Using magnetotellurics, researchers produced a detailed picture of the magma beneath Yellowstone, offering insights into a distant future of possible volcanic activity

New research reveals why the famously steamy park, hosting over 500 hot geysers, shows no signs of blowing its top. These days, the reservoirs of magma (molten rock) that feed Yellowstone hold pretty low concentrations of this magma. They simply don't contain enough volcanic fuel to drive the heat and pressure that would stoke an eruption.

"This number is based simply on averaging the two intervals between the three major past eruptions at Yellowstone—this is hardly enough to make a critical judgment," the USGS Yellowstone fact sheet reads.