The Mystery Volcanic Eruption in 536; The Year of Hell
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- Опубліковано 7 лют 2025
- Around the planet, there is evidence of drastic and severe weather events from a volcanic eruption in 536 AD. This eruption was so large that it began the dark ages by literally beginning the period with an era of darkness, as the majority of sunlight was blocked from hitting the ground. Then, 4 years later, another supermassive volcanic eruption occurred. Yet, we have been unable to determine which volcanoes produced these eruptions, which were among the largest in human history. This video will discuss this mystery, and mention the volcanoes most likely responsible for these two young eruptions.
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As you can see, the exact identity of the volcanoes which produced these massive volcanic eruptions largely remains a mystery. It is quite a worrisome implication that we are unable to easily locate which volcanoes caused these megaeruptions. However, mystery volcanic eruptions will eventually get located. The most recent was the 1257 mystery eruption; it was confirmed as Mount Samalas/Rinjani.
the occurrence of 3 VEI 6-7 eruptions in a span of ~130 years is also insane
i can see why the year earned its name
@@maxpower19711 this....
Great video! Could you post a link to the scientific paper or report that confirms Krakatau als the source of the 540 eruption? I thought that it blew in 535, but your reasoning makes perfect sense.
Congrats on 70K subs!!!!!
Krakatau, the volcano that just won't stop trying to kill us.
Well, it was not the volcanic eruption itself (I am talking about the 2018 eruption) but the tsunami that killed a lot
that comment made me laugh...becuz its true
@Luboman411 I think is we had any VEI 7 eruption anywhere on earth we would have at least tens of thousands dead.
@@jocelynndotson7273 that was anak krakatau "the son of krakatoa" which took krakatoa's place in the 1920's
@@jocelynndotson7273 edifice collapses generally count as volcanic eruptions; they only do not count if no magma/ash is ejected
So the world's loudest volcano can erupt even bigger than it did in 1883.
Yes but it takes hundreds of years to produce an eruption that large.
@@wildlifeisthewealthofnatur5457 Well, there are plenty of volcanoes in Indonesia that will pick up the slack.
Krakatoa sits on unique area of faults. Before that eruption, krakatoa massive size connect between sumatra and java island. And Old java script describe before and after eruption.
Roughly every 1000-1500 years, so we're good for a while.
@@MichaelClark-uw7ex campi flegrei is getting full. It has the highest chance of any vei 7 volcano to erupt in our lifetime. The buldge in it's caldera rises each year. So, At the most we are good for 100-150 years.
Love all the volcano content. Didn’t know about your channel until a few weeks ago due to la Palma and your coverage of it. Then all the new volcano videos. Thanks!
I watched a good video last year that proposed Ilopango as the source of the eruption in 536 AD. He made a good case. It's interesting to hear of a second eruption, from Krakatau, only a couple years later.
I must note that the eruption of Krakatoa a few years later is not confirmed. Although the eruption hemisphere is correct, along with composition, we are not truly sure. It did produce an edifice collapse around that time but we aren’t sure how large of an eruption that was
I think I have seen the same video.
I heard a suspicion an Icelandic eruption may have occured around the same time.
@@dananorth895 That's always possible, but there were no European settlers at that time to confirm that. And the eruption of 535 affected southern Europe and the middle East, too far south to have been much affected by an eruption in Iceland, but right in the path of Ilopango's ash and debris.
Here they are, both parts one and two, respectively. Don't lose them...
ua-cam.com/video/D7fR2Z880z8/v-deo.html
ua-cam.com/video/gzJ5oy-DBoA/v-deo.html
*_TRUST !!_*
Hi from West Malaysia where we have no volcanoes but our neighbours, Indonesia, which has some 14,000 islands, has some of the most active volcanoes in the world being situated on the Ring of Fire.
There was a very interesting documentary where two western scientists proposed that a massive volcano erupted in the mid-500AD some where off the coast near Java.
This led to a period where...recorded history of the area and it's surrounding seem to have stopped for several centuries owing to the devastating effect of the massive eruption.
The eruption of Karkatua in the 1830s nearby paled in comparion.
The scientists claimed to have found the caldera, which is now underwater off the coast somewhere between Java and Sumatra.
Also would like to add that Malaysia has one volcano, but it’s dormant. It’s called Bombalai
Malaysia and Singapore are lucky, they have Philippines as typhoon shield and indonesia as tsunami and volcano shields, there's almost no earthquake.
@@GeologyHub Bomb-alai? That is telling in itself.
I totally enjoy your videos. I missed my calling to be a volcanologist and some days I still wish that I was able to do that. You look so young to be so knowledgeable. Keep up the great work
I feel the 540/541 eruption will be easier to crack than the 536 one that took place in the northern hemisphere. The 536 seems to really be a hidden volcano in either Iceland or Alaska.
It could have been an undersea eruption possibly? Isn't it an amazing world we are living on?
I believe GH identified the 540/541 positively as Krakatoa. That one has an interesting history.
The 536 one is thought to have occurred somewhere in North America
@@everettduncan7543 According to Wikipedia, one of the tephras analyzed was identified to have come from the Mono Lake Volcanic Field in California.
I remember commenting on another video that Krakatoa had a much larger eruption around 535, and people were like "no it was Ilopango". I'd love to have deeper dive on this topic very interesting stuff wish your vids were a bit longer also but even so so still very informative.
