Will The Yellowstone Supervolcano Erupt or Go to Sleep Instead?

Will The Yellowstone Supervolcano Erupt or Go to Sleep Instead?

By Jordan Clanton

What is a Supervolcano?

The best way to describe a supervolcano is to take the size of a normal volcanic eruption and then put it on a national scale.  Instead of the lava and ash only effecting the surrounding cities, it can take out the entire country.  The volcano in Yellowstone is also referred to as a caldera.  A caldera is a volcano that creates a vast crater in its wake.  In a Washington Post article, an eruption from a caldera was called a "mountain-swallowing event" that leaves the remaining land flat and sunken.  Visitors may notice that the area surrounding the Yellowstone caldera is abnormally flat given that it is located in the northern section of the Rockies in the midwestern United States.  This proves that at some point in the past the caldera either blew those mountains away or caused them to fall into the hole created by the volcano.  

When is the Disaster coming?

There are lots of theories out there saying that the US Government has information on the status of Yellowstone that they are hiding from the public.  Others focus on the connection between frequent earthquakes taking place in neighboring states and the instability of the Yellowstone's volcanic activity.  A few conspiracy theorists have even used Bison fleeing the area as a way to prove the plates beneath the park are ready to implode.  As to when the catastrophic event is to take place?  People's minds have changed over the years, but most thought it was going to be added to the list of global disasters that took place in 2020.  Now that we have finally moved into the New Year, who knows when or if the Yellowstone caldera will erupt.  It could be months, years or perhaps the volcano is tired of erupting and will go into a deep hibernation for millions of years.  

An Ash distribution diagram of the U.S.

The United States Geological Survey (USGS) has been accused of hiding critical earthquake data saying fissures are opening up around Yellowstone National Park.  Authorities have also been accused of secretly evacuating towns in the area because of fears of the volcano getting ready to pop.  Some believe the USGS have given up entirely by shutting down numerous data sensors around the caldera.  Natural disasters like earthquakes and landslides have been used as evidence as to the severity of the volcanic state, meaning that these small incidents may one day turn into a global disaster.  If the Yellowstone Supervolcano were to erupt, volcanic matter could be thrown into the atmosphere, covering the entire Earth and preventing sunlight from reaching the Earth's surface.  All of North America would be covered in ash and rock, and the air quality would cause nearly all life to be lost.  

What do the Experts think?

In reality, the Yellowstone volcano has not erupted in 2.1 million years, which is a very long time and may be why people think it is about time that it should erupt once more.  However, many scientists believe that the exact opposite may be true.  This caldera has erupted at least three times in the history of Earth, and has recycled its magma so many times that it may grow tired enough to move towards a deep hibernation.  Ilya Bindeman with the University of Oregon says that the infamous Yellowstone Supervolcano may be "approaching the end of its evolution".  Even if there was enough energy for the volcano to be completely active, scientist Michael Poland (the Scientist-In-Charge at Yellowstone National Park) believes there isn't enough melted magma to cause an eruption. A large portion of the magma just below the surface of the caldera is quite cool and solid, which proves the volcano may be more stable than we imagined.

In reply to all the conspiracies against the USGS, the organization has stated “most volcanic systems that have a supereruption do not have them multiple times.” Since Yellowstone has already has a supereruption that took place 2.1 million years ago, the odds of it occurring again is relatively slim. So what is the answer to the thousands of theories about Yellowstone? We may never know for sure, but the science states that we may not need to worry about this volcano for generations to come.

Here is a link to Michael Poland's latest update on the Yellowstone Volcano as of January 2021: https://youtu.be/zePwErLdCt0