A Day in Pompeii - A Frightening Exhibit at the Science Museum of Minnesota in St. Paul

My wife and I recently went to see the Day in Pompeii exhibit at the Science Museum of Minnesota in St. Paul. The exhibit focuses on the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in Italy in 79 A. D. The eruption destroyed the city of Pompeii and showed how fragile life can be. (A few weeks after we saw the exhibit, the I-35W bridge collapsed in Minneapolis, showing again how fragile life can be.)

While the artifacts recovered from the site of Pompeii are interesting and the body casts of humans and animals are sobering, my wife and I left the exhibit with a couple of questions: "Who will be next?" and "How bad will it be?" Mount Vesuvius, by the way, is still an active volcano and Naples, Italy, is near it.

The most frightening thing about the exhibit for us was not the remains of the past from Pompeii, but a large map showing the many active volcanoes scattered around the world. The so-called "Pacific Ring of Fire," a ring of volcanoes that surrounds the Pacific Ocean, is well-known. Not so well-known is the presence of over 150 active volcanoes in North America, especially in the United States.

Yellowstone National Park, while not generally known as a volcanic area, is a catastrophe waiting to happen. The geysers, mud pots, and other features of the park owe their existence to underlying volcanic activity. The literature handed out at Yellowstone in the past did not mention the caldera (large volcanic crater) that is a major part of the geography of Yellowstone and that underlies the park. Current literature does mention the caldera. My wife and I have been told that if the caldera would ever erupt, the consequences could be as simple as the destruction of the west coast of the United States all the way to the worst case scenario of the destruction of everything west of the Mississippi!

Other than Yellowstone, there are other areas of the United States that would be in trouble if certain volcanoes erupted. For example, according to an article on Geology.com, "The Most Dangerous Volcanoes in the United States," there are four dangerous volcanoes in Alaska and two in Hawaii. It's good to keep in mind that Hawaii was formed from volcanic products. It may some day be destroyed by the same products.

A look at the map accompanying the Geology.com article indicates that the area of the United States that is most at risk is the west coast, and not just from the threat posed by the Yellowstone caldera. A string of volcanoes makes its way from the state of Washington (Mount Rainier-68 miles from Seattle-and Mount St. Helens-170 miles from Seattle) all the way into California. A mild eruption of these volcanoes might cause minimal damage. A major eruption could disrupt-if not end-life as we know it in the United States.

A look at the distribution of volcanoes around the world raises a question: "Are all of these volcanoes connected at some deep level?" If they are and if that deep connection ever explodes, what will that mean for our planet?

Mount Vesuvius may have been frightening to the inhabitants of Pompeii, but what lies ahead for us in the years to come? I'm not sure I want to know the answer to that question.

Source: geology.com/most-dangerous-volcanoes.shtml