The Yellowstone caldera is a supervolcano below the Yellowstone National park with the potential to cause devastation on a global scale. Pinned between the states of Wyoming, Montana and Idaho, the volcano is constantly monitored by the USGS (United States Geological Survey) for signs that a supereruption is on its way. The recent California earthquake has caused some anguish among the public, who questioned whether the 7.1 magnitude event could trigger an eruption.
In 2017, the Smithsonian Channel released a documentary titled “This Could Be The Next Mount St Helens” where they claimed an eruption is overdue.
They said: “There is one volcano in the US with the potential to wreak devastation on a far greater scale.
“It’s located 575 miles away from Mount St Helens in the northwest corner of Wyoming.
“For over a century, tens of millions of visitors have marvelled at Yellowstone’s breathtaking scenery.
Beneath this spectacular beauty lies a ticking timebomb
Smithsonian Channel
“But beneath this spectacular beauty lies a ticking timebomb.
“Yellowstone is one of the largest volcanic systems on Earth and scientists call it a supervolcano because of the size of past explosions.”
The theory behind this comes from the last three caldera-forming eruptions that came 2.1 million years ago, 1.3 million years ago and approximately 630,000 years ago.
Many believe this proves that we can expect another supereruption in the future.
However, USGS scientists say this theory could not be more wrong.
Their website reads: “First of all, one cannot present recurrence intervals based on only two values, it would be statistically meaningless.
“But for those who insist, let’s do the arithmetic. The three eruptions occurred 2.1 million, 1.3 million and 0.64 million years ago.
“The two intervals are thus 0.8 and 0.66 million years, averaging to a 0.73 million-year interval.
“Again, the last eruption was 0.64 million years ago, implying that we are still about 90,000 years away from the time when we might consider calling Yellowstone overdue for another caldera-forming eruption.
“Nevertheless, we cannot discount the possibility of another such eruption occurring sometime in the future, given Yellowstone’s volcanic history and the continued presence of magma beneath the Yellowstone caldera.”
It is also believed that signs of a forthcoming eruption, like earthquake swarms and rapid ground deformation, would be detectable for weeks – if not months – prior.
Yellowstone Park Ranger Rebecca Roland also previously revealed how “warning signs” would show Yellowstone had come to the end of its volcanic cycle.
She said in 2017: “It goes through volcanic cycles – the geysers, the hot springs, those are evidence of the heat underneath and the end of a volcanic cycle.
“So what most likely would happen is something like a hydrothermal explosion rather than an eruption.”
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