The Volcanic Apocalypse; The Decade of Hell
GeologyHub
95,122 views
The year was 536 CE, and a decade of absolute volcanic hell had just begun. As the sky darkened to make it look like twilight at noon, temperatures dropped, crops failed, and diseases spread, marking the onset of a volcanic winter. Yet, the worst had not even begun as in 540 CE an even larger eruption occurred, followed by a third major eruption in 547 CE. However, the source of these eruptions which were catastrophic to various societies around the globe has long mystified scientists of varying fields. Today's video will attempt to identify several possible volcano candidates which caused what is referred to as the worst decade to be alive in human history.
Thumbnail Photo Credit: U.S. Geological Survey, Hawaiian Volcano Observatory, Public Domain, https://www.usgs.gov/media/images/ima...
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Google Earth imagery used in this video: ©Google & Data Providers
This video is protected under "fair use". If you see an image and/or video which is your own in this video, and/or think my discussion of a scientific paper (and/or discussion/mentioning of the data/information within a scientific paper) does not fall under the fair use doctrine, and wish for it to be censored or removed, contact me by email at geologyhubyt@gmail.com and I will make the necessary changes.
Various licenses used in sections of this video (not the entire video, this video as a whole does not completely fall under one of these licenses) &/or in this video's thumbnail image (and this list does not include every license used in this video &/or thumbnail image):
Public Domain: https://creativecommons.org/publicdom...
CC BY 2.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/...
CC BY 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/...
Sources/Citations:
[1] van Dijk, E., Jungclaus, J., Lorenz, S., Timmreck, C., and Krüger, K.: Was there a volcanic-induced long-lasting cooling over the Northern Hemisphere in the mid-6th–7th century?, Clim. Past, 18, 1601–1623, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-18-1601-2022, 2022., CC BY 4.0.
[2] Brian R. Jicha, Brad S. Singer; Volcanic history and magmatic evolution of Seguam Island, Aleutian Island arc, Alaska. GSA Bulletin 2006;; 118 (7-8): 805–822. doi: https://doi.org/10.1130/B25861.1
[3] Sigl, M., Winstrup, M., McConnell, J. et al. Timing and climate forcing of volcanic eruptions for the past 2,500 years. Nature 523, 543–549 (2015). This paper was used to cite the hypothesis for the multisource 535-536 eruptions from a volcano in Canada, California, and the Aleutians.
[4] U.S. Geological Survey
[5] Alaska Volcano Observatory
[6] Withoos, Yannick (2022). A study of the stratigraphy, lithofacies and geochemistry of Taal Caldera Volcano, Philippines, and its implications for the understanding of flooded caldera volcanoes. University of Leicester. Thesis. https://doi.org/10.25392/leicester.da...
[7] NOAA, https://gml.noaa.gov/grad/mloapt.html
[8] Tebbens, Leo. “Tephrochronological Evidence for the Late Holocene Eruption History of El Chichón Volcano, Mexico.” Geofísica Internacional, Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico, 2009.
[9] Kees Nooren, Wim Z. Hoek, Hans van der Plicht, Michael Sigl, Manfred J. van Bergen, Didier Galop, Nuria Torrescano-Valle, Gerald Islebe, Annika Huizinga, Tim Winkels, Hans Middelkoop; Explosive eruption of El Chichón volcano (Mexico) disrupted 6th century Maya civilization and contributed to global cooling. Geology 2017;; 45 (2): 175–178. doi: https://doi.org/10.1130/G38739.1
[10] University of Alaska Fairbanks, Geophysical Institute
[11] Alaska Division of Geological & Geophysical Surveys
[12] Dallas Abbott, John Barron, Andrzej Witkowski, "Enduring Mysteries What Really Happened in 536 A.D.? Why Did Trees Grow Slowly for 20 Years Afterward?"
[13] VEIs, dates/years, composition, tephra layer name, DRE estimates, and bulk tephra volume estimates for volcanic eruptions shown in this video which were assigned a VEI 4 or larger (with the exception of Mount Tambora's tephra volume & hypothesized eruption sizes) are sourced from the LaMEVE database (British Geological Survey © UKRI), https://www2.bgs.ac.uk/vogripa/view/c..., Used with Permission
0:00 Decade of Hell
1:22 Link to a Volcano in Canada
3:15 Volcanic Winter
4:40 Link to Plague of Justinian
5:43 Suspected Eruption Sizes
7:20 Debunked Former Candidates
8:07 536 CE Mystery Eruption
8:49 California Volcano
10:29 Canada Eruption
12:07 Aleutian Volcano
13:40 540 CE Mystery Eruption
15:05 547 CE Mystery Eruption
16:04 Conclusion
20 Comments
Few words. Much disaster.
Your assessment and choices make sense, and also make those years of Volcanic Winter even more tragic in a way. More eruptions spaced out by months or a year certainly would make the situation worse and last much longer, which just meant more misery for Europe in particular.
I would love more long form videos, and hope this does well enough that you feel you can produce more of them now and then, maybe once a quarter?
The Volcanic Apocalypse; The Decade of Hell
GeologyHub
95,122 views
The year was 536 CE, and a decade of absolute volcanic hell had just begun. As the sky darkened to make it look like twilight at noon, temperatures dropped, crops failed, and diseases spread, marking the onset of a volcanic winter. Yet, the worst had not even begun as in 540 CE an even larger eruption occurred, followed by a third major eruption in 547 CE. However, the source of these eruptions which were catastrophic to various societies around the globe has long mystified scientists of varying fields. Today's video will attempt to identify several possible volcano candidates which caused what is referred to as the worst decade to be alive in human history.
