'Putting the whole Earth into a computer’: Chinese scientists use supercomputers to solve one of Yellowstone’s most enduring volcanic mysteries — and now want to create a digital twin of our planet to predict its future

The goal is to simulate entire planetary systems at high resolution

by · TechRadar

News By Efosa Udinmwen published 6 May 2026

(Image credit: iStock.com/kwiktor)

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  • Tectonic forces likely formed magma pathways before molten material rose upward
  • Supercomputers enabled a full-scale reconstruction of Yellowstone’s hidden structure
  • Digital models now test competing geological theories against observed data

Yellowstone National Park in the United States has long been one of the most debated volcanic systems due to its immense scale and limited direct observation.

Scientists have struggled to explain how its underground magma pathways formed and evolved, but a Chinese research team led by Liu Lijun and Cao Zebin, using high-performance computing, has now offered a new explanation grounded in large-scale simulation.

The study suggests that tectonic forces fractured the lithosphere before magma moved upward through those existing pathways - this means the cracks in the rock came first, and then the magma followed, indicating that stresses from the magma itself are not responsible for the initial fractures.

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A computational approach to geological uncertainty

For decades, the explanation for the volcanism has been that as the magma upwelled, it created its own conduit from below by brute force.

The researchers built a 3D model using Chinese supercomputers that reaches from the surface all the way down to deep mantle layers, combining decades of seismic readings, rock measurements, and electromagnetic data into one unified computer system.

The result shows Yellowstone's internal structure much more clearly than any earlier conceptual model.

Researchers can now test many different scenarios against real-world observations to see which explanation better fits the data.

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