Bless you bud, he actually did make a great video on Illopango not too long ago. Apparently it had periodic explosive eruptions before napping for 1.3 million years before it's 431 eruption.
The South American volcanoes would also be an interesting subject, as would the Central American, Caribbean, and Mexican Volcanoes. A new Mexican Volcano, Paricutin, was created just 65 years ago.
Nice to see more Salvadoran volcanoes getting included as it’s known as the land of volcanoes
I plan to cover more in the future. Thus far, I only truly have a single video dedicated on the nation’s volcanoes; Ilopango
I have been to San Salvador many times and have been amazed by the ash deposits the highway cuts through from the airport to the city
Guatemala has some interesting volcanoes too , Mount Fuego for one. and there appear to be some big calderas in that area stretching through El Salvador and up into Mexico.
@@GeologyHub Ilopango is a véry interesting Volcanocomplex to showcase on though. Iirc the Ilopango's big VEI-7 caused the extinction of the Maya-civilisation? Its a pretty BIG caldera, feeding several vents/stratovolcanic peaks on the surface, though a VEI-7 would indicate that none of the stratospheric peaks erupted, but the actual caldera itself??
Nicaragua has a good amount of dangerous volcanoes as well. For one thing, Cosigüina erupted in 1835 as a strong VEI 5, causing a significant drop in temperatures over a wide range for its VEI level. Also, Masaya is quite an active volcano.
Last but not least, Apoyeque - a stone's throw away from the capital of Managua and whose existence I had no idea of until now - could erupt at anytime as a VEI 6. It has a record of VEI 4-6 eruptions once every 1000-2000 years, and it's among the likeliest of volcanoes to have the next caldera-forming eruption (along with volcanoes like Iwo Jima and Campi Flegrei).
great detail, excellent visuals - getting better and better.
I remember many times driving to Whitehorse from Dawson City and along the sides of the highway where the was some erosion you can clearly see the ash from previous volcanoes. Varying thickness of 2 to 6 inches very very near the surface. After watching your vlogs and others I now know roughly where that originated.. Thanks for sharing!
Which just shows how far reaching some of these events were. No one on the planet was safe that year regardless of where they lived.
6 inches would either be a very minor eruption event, VEI2 or large eruption that happened very far away. Large VEI pyroclasm deposits are measured in meters. Given that Whitehorse is right at the ring of fire you should expect to see many deposits in various areas but predominately from smaller past eruptions. Especially with snow and glaciers covering the majority of that area the ash would have a high silicate concentration along with a high carbon concentration.
The Medieval Warm Period ran from AD900 to AD1300. It was warm enough to allow Viking settlements on Greenland and Nova Scotia. Mount Samalas/Rinjani could well be why this warm period ended. The "Little Ice Age" ran AD 1300 to 1875 with a booster from the Tambora eruption which created the Maunder Minimum.
.....The 1815 Tambora eruption caused the 1645-1715 Maunder Minimum? LMFAO
YOU SIR are thinking of the Dalton Minimum but likely do not even know that exists.
You're welcome
It would be cool if you could do a video discussing how ash beds and volcanoes can be dated and what precision comes with each type. There's sort of obvious geologic layering techniques, but I imagine there must be radionuclide approaches too.
another technique is dating the rings of ash covered tree trunks in the area
You are correct, for many of these ash beds you would use radio-nucleotides for their dating. But in these young cases, dating the ash in the deposit directly would not be practical.
A quick look at the practical radio nucleotides:
C14 dating. Carbon from the atmosphere. There is lot's of geological carbon (coal, limestone ect.), but it will contain just about 0% C14. We can date organic matter found in layers above or below (rarely in) an ash bed, bracketing the date of the ash fairly well. Uncertainties increase from about 50-150 years in historic time to several hundred when we go about 5000 years back. At the outer edge of detect ability, it's thousands of years (we can not use C14 further back than 35-50000 years)
Argon-argon and potassium-argon dating. Dates the solidification of rocks containing potassium. Radioactive potassium K40 decays to Ar40. In melt the Ar40 can escape, in solids it's caught in the crystal lattice.
K40 has a half life close to 1.25 billion years, thus it can be used to date any geologic formation on Earth.
It's possible to use the method on relatively young materials, but the uncertainty inherent in trying to capture and measure very low amounts of argon gas really prohibits it's use for anything less than several thousand years old.
Uranium-lead dating. Often associated with dating of zircon crystals. Zircon crystals readily incorporates uranium in their lattice, but not appreciable amounts of lead. Thus when uranium decays to stable lead 206, we are reasonably sure it's all from the uranium. Zircon crystalizes at high temperature in magmas with relatively high Si content, IOW not in basalts and gabbros. Zircon is stable during (some?) metamorphic processes and can in other cases add new layers to the outside of the crystal without disturbing the elemental ratios in the center, allowing dating of more than one geologic event. U238 has a half-life of just short of 4.5 billion years (U235 is 0.7 billion years and also decays to Pb206), again allowing for the dating of the entire geologic timescale of the Earth, but getting somewhat imprecise at very recent dates.
To date an eruption in 536AD (or 540AD) we could use C14 and that is i guess what was used to give the date range that allowed for Ilopango. But to get the very precise +/-2 years we would use another method: Dendrocronology. If you can find a tree killed by the volcano (the ash-fall, lava, pyroclastic flow, lahar or tsunami) with intact bark you can date it absolutely to 1-2 years.