Thumbnail Photo Credit: U.S. Geological Survey, Hawaiian Volcano Observatory, Public Domain, https://www.usgs.gov/media/images/ima...
If you would like to support this channel, consider supporting me on Patreon:
(Patreon: Patreon: geologyhub)
Google Earth imagery used in this video: ©Google & Data Providers
This video is protected under "fair use". If you see an image and/or video which is your own in this video, and/or think my discussion of a scientific paper (and/or discussion/mentioning of the data/information within a scientific paper) does not fall under the fair use doctrine, and wish for it to be censored or removed, contact me by email at geologyhubyt@gmail.com and I will make the necessary changes.
Various licenses used in sections of this video (not the entire video, this video as a whole does not completely fall under one of these licenses) &/or in this video's thumbnail image (and this list does not include every license used in this video &/or thumbnail image):
Public Domain: https://creativecommons.org/publicdom...
CC BY 2.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/...
CC BY 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/...
Sources/Citations:
[1] van Dijk, E., Jungclaus, J., Lorenz, S., Timmreck, C., and Krüger, K.: Was there a volcanic-induced long-lasting cooling over the Northern Hemisphere in the mid-6th–7th century?, Clim. Past, 18, 1601–1623, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-18-1601-2022, 2022., CC BY 4.0.
[2] Brian R. Jicha, Brad S. Singer; Volcanic history and magmatic evolution of Seguam Island, Aleutian Island arc, Alaska. GSA Bulletin 2006;; 118 (7-8): 805–822. doi: https://doi.org/10.1130/B25861.1
[3] Sigl, M., Winstrup, M., McConnell, J. et al. Timing and climate forcing of volcanic eruptions for the past 2,500 years. Nature 523, 543–549 (2015). This paper was used to cite the hypothesis for the multisource 535-536 eruptions from a volcano in Canada, California, and the Aleutians.
[4] U.S. Geological Survey
[5] Alaska Volcano Observatory
[6] Withoos, Yannick (2022). A study of the stratigraphy, lithofacies and geochemistry of Taal Caldera Volcano, Philippines, and its implications for the understanding of flooded caldera volcanoes. University of Leicester. Thesis. https://doi.org/10.25392/leicester.da...
[7] NOAA, https://gml.noaa.gov/grad/mloapt.html
[8] Tebbens, Leo. “Tephrochronological Evidence for the Late Holocene Eruption History of El Chichón Volcano, Mexico.” Geofísica Internacional, Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico, 2009.
[9] Kees Nooren, Wim Z. Hoek, Hans van der Plicht, Michael Sigl, Manfred J. van Bergen, Didier Galop, Nuria Torrescano-Valle, Gerald Islebe, Annika Huizinga, Tim Winkels, Hans Middelkoop; Explosive eruption of El Chichón volcano (Mexico) disrupted 6th century Maya civilization and contributed to global cooling. Geology 2017;; 45 (2): 175–178. doi: https://doi.org/10.1130/G38739.1
[10] University of Alaska Fairbanks, Geophysical Institute
[11] Alaska Division of Geological & Geophysical Surveys
[12] Dallas Abbott, John Barron, Andrzej Witkowski, "Enduring Mysteries What Really Happened in 536 A.D.? Why Did Trees Grow Slowly for 20 Years Afterward?"
[13] VEIs, dates/years, composition, tephra layer name, DRE estimates, and bulk tephra volume estimates for volcanic eruptions shown in this video which were assigned a VEI 4 or larger (with the exception of Mount Tambora's tephra volume & hypothesized eruption sizes) are sourced from the LaMEVE database (British Geological Survey © UKRI), https://www2.bgs.ac.uk/vogripa/view/c..., Used with Permission
0:00 Decade of Hell
1:22 Link to a Volcano in Canada
3:15 Volcanic Winter
4:40 Link to Plague of Justinian
5:43 Suspected Eruption Sizes
7:20 Debunked Former Candidates
8:07 536 CE Mystery Eruption
8:49 California Volcano
10:29 Canada Eruption
12:07 Aleutian Volcano
13:40 540 CE Mystery Eruption
15:05 547 CE Mystery Eruption
16:04 Conclusion
However, I do want to note a few things:
1) The identity of the three 536 CE mystery eruption volcanoes is unclear except for Mono-Inyo. I simply picked what I thought was the best candidates given my knowledge of the area for the other two, which we only know the general regions of.
2) There is clear cut evidence that the Mayan civilization was unusually hard hit by... some volcanic eruption in either 535/536 CE or 540 CE. I am not sure what to make of this, but the evidence is fairly conclusive. However, El Chichon, while it did erupt in 539 or 540 CE, that eruption was at least 50 times too small to represent the culprit we are looking for. I wonder if any other central American volcanoes in the general vicinity produced some caldera whose age we do not know yet, or if there is some yet to be identified plinian eruption. The Maya do not just seem to be most affected by the nature of their society in 535-540 CE, but rather some form of proximity to a major eruption.
3) The Taal volcano is quite a weak candidate, but it was the only somewhat plausible volcano I could attempt to identify. The reality is, it could be some unknown, understudied, or remote Indo-Pacific volcano. I do not see any evidence of Azores, Canary Islands, or Cape Verde eruptions being the culprit for 540 CE.
4) I really want to perform a multiweek geologic field study (with permission from relevant authorities) of the Edziza-Spectrum range volcanoes in the future. However, this seems like a far future goal at this time as the sheer costs of such a study would be well into the 5 figure range (largely due to the cost of helicopter flights (yes, plural) and rock sample testing costs.
Any questions? Thoughts?