The Yellowstone Caldera doesn’t just sit under a national park—it broods. A geological behemoth spanning Idaho, Wyoming, and Montana, it has erupted three times in the last two million years, leaving behind craters big enough to make entire cities vanish. If it ever decides to wake up again, the results won’t be subtle.
A team of researchers, supported by the U.S. National Science Foundation, might have just located Yellowstone’s future kill zone—hundreds of thousands of years ahead of schedule. Volcanic seismologist Ninfa Bennington and her team used magnetotelluric imaging to peer beneath the crust, searching for magma reservoirs biding their time. What they found? Four pockets of magma, but only one with staying power.
Magnetotelluric methods sound like something out of a sci-fi dystopia, but they’re real. These instruments detect electromagnetic signals from deep underground, helping scientists map out what’s liquid, what’s solid, and what’s plotting its next move. With over 100 measuring stations scattered across the Yellowstone Caldera, the team pinpointed magma-rich regions just waiting for the right conditions to trigger a cataclysm.
And the winner? The northeastern magma chamber. While the others will eventually cool and solidify, this one holds onto enough heat to stay molten for the long haul. The next major eruption, when it inevitably arrives in the distant future, will likely emerge from this fiery underworld. If history is any guide, it won’t be pretty.
The last three major eruptions at Yellowstone weren’t copy-paste affairs—they struck in different locations across the caldera. This new research suggests the trend will continue. So, if planning to survive a supervolcano was on the to-do list, it might be time to rethink some coordinates.
Five Fast Facts
- The last time Yellowstone erupted on a massive scale, it spewed enough ash to bury Texas in several feet of volcanic debris.
- Yellowstone’s magma chamber is estimated to be 44 miles wide, roughly the same distance as a drive from New York City to Stamford, Connecticut.
- A Yellowstone supereruption could drop global temperatures for years, triggering a volcanic winter that would make food production a nightmare.
- Despite the apocalyptic hype, scientists estimate the probability of a major Yellowstone eruption in any given year is about 0.00014%—lower than the odds of getting struck by lightning… twice.
- Magnetotelluric imaging isn’t just for volcano hunting—it’s also used to detect hidden oil reserves and even ancient underground water sources.