That is true, the dating is done, apparently using a combination of Carbon-14, dating, in the case of dead organic material found in the ash deposits; the thickness, and number of layers, of ash, based on local history of known eruptions; and now, ice cores from various locations where there is extensive glaciation, such as Greenland, and Antarctica; since it has been found that each volcano has a distinct kind of ash, almost like a fingerprint. That is how the Lake Toba Eruption was dated.
I remember seeing a documentary a few years ago that talked about this mystery eruption. It suggested that Krakatoa (or some other volcano) used to connect Sumatra and Java and the 535 AD eruption blew them apart. I’ve not seen any other evidence that confirms this though, and I cannot find any other thing that mentions this particular theory.
I think the same documentary said that the eruption was brought up in the Javanese Book of Kings (I think that was it), but maybe I misunderstood what they were saying.
The theory was presented by a Geologist named David Keys. He does indeed reference an eruption in the Javanese Book of Kings which specifically mention an extremely loud eruption which was followed by a major tsunami however the book of kings dates that eruption to 416. Unfortunately there's very little evidence that supports that date because Krakatoa is one of those volcano's that isn't too big on leaving evidence behind.
@@Akechi_The_Phantom_Detective well in that same documentary that mair mentioned charcoal dating from Rakata island does put an educated guess of the eruption from 0-1000 AD. All 3 years of 416, 536 and 540 fits into that time frame so who knows which is right.
@@farhanatashiga3721 Are you referring to "How The Earth Works?" Because that's the one I was talking about. I don't remember exactly what was said, because the main focus was the 1883 eruption, but I know it was brought up briefly and we were given a general location of where the caldera of the supposed 535 AD eruption happened.
It doesn't entirely matter though since more research needs to be done, I'm just happy I got some more education on something that I got from that documentary and couldn't really find anywhere else.
I have always thought they used to be a single island that was blown apart by Krakatoa at some point but keep getting told there is no evidence and therefore it couldn't have happened.
@@MelanieCravens the evidence isn’t there. I believe it to be a victim of historical exaggeration. With this being said, a similar island splitting event DID occur in 1452 at the Kuwae volcano in Vanuatu.
I've looked up all volcanoes that erupted in USA, Canada, Iceland, Norway, underwater features and Russia. Maybe I should have added Japan. I exclude underwater features that are not in the North and Hawaiian eruptions.
These are all the eruptions in 5th and 6th century. A misdate and underestimation of eruption might be possible (a larger error, or something just not found/dated yet is also a possibility, but the volcano that erupted in 535/536 was probably located far in the north.)
400: Katla, Avachinskiy, Fischer, Tolbachik
420: St Helens
440: Tutuila (not in the north, but still noteable), Rainier, Redoubt, Three Sisters, Mono-Inyo
450: Komarov, Tolbachik
460: Aniakchak
480: Belknap, Hood
490: Mono-Inyo, Newberry
500: Shiveluch, Katla
520: Redoubt
530: Shiveluch
540: Alamagan, Katla
550: Eyjafjallajokull, Hekla, Klyuchevskoy, Tolbachik, Ichinskiy, Kikhpinych, Gorely
570: Augustine
580: Shiveluch, Redoubt, Katla
600: Bezymianny, Shiveluch
Other notable eruptions outside time period:
610 AD Opala - VEI 5
+-340 AD - Aktuan - VEI 5
240 AD - Ksudach - VEI 6
60AD & 847AD Churchill - both are VEI 6
St. Helens is an interesting one, it had VEI-6 eruptions in the past.
It wasn't Tambora alone that created the Year Without A Summer in 1816; the 1808/9 mystery eruption (itself at least as powerful as Krakatoa, maybe even more) also contributed, and the early 1810s were also colder than normal though not to the extent of 1816.
Yep! I covered my opinion on the volcano responsible for the 1808/9 eruption in a separate video. Pretty sure I nailed which volcano was the source :)
There was a major eruption in 1808 as well?!?!?! Learned something new today :)
Thank you for covereing this, it is a time period that i heard about more then a decade ago. So many pivotal things in the world happened as a result that event / series of events. .
I've always thought Krakatoa was more than what is currently known.
Krakatoa: being everyone's pain in the ass across so many eras.
Could whole ash beds of the size we would expect to measure somehow be eroded or redistributed in a way to make it difficult to find? Is there any precedence for poorly located ash deposits?
From what i read by report from our local geologist, they say that it found on 3 island near anak krakatoa. There is 25 meter of tephra layer wich dated the exact year of the eurption
@@muhammadhanifkurnaen6689 by chance could you link me to this? I don’t mind if the report is not written in English. I’m curious on his/her opinion, as the 540 mystery eruption is still truly not solved. It’s just quite likely it was Krakatoa. (I’d prefer if you emailed me such papers/links)
Mount rinjani is a interesting volcano. Also in indonesia. It was a twin peak volcano but a caldera collapse broke one of them. Very interesting.
……yes, along with Samalas, it was one helluva eruption…………
Isn't that the same time frame as the obsidian flows in central Oregon?
Technically, yes, but they are unrelated. Two VEI 4 explosive eruptions occurred at the Newberry volcano in 490 and 690, both with margins of error of +-100 years
What happened at the big circle (approx 25 mile across) just south of LaPine and east of Crater Lake, Oregon?
@@dianainthezone I think I see what you're describing on Google earth, and I'm also interested as to what made the land form that way
Yup! Too large and round to be a natural formation but if a strike it's within the volcanic Cascade mountian range which may be the "point of failure" which allowed for the range to exist... just thinking out loud.
