It is a long known fact that a supervolcano having massive amount of hot, partly molten rock, is present beneath the Yellowstone National Park. The volcano has not erupted in the last 70,000 years, but researchers have said that there may be a way to predict when the eruption can take place.

Christy Till, a professor in ASU's School of Earth and Space Exploration, has found a way as to when Yellowstone might erupt. "We find that the last time Yellowstone erupted after sitting dormant for a long time, the eruption was triggered within 10 months of new magma moving into the base of the volcano", said Till.

He also affirmed that the volcano has erupted other times when it was closer to 10 years mark. The researchers have based their findings on the basis of the assessment of the past of the volcano as well as advanced microanalytical techniques.

The researcher has also taken the help of NanoSIMS ion probe measurements in order to know about the chemical concentration gradients in magma crystals. It allows a calculation of the timescale between reheating and eruption for the magma.

It shall however, be noted that the eruption's countdown starts when there is an evidence of magma moving into the crust. The researchers said that the eruption that took place at the start of Yellowstone's latest volcanic cycle happened within 10 months after reheating of crystallized magma reservoir.

Similar reheating process could end around 70,000 years of volcanic repose leading to a future eruption over similar timescales.