(light music)
- Welcome everybody back
to New Evidences for Joseph Smith,
YouTube channel, we have a update for you
in The Book of Mormon
Metals Map Geography.
We're going to take a look today
at volcanic destruction
that was described in
the Third Book of Nephi
in the eighth and ninth chapters.
What we want to do is we
want to discover if by using
the Smithsonian's Global
Volcanism Program database,
if we can show that volcanic destructions
as described in Third Nephi
chapter eight and nine,
which occurred at the beginning of 34 A.D.
Whether or not that was plausible.
We also want to know if the
Book of Mormon Metals Map
Geography is plausible.
We're going to find that the answers
to those two questions is yes.
We also want to ask,
is the Heartland Model
of Book of Mormon Geography plausible
given these volcanic eruptions.
And it appears to be very unlikely.
Just to remind you,
when we did the analysis
of where the metals were found
in the American continent
in the abundance that The
Book of Mormon talks about,
in the lands that are referred
to in The Book of Mormon,
we only found one plausible solution.
And that was that the
Land of First Inheritance
would have been in Ecuador,
the Land of Nephi, up and to the East
would have been in Colombia.
And then Zarahemla,
with its gold and silver
would have been within
the Central American area.
And then the Land of Moron
where the Jaredite kings lived
would have been in Guadalajara, Mexico.
We also see there that
the small neck of land
or the narrow strip of wilderness,
referred to in Alma 22,
fits very nicely with
the Isthmus of Panama.
Along with then the narrow neck of land
with that narrow pass by the West Sea
being a good fit for the
Isthmus of Tehuantepec in Southern Mexico.
We also see that this
Metals Map also agreed
with the prophet Joseph Smith's writings
in the Times and Seasons.
He had said that Lehi
landed a little south
of the Isthmus of Darien
which for us today is
the Isthmus of Panama.
And so that fits nicely with
Ecuador as First Inheritance,
where Lehi landed.
Also the narrow neck of land
which embraces Central America
is obviously there.
And he also said that Zarahemla, the city,
stood upon Guatemala.
And so we find that the
Metals Map Geography
does fit also then with
Joseph Smith's comments
in the Times and Seasons.
All right so let's look at what happened
in this area as described at the time
of Christ's crucifixion.
In 34 A.D. we have that described
in Third Nephi chapter eight and nine.
There were a great many cities destroyed
and many people were killed.
There was explosive volcanic eruptions
that explain the great
and terrible tempest,
the thunder, the shaking
of the whole Earth,
and the thick vapor of darkness
that smothered all light for three days
So when we look at these areas
and divide the cities up into
the Metals Map Geography,
we see Zarahemla and the
Guatemala area that was burned.
Moroni also in that area
that was sunk into the sea.
We see down in the Columbia area
there was a great and terrible destruction
in the land southward.
The city of Jerusalem is named.
It was buried and covered with water.
We know that it was not
far from the city Nephi
or the lands of Mormon,
think of the waters of Mormon,
the land of Helam where
Alma and the church settled
when they left the city of Nephi.
And the land of Amulon.
And then in Central Mexico and North,
a more great and terrible
destruction occurred
in the land northward.
We know that Jacobugath,
King Jacob was the king
of the Gadianton Robbers
that had escaped from Zarahemla
and established the city up north,
we know that that was burned.
There are other places also listed,
but they are un-located.
We don't know where they were.
Now let's look at plausible
explosive eruptions
that could have occurred
in 34 A.D. in the Americas.
I want you to pay particular
attention to the red column.
That shows the Volcanic Explosivity Index.
For example the very first
one is volcano Churchill
that had a VEI of six.
That could have occurred in 34 A.D.
Now that was in Alaska.
Now if you continue down you'll see
with the orange highlights,
the volcanoes that were in
the Central American area
or in the Northern part of South America
and you'll see that those
specifically are in Ecuador.
Those then are in orange.
So you have explosive eruptions
that are possible to
have occurred in 34 A.D.
from a VEI 6 all the way
down to the bottom there
the Three Sisters in Oregon at a 2.
Now how big are these eruptions?
Well if you remember Mount St. Helens
when it blew up, and I do,
that was a VEI 4.
See it pictured there on the slide.
Now there was also
recently a VEI 6 and that was in 1991,
and that was Pinatubo in the
Philippines pictured here.