@@GeologyHub Isn't it possible that multiple smaller eruptions from around the world all happening at the same time could cause similar effects such as the "worst year to be alive"?
I mean, does it have to be a single VEI 7? Couldn't a 6 in one place, a few 4s elsewhere spread out over the course of a year, a 5 somewhere else, and a 6 even some other place all combine together in the atmosphere to have the same cumulative effect as a single VEI 7? Also if all these theoretical eruptions happened within a few months of one another wouldn't the ash in the atmosphere combine to look like one eruption in an ice core deposit?
I honestly don't know, that's why I ask.
So it's Krakatoa again... and looks like the famous 1883 eruption is just a small demonstration of what it's capable before.
But I wonder if Sumatra and Java is actually one big island and was only split into two due to a ancient Krakatoa eruption?
That's a common theory actually, but it's not yet considered factual.
Volcanoes should not only be judged by their most recent eruptions.
People often think that volcanoes in the Cascades can only produce St Helens Size Eruptions, but Mt Mazama was a volcano just like Mt St Helens and that was an enormous eruption, probably the largest in America for 10,000 years
@@enlightenedsoul8897 this is true, but let's also remember the dormancy factor, large eruptions such as Mount Mazama require long periods of dormancy so Cascade Volcanoes need that factor.
Plate Subduction Speed, and Location, may also play a factor, as does type of volcano. The Hawaiian, and Icelandic Volcanoes, seems to be over mantle "hot spots", and a lot quieter, than "subduction zone", volcanoes (more Granitic "Continental" rock, which is more "brittle", and "explosive". Iceland may be the new "shield", of a future Continent).
Thank you AGAIN! Your hard work is greatly appreciated !!
Excellent analysis
Fascinating video. I lived in Vancouver BC in 1980 when Mt St Helens blew up and Vancouver was stopped dead in its tracks with 8 inches over the entire lower mainland. I apprectiated the comparison
Fantastic! Thank you for turning to this topic with your thorough analysis :)
Central American volcanoes seem to be prolific emitters of SO2 during eruptions...
So do some Indonesian and African volcanoes IIRC.
@@NeutroniummAlchemist especially nyamuragira
It would be great to do a segment on the multiple lava beds across Washington, Oregon and Idaho and their respective dates. Also one on glacial lakes Missoula and Bonneville!
You have no idea what your asking.
If you are talking about the flood basalts, nick zentner has a good video on the subject and the glacial lakes.
@@OttawaOldFart Excuse me? I know exactly what I am asking for.
@@JohnDeck1 Exactly, that area has the most processes going on at the same time as any on earth
There was also a good program on Nova, concerning Glacial Lake Missoula, The catastrophic collapse of its "dam", and the creation of the "scablands," in eastern Washington, and the effects on the Columbia River. According to the program, Lake Missoula reached an estimated depth of 500 feet, and emptied in a matter of days, or hours; and the debris flow came down the Columbia, and shot far out to sea; probably, in the range of 100, to 200, miles.
Excellent topic!
Can you do a video about Ball's Pyramid, Bromo and Batur? They all have calderas that I'm curious how they were formed.
This concerns me seeing how many volcanos are going off right now...it might be a long winter this year...
Thoroughly enjoyable
Italian Scientists are very nervously watching two areas around Naples; Mount Vesuvius, and the Flagrian Fields. The Metropolis of Naples sits between the two areas, and there are suburbs of Naples around both Volcanoes; so there is a high chance of catastrophic events concerning both volcanoes. The Mediterranean, and African, Volcanoes might also be interesting.
Naples is pretty much in danger, i don't think Vesuvius will erupt soon, it's history shows that it goes dormant before it's large eruptions and i predict that's what's currently going on. Etna and Stromboli will continue with their eruptions, but Vesuvius is resting for a major eruption. Phlegraean Fields is a different situation, it has been charging for nearly 500 years and it's inflating the ground.
@@caiolucas8257 That is true. I'm not sure what the "building periodicity" of Vesuvius is, but it seems to have a major eruption about every 1400 years. What I mean by "periodicity", is that most volcanoes that have explosive eruptions go through a period of "plug", or "cone" building, then the plug is blown out in a catastrophic eruption. Krakatoa has about a 600-year cycle, and is currently in a building phase, Mt. St. Helens is in a building stage, probably until the present crater is filled, and the mountain has a height exceeding 9000 feet above mean Sea level, as it did prior to 1980, but there is randomness, as well. Mount Pinatubo, according to the geologists that studied it, goes off, big time, about every 500 years. In the case of the Phlegraean Fields, there is a thick cap of, I believe, Dacite, covering the vent, so it may go off, in a catastrophic eruption, with little, or no, warning, if that cap fails. That is why the Italians are carefully monitoring ground swell, and fumarole output. I saw a "Nova" Program, about this; several years ago.
It is also possible; that the Phlegraean Fields, and Vesuvius, are linked, in the same way that Mt. Katmai and Novarupta are, and that the eruption may come through Vesuvius, relieving the pressure on the Fields, or through an entirely new vent.
……believe Katla & Hekla, in Iceland are underground linked…………
The Aleutian island arc is huge and remote... perhaps there's an undiscovered undersea caldera somewhere in the chain, that's all that remains of a former island volcano?
