No latest activity reported for Yellowstone.

Below is a summary of eruption dates and Volcanic Explosivity Indices (VEI).

The following references are the sources used for data regarding this volcano. References are linked directly to our volcano data file. Discussion of another volcano or eruption (sometimes far from the one that is the subject of the manuscript) may produce a citation that is not at all apparent from the title. Additional discussion of data sources can be found under Volcano Data Criteria.

Christiansen R L, 1984. Yellowstone magmatic evolution: its bearing on understanding large-volume explosive volcanism. {In}: {Explosive Volcanism: Inception, Evolution, and Hazards}, Washington, D C: Natl Acad Press, p 84-95

Christiansen R L, 2001. The Quaternary and Pliocene Yellowstone Volcanic Field of Wyoming, Idaho, and Montana. {U S Geol Surv Prof Pap}, 729-G: 1-145

Christiansen R L, Lowenstern J B, Smith R B, Heasler H, Morgan L A, Nathenson M, Mastin L G, Muffler L J P, Robinson J E, 2007. Preliminary assessment of volcanic and hydrothermal hazards in Yellowstone National Park and vicinity. {U S Geol Surv, Open-File Rpt}, 2007-1071: 1-94

Coombs H A, Howard A D, 1960. United States of America. {Catalog of Active Volcanoes of the World and Solfatara Fields}, Rome: IAVCEI, 9: 1-68

Dzurisin D, Yamashita K M, Kleinman J K, 1994. Mechanism of crustal uplift and subsidence at the Yellowstone caldea, Wyoming. {Bull Volc}, 56: 261-270

Finn C A, Morgan L A, 2002. High-resolution aeromagnetic mapping of volcanic terrain, Yellowstone National Park. {J Volc Geotherm Res}, 115: 207-231

Fournier R O, Christiansen R L, Hutchinson R A, Pierce K L, 1994. A field-trip guide to Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, Montana, and Idaho-volcanic, hydrothermal, and glacial activity in the region. {U S Geol Surv Bull}, 2099: 1-46

Hildreth W, Christiansen R L, O'Neal J R, 1984. Catastrophic isotopic modification of rhyolitic magma at times of caldera subsidence, Yellowstone Plateau volcanic field. {J Geophys Res}, 89: 8339-8369

Hutchinson R A, Westphal J A, Kieffer S W, 1997. In situ observations of Old Faithful Geyser. {Geology}, 25: 875-878

IAVCEI, 1973-80. Post-Miocene Volcanoes of the World. {IAVCEI Data Sheets, Rome: Internatl Assoc Volc Chemistry Earth's Interior}.

Morgan L A, Shanks W C III, Lovalvo D A, Johnson S Y, Stephenson W J, Pierce K L, Harlan S S, Finn C A, Lee G, Webring M, Schulze B, Duhn J, Sweeney R, Balistrieri L, 2003. Exploration and discovery in Yellowstone Lake: results from high-resolution sonar imaging, seismic reflection profiling, and submersible studies. {J Volc Geotherm Res}, 122: 221-242

Newhall C G, Dzurisin D, 1988. Historical unrest at large calderas of the world. {U S Geol Surv Bull}, 1855: 1108 p, 2 vol

Pierce K L, Cannon K P, Meyer G A, Trebesch M J, Watts R D, 2002. Post-glacial inflation-deflation cycles, tilting, and faulting in the Yellowstone caldera based on Yellowstone Lake shorelines. {U S Geol Surv Open-File Rpt}, 02-0142: 1-62

Smith R B, Braile L W, 1984. Crustal structure and evolution of an explosive silicic volcanic system at Yellowstone National Park. {In}: {Explosive Volcanism: Inception, Evolution, and Hazards}, Washington D C: Nat Acad Press, p 96-109

Smith R B, Braile L W, 1994. The Yellowstone hotspot. {J Volc Geotherm Res}, 61: 121-187

Smith R B, Braile L W, 1993. Topographic signature, space-time evolution, and physical properties of the Yellowstone-Snake River Plain volcanic system: the Yellowstone hotspot. {In}: Snoke A W, Steidtmann J R, Roberts S M (eds), {Geology of Wyoming}, Geol Surv Wyoming Mem: 5: 694-754

Smith R B, Siegel L J, 2000. {Windows into the Earth: The Geologic Story of Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks}. Oxford: Oxford Univ Press, 242 p

Waring G A, Blankenship R R, Bentall R, 1965. Thermal springs of the United States and other countries of the world, a summary. {U S Geol Surv Prof Pap}, 492: 1-383

The Yellowstone Plateau volcanic field developed through three volcanic cycles spanning two million years that included some of the world's largest known eruptions. Eruption of the >2450 cu km Huckleberry Ridge Tuff about 2.1 million years ago created the more than 75-km-long Island Park caldera. The second cycle concluded with the eruption of the Mesa Falls Tuff around 1.3 million years ago, forming the 16-km-wide Henrys Fork caldera at the western end of the first caldera. Activity subsequently shifted to the present Yellowstone Plateau and culminated 640,000 years ago with the eruption of the >1000 cu km Lava Creek Tuff and the formation of the present 45 x 85 km caldera. Resurgent doming subsequently occurred at both the NE and SW sides of the caldera and voluminous (1000 cu km) intracaldera rhyolitic lava flows were erupted between 150,000 and 70,000 years ago. No magmatic eruptions have occurred since the late Pleistocene, but large hydrothermal eruptions took place near Yellowstone Lake during the Holocene. Yellowstone is presently the site of one of the world's largest hydrothermal systems including Earth's largest concentration of geysers.