday September 07, 2005 @02:31PM (#13501932) Homepage
          1) Obsidian is generally related to rhyolitic flows. Where basalt is high in iron and magnesium (thus, mafic -- ma from magnesium, fic from ferous or feric), rhyolite is full of silicon. Andesite is sort of in between. Silicic lava is very viscous -- it tends not to flow as well, and get backed up in a volcano. Then, when enough pressure is present, is 'slodes. Obsidian is a very, very silicic rock. It cools from lava to solid rock very quickly, so does not from a crystaline structure, but it is chemically very similar to rhyolite or pumice. Thus, that does not refute the grandparent, but rather reinforces it.

          2) There have been basalt flows. It is possible for composite volcanoes to have basalt flows. Think about what composite means -- a combination of two or more things. Composite volcanoes are not quite sheild volcanoes, and not quite cinder cones. Eruptions can be either highly mafic, or highly silicic. Thus, basalt flows are not out of place.

          3) The sharp, dark red rock that you are seeing is probably andesite. There is a lot of andesite in the region. Andesite is a fairly silicic rock (though it does get the red color from more mafic minerals). It is another kind of rock that can be expected to come from a composite volcano.

          So, while your observations don't exactly fit with the grandparent's comment, they are not inconsistant.

    • Misinformative (Score:3, Informative)

      by trongey ( 21550 )
      No, a shield volcano is formed when low-viscosity basaltic magma gradually erupts from vents or fissures. Shield volcanoes only explode when large amounts of water get involved. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shield_volcano [wikipedia.org] for a nice brief writeup.
      It's only a volcano if stuff squirts out of the top.
    • That's a nice hypothesis, but I subscribe to the theory of Intelligent Bulging.
    • Actually, if I recall correctly from my Geology 202 class at UW with Stan "the Man" Chernikoff, a shield volcano is formed from molten basalt flowing out, not pushing up the land. Basalt is what makes up the ocean floor and has very low viscosity when molten and spreads out like hot butter on a pancake. Flow after flow of lava slowly builds up to form a high spot. Hawaii is a classic shield volcano and is roughly 100 miles in diameter with only the top of it showing above the ocean.

      The continents, howe

  • First a flood, (Score:3, Funny)

    by scenestar ( 828656 ) on Wednesday September 07, 2005 @12:20PM (#13500734) Homepage Journal
    Now a vulcano... God is really starting to dislike America.
  • Just as long it's not a giant pimple.

    There'll be hell to pay when that thing bursts.

  • Same fault line (Score:2, Insightful)

    by Anonymous Coward
    Major earthquake exercise under way in Russian Far East [en.rian.ru]

    According to research conducted by the International Institute of Earthquake Prediction Theory and Mathematical Geophysics, there is at least a 30% probability of an earthquake with a 7.2-magnitude or higher in the area of Kamchatka and the Kuril Islands before mid-December.
    The ministry's regional forces have been on alert since early August.

    In looking at the map on the IRIS Seismic Monitor [iris.edu] web site, it appears that the Kamchatka peninsula and the volca

  • Super Volcano? (Score:3, Interesting)

    by silasthehobbit ( 626391 ) on Wednesday September 07, 2005 @12:24PM (#13500780)
    There's supposed to be one in Yellowstone Park (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/4326987 .stm)which [bbc.co.uk] has been bulging for some time now. If this is indeed another one, then the fallout from Katrina is going to seem mild in comparison. -- silas

    • Re:Super Volcano? (Score:5, Interesting)

      by mrchaotica ( 681592 ) on Wednesday September 07, 2005 @12:39PM (#13500943)
      Yeah, that's what I first thought upon reading this, too, since 100 square miles sounds pretty darn big. Then I looked it up [usgs.gov], and realized that the Yellowstone caldera is an order of magnitude bigger (28 * 47 = ~1316 square miles), and that only includes the actual part where magma comes out. In comparison, this 100 square mile figure includes the entire area of uplift.

    • Re:Super Volcano? (Score:5, Informative)

      by jim_v2000 ( 818799 ) on Wednesday September 07, 2005 @12:52PM (#13501043)
      If this is indeed another one, then the fallout from Katrina is going to seem mild in comparison.

      I live in Oregon, and let me tell you, if a volcano blew 25 miles from Bend, the most we'd lose is some trees and scrub brush. Even if Bend got taken out...it's only a town of about 60,000 with roads leading out in all directions. Wouldn't be a particularly bad disaster. Most of the population of Oregon lives about 150 miles west on the other side of the Cascade mountain range.