Very possible. You might note the inclusion of the (island) Davidof volcano briefly in this video. Although it’s caldera is likely Pleistocene
Also we need to look at Mt Elementaita in Kenya,East Africa…it’s caldera is big and has a created a whole lake around it.I have a feeling it’s eruption was massive.
Never underestimate what lies beneath a glacier in Iceland.
……especially Vatnajokull Glacier………
Best information to date, thanks
Honestly, I did not expect Krakatau to just pop up like that in the end... It's seems that Krakatau just have grudge with humanity or something as it just keeps erupting with such a passion.
I tell people about this year, when they say that we're in end times. Not even close to how bad it is, compared to 536
Could it have been an under water volcano??? In fact it would be interesting to hear more about volcanoes under the seas of the world, how many? Where are they? And past violent eruptions! 🙏🙏🙏
It's plausible but extremely difficult to prove.
Another few sites that could possibly be the site of the 536 eruption besides mt churchill or a volcano that was submerged could be something like Novarupta, or a Cascades volcano, possibly Mt Hood or Baker, but likely in the northern part or possibly even St Helens or Rainier
It certainly wouldn't have been Novarupta, that caldera didn't even form until 1914. As for the Cascades Mount Hood and Baker both seem like extremely unlikely candidates given there's very little evidence to support a summit collapse for either volcano in a very long time.
Well stated, man! Full of great and concise information. You rock. Thanks!
missing volcano?
reminds me of a volcano that played hide and seek with a bunch of nations you covered
When did volcanoes erupt in Australia? Southern Australia has a volcano which has now filled with water and this supplies water to the town. It’s a tourist town, however nothing is known about its history. It has also provided black rich soil ideal for plants
……believe you speak of Mt Gambier. There’s also Mt Schank there nearby. Mt Undara, Nth Qld massively erupted 190,000 ya. Its’ lava tubes’ can be walked through, which is a wonderful experience………
What are the odds that the volcano ( or volcanoes ) that caused this effect have left submerged calderas and likewise their ash fields fell out to sea?.
Fascinating and scary at the same time.
Could you do a video abkht the opala or rabaul eruptions shown on that graph?
Although the size of the rebuilding Anak Krakatoa is much smaller than the 1883 and 536 volcanoes the pattern seems to be the same outcome. Blockage from the collapsing cone debris seem to be the reason for the violent destructive explosions. It could probably happen at any stage during this volcano's rebuild cycle. It's not the size that matters but the punch of the trapped energy that wants out!
I lean more to the Pacific Northwest theory .There have been numerous cataclysmic events throughout natural history in this area of the world .When you take into account events like the scablands , great floods ,The Good Friday earthquake and Yellowstone being just a few events .It could one in this area as the cause. It may be under the ocean or buried under an ice sheet and not yet discovered by humans .We may have explored and mapped a lot of the world but not all of it by any means .This is just a guess on my part from prior events in history .
……have I missed an episode by Geology Hub on Hunga Tonga January 2022 VEI5-6 eruption?
'great work on what happened when, now just to add some scare to all this, what volcanos do you think might currently cause such world wide damages? I know this is a difficult thing to do but how about your best guess for near future events as we keep hearing about Yellowstone, but that one is likely not going off any time soon.
Perhaps something in the northern TVZ too, it is notoriously violent yet awfully quiet since Tarawera in 1886. Really anywhere in the various Pacific subduction arcs is a good bet.
@@StuffandThings_ That's honestly a good shout but to be honest there are way too many candidates that aren't well documented nowadays. Thanks to Global Tomography we know where the biggest hotspots and mantle plumes are located but as for which contender would go VEI7 next...
Iwo-Jima is sited as a favourite due to the extreme uplift around the island. Uturunku is another Volcano that is going through a similar shift in Bolivia. Arguably the most dangerous though is Campi Flegrei purely by virtue of where it is located.
@@Akechi_The_Phantom_Detective Yeah Iwo Jima is quite impressive with that uplift and it wouldn't surprise me if that one went off next either. And of course the Andes are littered with pretty large and very unknown volcanoes that could easily go boom - Chaiten is enough to convince me that there are _plenty_ of nasty understudied volcanoes there.
@@StuffandThings_ Well said. I will say the prospect of the the entire Alti-Puna volcanic complex is genuinely concerning but it's also weirdly understated especially in regards to Chaiten's eruption. In Ururuncu's I understand that it's of massive geological interest now and I'm interested to see further study.
However, even without the threat of a VEI7 any time soon I feel way too many countries are ill equipped to deal with even less severe eruptions in more densely populated area.
I agree with what others have said, but IMO Campi Flegrei seems like the next vei-7 Tambora event, it had several false alarms in recent history and the grounds keep inflating. Also keep in mind it's rather strong caprock pozzolana, it contained the eruption thus far, but at one point it won't resist the ground deformation
It is a remaining mystery, that is thrilling the fantasy. In the last TV they were so sure of the Caldera in
Mesoamerica. Remember, the gigantic eruption of Coseguina had no climatic disaster following
One thing worth noting about a possible Icelandic Volcano is that Katla is well known for producing an inordinate amount of CO2 during it's eruptions. The fact it's cited as contributing 4% of the global amount of C02 with prior eruptions does suggest it's capable of causing such damage. In fact it's long been theorised that the legend of "Ragnarok" is actually based on a cataclysmic eruption "year without summer, poisoned skies, land covered in flames". It's a cool theory I'll say that.
when was the last eruption of Sør-Jan on the island of jan mayen?
