Yellowstone Volcano's Killer Hazard: Earthquakes
The data also reveal that the shallower magma zone is about 9 percent melted rock, and the newly found lower zone is 2 percent melted. Neither is a giant chamber of magma and neither is in any danger of erupting -- contrary to popular misconceptions -- say the researchers.
The actual image Huang and his colleagues produced was created by what's called seismic tomography. The method is a lot like computerized tomography, or CT-scans used in medicine -- except that instead of x-rays passing through living tissues, geophysicists use seismic waves from earthquakes that pass through the Earth's interior.