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 Yellowstone National Park
640,000 years ago
Beneath the natural beauties of Yellowstone National Park, an incomprehensibly powerful volcano lies in wait.
What happened?
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Around 640,000 years ago, the Yellowstone “supervolcano” erupted for at least the third time in two million years.
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The eruption released enough ash to blanket the entire United States west of the Mississippi River. All life for hundreds of miles was obiterated.
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The volcano’s magma chamber collapsed, leaving a hole in the ground more than 35 miles wide: the caldera that lies beneath the park today. |
More than three million people a year visit Yellowstone to view breathtaking landscapes, glimpse captivating wildlife, and gaze in awe at Old Faithful geyser. Those visitors stand at the site of one of the most stupendous volcanic eruptions in Earth’s history.
Beneath Yellowstone is a hotspot—an underground magma chamber that acts like a blowtorch, heating and melting the crust above it. As the crust melts, the chamber swells, and pressure builds. Eventually it blows.
One day, it could happen again. But for an eruption on this scale, we would have plenty of warning. So don’t change your vacation plans. Instead, explore what causes hotspots, and what Yellowstone has to teach us about life’s very existence on our planet.
Continue to Hotspots and More. >>
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