In Indonesia there is an eruption of ancient Mount Sitinjau, ancient Mount Batur, ancient Sunda Mountain, ancient Mount Bromo, Ancient mount Tondano etc
Do you think you could do about the geology of Svalbard?
There is a contender to the 536 Eruption on Iceland: Oraefajokull. We know now of two of its eruptions in 1362 which seems to coincide with the Second Marcellusflood and the milder eruption of 1727/8 the 1362 ash layer in North England was white, just as the ash of 536. The 1362 eruption may have totally covered the ashlayers of 536 and have been similar in composition, so that it escapes attention. Also from the eruption of 1362 there was a vulcanic winter till 1372 in the Netherlands as was chronicled in de Betuwe (Rhinedelta) yearly chronicles, with similar secondary catastrophies like a pandemic, population decrease and famine. A flooding in 536 may have escaped attention. The area around the volcano Oraefajokull was not inhabited in 536 and in 1362 only one man survived. Similar events, similar effects, similar ash, similar mystery and similar decrease in population. Perhaps a reason to let a PH.D. study be done on Oreafajokull and both ashlayers? I am too old to bother. Oraefajokull will erupt again and possibly cause similar problems.
Could this be a massive island eruption like Honga Tonga ? And is now underwater ?
100% possible since that's precisely how Krakatau formed and I should also note Rabaul was also a candidate considered as the cause of the eruption as well.
@@Akechi_The_Phantom_Detective……especially Mt Tavurvur………
There appears to be evidence of a massive crater, as seen on Google Earth 60km distance,heading 53 degrees from the center of crater lake. It is massive measuring about 40km in diameter. I've not seen any information referencing this area, so it could be an optical illusion. Im sure it would make an interesting subject if there was something to it.
I think you are referring to the Paulina Peaks (?).
I still like the proposal in Exodus to Arthur: Catastrophic Encounters with Comets, even though I have heard that he changed his mind. Surfer proxies, eh?
It's gonna get cold my brother.🤔
@@terryanderson6882 - I live above the 45th Parallel ! You should see the mountains of wood I just got done with. It would be a long trek to the tropics.
Thank you!! Well done.
Ah, finally a topic that a historian can get interested in
I cannot hear “Mt. St. helens” without having Bill Wurtz song shove it’s way into my head
Never heard of the opala eruption, when did that happen?
are there global volcanic ash deposits that could be used to pinpoint the 536 AD eruption, both composition and location
While it is viable that such deposits exist as explained in the video tying them to one specific Volcano would be nearly impossible as there are simply way too many even with such varying composition. The only way it could be done conclusively is by surveying the geological history of the offending volcano.
I believe that's already been done.
I think there are quite a few
Great video! We like to think we're masters of nature but in truth we're like fleas on a huge dog.🌋🌋🌋
Thanks that was very informative
As said the Indonesian Royal Cronicles Krakatoa great eruption happened in 420 AD. Usually they are very accurate, so no reason not to believe them. 120 years thats a huge difference. We know that in VI-th century disappeared Iwo Jima. Quite big and active island, it has to be big eruption, island start to rebuild over sea in 1534, after about a millennium. Isn't she a good candidate to be a"mysterious volcano"?
……am currently reading book, ‘Tambora’ by Prof Gillen Wood. It’s about the 1815 eruption, & its’ aftermath, especially 1815 to 1818 inclusive. Talk about scary bananas’. Absolutely fascinating, the depth this Aussie author goes to about ALL the consequences’. Am thoroughly enjoying it, as am a Volcanology nerd.
Interesting. Well researched!
never knew this...thank you
have you ever covered the gentic bottle neck attributed to a vie 8+ of mt toba 74,000 bce.?
He's covered Lake Toba's eruption but it should be stressed while it's the biggest eruption this planet has had in millions of years the bottle neck theory was also discredited due to no visible affects on human's in Africa or further contenents.
I’ve covered Toba before. I’m skeptical of claims of a genetic bottleneck caused by that volcanic eruption as the evidence isn’t there. There 100% was a genetic bottleneck somewhere in the history of humanity, but not due to Toba. Taupo supereruption maybe? Younger dryas?
It would be helpful to fix the date of the "genetic bottleneck". All I know of it, was that we are supposedly all descended from about 10,000, to 25,000, individuals, who managed to survive, somewhere on the coast of southern Africa. I thought that occurred sometime around Toba, but perhaps I am in error.