Now that means that it
was ten times the size
of St. Helens.
Those two pictures on the
right are of Pinatubo.
Here up in the right side of the screen
you'll see the VEI scale more specifically
with some of those
mountains there mentioned.
Now if we go to the plausible
non-explosive eruptions
in 34 A.D.
We also see a significant number of them
in the Central American area.
And also one in Ecuador.
Notice also that there's four
of them that are undersea.
And that they are on the edge
of the Pacific and Cocos Plates
just off the Pacific
coast of Central America.
That's interesting.
But these were not explosive eruptions.
Now if Mount Pinatubo for example,
which was a VEI 6,
if it had erupted in
let's say in Nicaragua,
how would that have
affected Central America
and Northern South America?
Well what you see in the boxes there
is an estimation of the same volume
of land mass that was covered by ash
by Mount Pinatubo.
In its case it covered
all of the Philippines
and across the South
China Sea into Vietnam.
So the Pinatubo ash fall
covered 2 million square miles.
That was about a thousand
miles on one side
by two thousand on the other.
So you can see where the
ash fall might have fallen
if a Pinatubo-type eruption
had occurred in Central America
with winds varying all the
way up to 34 kilometers
or 21 miles high
which was the height of
Pinatubo's explosion.
So you can see that that would
have a significant effect.
All right now let's look at the eruptions
that could have occurred
in 34 A.D. in that area.
First of all we have the
four undersea eruptions
off the coast of Mexico
and Central America.
That's interesting because it suggests
that there was some plate
tectonics going on at the time.
There were three volcanoes
that erupted explosively
that could have occurred
in 34 A.D. in Ecuador.
Colopaxi, Guagua Pichincha,
forgive my pronunciation.
Both of those were VEI
4s, significant eruptions.
And also Tungurahua which was a 3,
and it erupted perhaps in
that time period twice.
And those by the way
were very close together
in the area of the capital
city today of Quito, Ecuador.
All right up in Costa
Rica there's a possibility
of Irazu which was a VEI 3.
But close by there was also Arenal
which was a VEI 4.
Further north on the border
between Mexico and Guatemala
you have Tacana, that
was a VEI 4 eruption.
A little further north
near Veracruz you have
Orizaba which was a VEI 3.
And then just south of Mexico City,
Chichinautzin, that was a VEI 3.
However, continuing the possible
explosive eruptions in
34 A.D. in this area
there's Popcatepetl
which was a VEI 5.
A little further south from Mexico City.
So that would have been very significant.
That's a Pinatubo-type eruption.
But then look at this one.
Apoyeque in Nicaragua which was a VEI 6.
That would be ten times
the size of the eruption
of Pinatubo or Popocatepetl
further north in Mexico.
So you can see that
potentially it's plausible
that there well could have been,
as The Book of Mormon described,
a massive series of eruptions
that caused great destruction in the land.
Great darkness for three days.
Many cities buried.
Many people killed.
They couldn't light any fires.
And so this was very common to describe
when you're talking about an
explosive volcanic eruption.
So it appears plausible.
Now science would not
suggest that this is probable
without some historic record.
And of course most scientists today
will not accept The Book of
Mormon as a historic record.
But The Book of Mormon does claim
that there was such destruction
that occurred in 34 A.D.
So was it plausible?
Yes.
And does it fit the Metals Map Geography?
It certainly does.
To include the eruptions
possibly in Ecuador.
So there we have our conclusion then.
Are they plausible?
As we said, yes.
Is the Book of Mormon Metals
Map Geography plausible?
Yes.
Because it now includes
the city of Jerusalem
which would have, in our model, be down
in the Colombia Ecuador area.
And is the Heartland Model
of Book of Mormon Geography plausible?
It appears very unlikely
that that would be the case.
The Mississippi and Ohio river valleys
may have been marginally affected
by Churchill which was a VEI 6
and Wrangell which was a VEI 4,
both of which erupted in
that time period in Alaska.
But the only one in the lower 48
that was explosive during that time period
could have been Three Sisters in Oregon
and it was only a VEI 2.
We know for example that St. Helens
which is also on that West coast area,
when it went as a VEI 5,
the darkness effect
extended all the way over
into Spokane and Eastern Washington.
So there you have it.
Perhaps additional evidence
to support the Metals Map Geography.
Thank you very much.
