© MARK RALSTON/AFP/Getty Images
During the last five months, station NRWY GPS has recorded about 3.5 inches of lift (the land is rising) and about 1 cm (0.4 in) of movement toward the southeast.
Measurements from other stations in northern Yellowstone show smaller movements forming a circular pattern of deformation of the park floor.
Not only has there been a sudden rise in elevation and the development of new cracks, but Yellowstone has suddenly started issuing huge amounts of helium-4, a very rare form of helium.
It's the presence of this gas that interests scientists.
What surprised scientists is that Helium-4 appears to be the strongest predictor of activity, as demonstrated with other volcanoes.
For example, at the volcanic island of El Hierro , the smallest of the Canary Islands of Spain, which rumbled and shook during seven months in 2011 and 2012, the gas silently filtered through the soil and groundwater on the island.
Eventually, a new underwater volcano erupted off the south coast of the island.
When the eruption started, gas flow at the surface increased dramatically.
The latest reports show that the emission rates of crustal helium- 4 from Yellowstone exceed (by orders of magnitude) any conceivable generation within the crust.
"This means that the helium -4 comes from very far under the ground, a clear sign that something big is happening what did not happen to Yellowstone in our lives.
On top of that, just last week a strong earthquake struck just a few miles from Yellowstone demonstrating that the flow of hot magma is moving.
but u left out that the helium they dicovered, over a 10 year study, they believe to have started coming out of yellowstone when it first came to be about 2 million years ago. and yes it inflates and deflates and has earthquakes. i track it, its normal as of 3.4.14. couldnt find anything about new cracks but that sort of thing can be hard to find on the internet unless it was imensece and 'newsworthy' lol. newsworthy, lol again. more importantly weve never had an eruption of that magnatude, nor could u study it if we did. so for 'scientists' to say its gonna look like mt st helens before hand...not real sure. my thinking is that theyre the opposite of regular volcanos. meaning they have a sudden depresurization inside the magma chamber causing the entire roof to collapse and then its almost like dropping a giant boulder into a bucket of water. splash!