@@rodrudinger9902 it is beyond my field of expertise (genetic archaeology). I only am loosely kept aware from scientific American articles / occasional scientific papers which get published
Did some research on the bottleneck theory, and it does make some sense. Basically, about 150,000 years ago, give or take; mankind began to move out of Africa, and into Eurasia, via the Sinai Peninsula, and up the eastern coast of the Mediterranean, then split into two branches; the Neanderthals, who went west and north, and the Denisovans, who also went north, but slightly to the east, and then, east. The Neanderthals were the first Europeans, and the Denisovans were the first Asiatics. Both branches apparently intermingled, and the skeletal remains of a girl were found recently, that had DNA from both Branches, I believe Denisovan, on her father's side, and Neanderthal, on her mother's. The progenitors of Homo Sapiens apparently stayed behind in Africa, as the climate warmed, and it became more difficult to cross the Sahara, and the Middle Eastern Areas, as they dried out. When Toba erupted, about 74 to 75,000 years ago; it was a VEI 8, or larger, eruption, devastated the Indian Subcontinent, Southeast Asia, and Oceania, perhaps as far as Australia; and created a 10 year "cooling off" period, similar to Tambora's 1 to 2 year "Year without a summer", and devastated plant life across the equatorial region, perhaps roughly from 20 degrees North Latitude, to 20 Degrees South Latitude. Apparently, pollen samples from this period confirmed this. The Neanderthals probably adapted, as did the Denisovans, to the north of the Caucasus, and the mountain ranges further east, with the South Asian, and African peoples sustaining the greatest part of the disaster. The Northern Denisovans, and apparently the Neanderthals, had learned to adapt to a harsher climate by this time, and managed to survive, but the South Asians perhaps were nearly wiped out, as were the Africans, who were driven to the southern tip of Africa. This is admittedly speculation on my part; and the hypothesis has been attacked by archaeologists who have found primitive stone tools; both below, and above, the Toba ash layer, in India. I would submit, however, that a 10-year period is a very short time to measure, in a period that covered almost 20,000 years; with the Denisovans recovering sufficiently to move back gradually into South Asia, again; and the Homo Sapiens in Southern Africa also recovering, and repopulating Africa, to when they also began to move into Eurasia, about 60,000 years ago, interbred with, and eventually displaced both the Neanderthals, and the Denisovans; then when the Wisconsinian Glacial Period provided an opportunity to move into Indonesia and Australia, southeast; and across the Bering "Land Bridge" into North America, from about 20,000 to 15,000 years ago; they took advantage of that. So, is my hypothesis, possible?
Are we ever going to get some videos on the volcanoes of cumchatka?
Why do people want Kamchatka so much?
Kamchatka is a very interesting place if you are into geology. It lies between the Eurasian and North American plates, and the Pacific plate is subducting under them. This creates some sort of a triple junction leading to massive and prodigious amounts of volcanic activity. In the Kuril islands, there are many volcanoes including the Tao-Rusyr caldera (might have botched that.) On the Kamchatka peninsula, You have a hotbed of volcanoes, calderas and geological features like the Sredinny mountain range which contains many volcanoes. There is another volcanic range to the east, which is where eruptions are happening. There, you can find the Russian St. Helens, Mount Bezymianny which erupted like St Helens in a lateral blast and Kamen, a large, oversteepened volcanic edifice with large flank collapses in the past. Other volcanoes include Shiveluch, a large stratovolcano with many lava domes over its history and a long track record of having many explosive eruptions, VEI 4 or higher, and Klyuchevskoy, the tallest volcano of Siberia and what I call Russia’s Super Mayon because it is conical. We also have Tobalchik, the Russian Kilauea with a part of it being a Stratovolcano, Avachinsky, The Russian Vesuvius as it is a somma volcano, and Koryaksky, another scenic volcano. We also have the Udina and Zimina volcanoes and The Kurile lake caldera, which had one of the largest eruptions in the last 10,000 years. This is only a shallow coverage of Kamchatka’s geology and there is much more to it, but since I have mentioned some many interesting features about this remote area of the World, I hope you understand why we love Kamchatka so much. Thank you for reading this. Bye!
@@SpaceLover-he9fj……thank you for the concise in-depth info on Kamchatka volcanic regions’, about which I’ve been fascinated for years’………
I know the Toba caldera in Indonesia caused one of the largest eruptions in the last few million years. I’m talking about the one that happened ~74,000 years ago
Can you make a video talking about the Sierra de la Primavera in Mexico? Not many people talk about the caldera
What are your sources for a revised year of 431AD +- 2 years for Ilopango? Also, an eruption creating such a large caldera (Ilopango) would have left a significant sulfate spike in the ice cores. Is there such a spike around 431AD? We might be looking at a double event here, such as 1808/1815 (?/Tambora) and 1453/1459 (Kuwae/?), who knows. Fascinating subject, so far its still speculation. As you mentionned though, at this point Samalas 1257AD is a fact.
I believe the reasoning behind the 431 AD was carbon dating the pyroclastic deposits of one of the tree's surrounding the caldera. I'm not sure where the 2 year margin of error came from but there are indeed sulfate spikes in Antartica and Greenland that coincide with those dates.
Based from a research titled "The magnitude and impact of the 431 CE Tierra Blanca Joven eruption of Ilopango, El Salvador"
It said that:
"The Tierra Blanca Joven (TBJ) eruption from Ilopango volcano deposited thick ash over much of El Salvador when it was inhabited by the Maya, and rendered all areas within at least 80 km of the volcano uninhabitable for years to decades after the eruption. Nonetheless, the more widespread environmental and climatic impacts of this large eruption are not well known because the eruption magnitude and date are not well constrained. In this multifaceted study we have resolved the date of the eruption to *431 ± 2 CE* by identifying the ash layer in a well-dated, high-resolution Greenland ice-core record that is >7,000 km from Ilopango"
Great video as always. What do you think about the hypothesis put forth by Kees Noreen et al. in 2017 that the source of the second eruption in 540 A.D was El Chicon in Mexico?
It's an interesting idea but there wasn't much evidence to support it besides a scientific model was there? If El Chichon had caused a VEI 7 Eruption you'd think there'd be some evidence of a catastrophic caldera collapse or more to a point ash beds within range of the volcano.
@@Akechi_The_Phantom_Detective Thanks for the reply. El Chichon's 1982 eruption was highly rich in sulfur output so I guess it would probably take only a low end VEI 6 to generate the amount of sulfur dioxide seen in the ice cores for 540 AD.