  • Interesting. What can be done about it? (Score:4, Interesting)

    by eggstasy ( 458692 ) on Wednesday September 07, 2005 @12:24PM (#13500785) Journal
    People write volumes about the possibility of a meteor impact, and what could be done to prevent it, while ignoring the larger threat that lies beneath us.
    If we knew a giant volcano was likely to form somewhere, what could possibly be done about it?
    Aside from moving people out of harm's way, would it be possible to, say, drill a bunch of holes in it and relieve pressure?
    (This is a very interesting read, if you haven't stumbled across it - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supervolcano [wikipedia.org])

  • square? (Score:5, Funny)

    by ftsf ( 886792 ) on Wednesday September 07, 2005 @12:25PM (#13500789) Homepage
    since when are volcanos square? must be some giant square monolith planted by aliens years ago rising out of the ground

  • New measurement technique != new geology (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Analogy Man ( 601298 ) on Wednesday September 07, 2005 @12:25PM (#13500792)
    They are now able to detect this swelling...how do we know it isn't normal. Maybe the Earth's crust swells and ripples all the time and it is only 5% of this activity that manifests itself in earthquakes and volcanos.

    Pretty cool either way though. If there is a correlation it could be very useful predictive data.

    • Re:New measurement technique != new geology (Score:4, Informative)

      by CFTM ( 513264 ) on Wednesday September 07, 2005 @12:46PM (#13500985)
      An article I read on this yesterday stated that this is indeed normal, happens about once every 4,000 years and it's about time for it to happen again; wish I had the link but I don't :-/ Anyhow, this is just normal geological stuff, atleast according to what I read yesterday.

    • Re:New measurement technique != new geology (Score:5, Informative)

      by Scarblac ( 122480 ) <slashdot@gerlich.nl> on Wednesday September 07, 2005 @12:48PM (#13501010) Homepage

      They are now able to detect this swelling...how do we know it isn't normal.

      We don't, of course. The bit below is from a mysterious item usually related to as "the fucking article", bolding mine:

      The likely cause of the bulge is a pool of magma that, according to Deschutes National Forest geologist Larry Chitwood, is equal in size to a lake 1 mile across and 65 feet deep.
      The magma lake is rising 10 feet each year, under tremendous pressure, and it deforms the Earth's surface as it expands, causing the bulge.
      Other causes could be anything from the birth of a new volcano -- a fourth Sister in the making -- to a routine and anticlimactic pooling of liquid rock, researchers say.
      "The honest and shortest answer is, we don't know,'' said Dan Dzurisin, a USGS geologist.
  • Annoying brat: It might be a tumor.

    Ahnold: It's not a tumoh!

  • ...using a relatively new technology called 'radar interferometry'..."

    Wow WW2 technology is new?

    Don't be surpriesed when you hear from 'LASER interferometry'

  • Another Super Volcano (Score:3, Interesting)

    by LogicX ( 8327 ) * <slashdot AT logicx DOT us> on Wednesday September 07, 2005 @12:27PM (#13500814) Homepage Journal
    This might be another super volcano? I don't know enough about the subject, but I've read about it in the past here [solcomhouse.com]

    • The likely cause of the bulge is a pool of magma that, according to Deschutes National Forest geologist Larry Chitwood, is equal in size to a lake 1 mile across and 65 feet deep.

      [snip]

      Whether the magma will move again or ever reach the surface is a mystery. But if it did, geological history suggests it would result only in small cinder cones that spew ash and lava.

      The good news is that such an eruption likely would not seriously affect any population centers, Chitwood said.

  • Yellowstone (Score:2, Interesting)

    by machinegunhand ( 867735 )
    Yellowstone National Park has the same problem, only it's many thousand times more problematic for the region. Even lake shorelines have been altered due to the rising crust.

  • It's just middle age... (Score:5, Funny)

    by TheNucleon ( 865817 ) on Wednesday September 07, 2005 @12:29PM (#13500834)
    You folks don't get it. Oregon is just slowing down a bit, growing a spare tire - when you get older, you'll understand how difficult it is to keep the weight off.

    After all, now there's just more of it to love.

