Yellowstone Supervolcano

Image by Jim Peaco

“And they shall see signs and wonders, for they shall be shown forth in the heavens above, and in the earth beneath.  And they shall behold blood, and fire, and vapors of smoke.  And before the day of the Lord shall come, the sun shall be darkened, and the moon be turned into blood, and the stars fall from heaven.”

Doctrine and Covenants 45:40-42

Immediately preceding the Second Coming there will be signs “in the heavens above, and in the earth beneath.”  Some signs will include “blood, and fire, and vapors of smoke.”  And perhaps because of fire and smoke, “the sun shall be darkened, and the moon be turned into blood.”

One possible fulfillment of this prophecy could happen if the supervolcano under Yellowstone National Park erupts.

Facts about Yellowstone’s Supervolcano

• Yellowstone sits on an enormous volcanic caldera 34 miles wide and 45 miles long.
• Yellowstone has about 10,000 geysers and hot springs.
• Yellowstone has approximately 3,000 small earthquakes each year
• Yellowstone’s last three supervolcanic eruptions happened 2.1 million, 1.3 million and 640,000 years ago.
• The largest eruption (Island Park Eruption- 2.1 million years ago) shot 2,500 times the amount of ash from the 1980 Mount St. Helens eruption, into the air.
• The most recent mega eruption (Yellowstone Eruption- 640,000 years ago) ejected 240 cubic miles of rock, dust and ash into the air.

Though it has been over 600,000 years since the last mega magmatic eruption and over 3,000 years since the last mega hydrothermal eruption, another major eruption may be near.

Possible future eruption in Yellowstone

• In two weeks in January 2010, Yellowstone had 1,620 small earthquakes- the second largest swarm of Yellowstone earthquakes in recorded history.
• The Yellowstone ground level increased by about three inches per year between 2004 and 2008- more than three times greater than any other four-year period since 1923.
• From 1923 to 1985, the Yellowstone ground level rose by about 4 feet (due to swelling magma reservoirs four to six miles underground).

If Yellowstone erupts

• Yellowstone could release volcanic ash 25 miles high in the air.
• Volcanic ash could cover land 1,000 miles away with up to feet of ash.
• Volcanic ash and gas blocking the sun could cool the earth by about 20 degrees.
• About two-thirds of the United States would become uninhabitable.
• There would be widespread famine and starvation worldwide.

While the Yellowstone volcano is not likely to erupt under current conditions, it may erupt if a major earthquake moves Earth’s crust, allowing magma in the Earth’s upper mantle to shoot up through the earth’s crust.

“When a supervolcano goes off…it produces energy equivalent to an impact with a comet or asteroid. You can try diverting an asteroid, but there is nothing at all you can do about a supervolcano.”  

- Ted Nield

Personal Notes:  If a supervolcano doesn’t go off before the Second Coming, my guess is a nuclear warhead will.  I can’t think of anything else that would be powerful enough to darken the skies, and cause men’s hearts to fail them. (Doctrine and Covenants 45:26)