536 is not the only year to be affected by famine events triggered by an eruption. The year 1258 was bad and unknown until recently when during the excavation of a London Underground extension a mass grave was discovered. The deaths in the grave were attributed to starvation and the cause finally tracked down to a volcano near Bali (Samalas eruption Lombok) see gresham college lecture!
3:33 . I,m surprised they didn't call that one ''The Mickey Mouse Caldera '' lol
i was exploring on google maps and is that a huge caldera off the land of portugal??
I can find any reference to a global »Dark Age« in the middle of the 6th century AD though?
They're usually referred to as the Extreme Weather Events of 535-540 they're only considered a dark age in the extent these times are not well documented.
@@Akechi_The_Phantom_Detective I know, but the narrator using the term »Dark Age« brings up later events in my mind…
What effect did the meteor which struck Britain and south America in 562 ad. Have on the earth.
Two vei 7 eruptions within 5 years is crazy
I saw a video of some guy claiming that it was Katla that caused the 536 eruption but doesn't explain why he thinks its Katla
What about the huge eruption at Rabaul that was also dated around 540 AD that had a possibile VEI 7 size .
The chart at the start of the video puts the date of that at the 600~ AD
What about lake Taupo in New Zealand. The largest recorded eruption ever recorded
Its not the largest
I covered Taupo in a previous video. It’s a fascinating supervolcano
……believe Toba was………
Gee, I wonder if all the people making doomsday comments in regards to the La Palma situations know about this 536 A.D. stuff.
🙄
I'm not sold on Krakatau being the culprit here. As you mentionned, the effects seemed to be way more obvious in the northern hemisphere. What are the ice cores telling about the 536AD mystery eruption? Are sulfite spikes obvious in both the Greenland and the Antartica ice cores? There's also the possibility of 2 or even 3 lesser, non caldera forming VEI 4 / 5 events with very high sulfur dioxide emissions happening in a span of 12 to 18 months, like El Chichon for instance.
I have read somewhere that the sulfur spike in 536 is only recorded in Greenland. The ice core record in 540 is recorded in both hemisphere
Aye, that second eruption isn't described as being the cause of dust veil but rather it extended it's effects drastically which would've by token made the effects of the already existing veil in the North worst while instigating the effects in the South. There are other candidates namely Rabaul & El Chichon which are known to have produced drastic eruptions but neither of which was a VEI 7. IMO it's far more likely a culmination of several eruptions of the planet would've created these results.
Did you already cover Hekla?
Iceland or Alaska, why not Kamchatka?
For the northern eruption is the kamchatka peninsula a possibility?
Our puny efforts to affect so called climate change could all be rendered moot by one massive volcanic eruption.
"Our puny efforts to affect so called climate change could all be rendered moot by one massive volcanic eruption." - nope. Humans are causing larger long-term changes to the climate. For a volcanic event to equal or exceed human effect said volcanic event would need to be on the order of a large igneous province creation.
I wouldn't go that far, our efforts are very significant.
If an eruption wanted to topple that it would have to be a super volcanic eruption, ejecting 800+ cubic km
Is there a possibility that the ash from multiple disparate eruptions combined to cause the effect? Are there reasons to believe it was only one super eruption?
It's very possible, in fact it's what the theory relies on. One Eruption in 536 and another in 540. It should also be noted that Rabaul and Vesuvius also erupted around this time and while Vesuvius's was only a 4 on the VEI Rabaul was a 6 and could also have potentially contributed to the global effects.
@@Akechi_The_Phantom_Detective A VEI 4 Eruption would not cause significant damage globally,
@@enlightenedsoul8897 Hence why I said it's only a for, the odd thing about the eruption though is the fact it was poorly documented in any case.
As a kid my family an I would go swimming at the Ilopango Lake. I didn't know at that time it was a crater. I was also kid that would be scared easily about everything so I'm glad I didn't know that as a kid lol.
Are there any volcanoes in Scandinavia?
1:30
It's pronounced Frunk en steen. ;)
OK in all seriousness, are there no ice cores available that show ash from from the 536 eruption? If there was a sample of the ash, couldn't you then just go to the likely volcanos and test various likely samples from there and match them against the same of the ash from the cores? If they're from the same eruption the ash would be identical, wouldn't it? I mean, I'm just an enthusiast, I certainly don't know a lot on this subject, but my understanding is that such a process would conclusively identify the eruption discussed in this video.
Ilopango ash deposits around the volcano from the roughly 500 AD eruption would either match perfectly the ash from the ice core, or it would be far different thus ruling it out.
Finally, have you made a video about the Krakatoa eruption in 540 AD? I would love to learn more about that eruption. I always hear you end your videos with "if you would like to request a specific topic, please leave a comment below." Well, here it is! lol I want to know more about the 540 AD eruption of Krakatoa.
What about Surtsey? Is it possible that Surtsey had an eruption similar in scale to Krakatau, leading it to collapse into a caldera falling into the ocean, only to spend the next almost 1500 years building back up to breach the surface again in the 1960s?
On a side note, if the 536 eruption was from an Icelandic volcano, why is there not any reports of ashfall in Ireland, Scotland, or Norway. Surely the Celtic or Nordic tribes would have mentioned something about it.
Well, I am still confused. 536 is still uncertain but was in the Northern Hemisphere? The 540 was Krakatoa?