  • A relative of the Super Volcano at yellowstone? (Score:3, Interesting)

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday September 07, 2005 @12:40PM (#13500952)
    IF I recall a documentry I watched a few years ago correcly, then Yellowstone park is a giant super volcano, that many hundresds of thousnads or millions of years ago was much much further north (I forget which present day state), could this be a new super volcano forming in the same orginal area?

    (rember if yellostone blows it's top, say bye bye to life in North America)
    • Well, if you go much further north you'll be in Canada. Yellowstone is in Wyoming, Montana, and Idaho. To the North you have Alberta and Saskatchewan, Canada. The hotspot in Yellowstone most likely originated somewhere to the West in present-day Idaho and/or Oregon.
    • I am not an expert, but that never stopped a Slashdotter posting before ;-). Yellowstone, IIRC, is thought to be hotspot activity ie a rising mantle plume, packed full of low-viscosity short-chained silicates. The Cordillera runs along the Rockies/Andes and is formed by the subducting Pacific plate, melting continental crust and forming rising molten crust, packeed full of sticky long-chain silicates and volatiles. Different composition and different behaviour. There will be some molten crust melted by the

  • Damn Hippies (Score:5, Funny)

    by gelfling ( 6534 ) on Wednesday September 07, 2005 @12:40PM (#13500954) Homepage Journal
    It's where they stash their weed.

  • Better than a flood plain (Score:4, Funny)

    by kmahan ( 80459 ) on Wednesday September 07, 2005 @12:42PM (#13500966)
    Is the land available for commercial development?

    Based on where developers seem to like to put housing and commercial developments this would be perfect!

  • Another bulge (Score:3, Informative)

    by Hoi Polloi ( 522990 ) on Wednesday September 07, 2005 @12:48PM (#13501005) Journal
    Unfortunetly I know the cause of the bulge around my waist. The end of summer cookouts should help.

    Seriously though, if you have ever been to the Three Sisters Wilderness you quickly see that the whole area is one huge mass of old cones and lava flows. It is like hiking on the moon in some places.
  • I am afraid of when the wet dreams begin.

  • Sim city Home Edition. (Score:4, Funny)

    by isfry ( 101853 ) on Wednesday September 07, 2005 @01:02PM (#13501120)
    You ever get the feeling that we are on the receiving end of someone that got tired of playing Sim City and is now just unleashing disasters and seeing what will happen.

  • the cause of those eruptions (Score:5, Funny)

    by klossner ( 733867 ) on Wednesday September 07, 2005 @01:02PM (#13501121)
    Last year I climbed Mt. St. Helens for the first time. I neglected to sacrifice a maiden. Two weeks later, the volcano went active.

    A week and a half ago, I climbed South Sister for the first time. Again, no sacrificial maiden (they're hard to find in Oregon.) The clock is ticking.

  • George Bush.

    i mean, seriously.

    Who was the one that directed the storms to cruch the beloved city of debauchery to placate Baby Jesus?

    George Bush.

    Who causes the Great Barrier Reef to be destroyed from pollutants coming mainly from Asia?

    George Bush.

    Who caused the Challenger and the Discovery to blow up over WHERE!!!!! Florida and Texas?!??!?!

    George Bush.

    damn skippy.
  • Younger readers may need an explanation of this phrase. The idea is that when a male sees someone to whom they are sexually attracted they may become aroused and one aspect of arousal is penile erection. This can result in a (sometimes embarassing) bulge in the pants. The author of this story is implying that Oregon, or at least part of it, is sexually aroused by them, and that this bulge is analogous to that caused by an erection. It may come as a shock to you that a story posted on /. that is ostensibly a

  • It must be the Flying Spaghetti Monster (Score:4, Funny)

    by affliction ( 242524 ) on Wednesday September 07, 2005 @01:57PM (#13501598) Homepage
    His Noodily Appendage works in awesome and mysterious ways.

    If His Noodliness says Oregon needs a bulge, then it shall be so.

  • Additional technical papers on the bulge (Score:5, Informative)

    by dtmos ( 447842 ) on Wednesday September 07, 2005 @03:32PM (#13502637)

    At the 98th Annual Meeting [confex.com] of the Cordilleran Section of the Geological Society of America (May 13-15, 2002), in Corvallis, Oregon, there were several papers on this bulge in the "Hazards and Risks from Cascade Volcanoes [confex.com]" session. Apparently it was discovered in April 2001 [confex.com]; the GSA even sent out a press release about the bulge in May 2002 [geosociety.org].

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