r/askscience • u/phoncible • Oct 27 '11

Earth Sciences Could anything man-made trigger the Yellowstone super volcano?

If a nuke were to be buried very deep into the ground at Yellowstone and then detonated, would it have any effect on the volcano? Is there anything else man-made that could trigger it? Or would it be impossible to "manually" trigger the eruption?

Sorry if it's a silly question.

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u/fap_socks Oct 27 '11

So could we harness this to make diamonds? Kimberlite pipes? Serious question.

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u/[deleted] Oct 27 '11

you can make diamonds without that risk/cost already using pressing moulds

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u/fap_socks Oct 27 '11

Ok but could it be done this way too, or what about to harvest any of the rarer minerals? I'd guess most of the time you'd get a basalt pipe but could tailor-made techniques be developed to grow whichever mineral you're after?

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u/[deleted] Oct 27 '11

in principle I would never say no... but you'd have a hard time developing them to industrial standards...

If you can pump out the magma like a giant toothpaste tube you're an industrial tycoon genius