Discovery of ancient super-eruptions indicates the Yellowstone hotspot may be waning

Throughout Earth's long history, volcanic super-eruptions have been some of the most extreme events ever to affect our planet's rugged surface. Surprisingly, even though these explosions eject enormous volumes of material—at least 1,000 times more than the 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens—and have the potential to alter the planet's climate, relatively few have been documented in the geologic record.