Volcanic eruptions in Mesoamerica

For those who are familiar with the Book of Mormon, they will recall the dramatic destruction recorded in Chapter 8 of Third Nephi (https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/bofm/3-ne/8). Based on the calendars kept around the Mediterranean, this destruction should have occurred around 35 AD. The Book of Mormon describes the destruction as including a great storm with sharp lightning bolts, land movements, water rising up and covering buildings, earthquakes, broken-up rocks and roads, whirlwinds that carried people away, and a temporary "vapor of darkness" that prevented lighting fires. These are things that can happen during a violent volcanic eruption. For instance, here is an article on volcanic lightning: https://www.theguardian.com/news/2026/apr/23/volcanic-lightning-mystery-scientists-breakthrough-carbon-electrical-charge. And here is a webpage--https://volcanoes.usgs.gov/volcanic_ash/ash_particle_size.html--describing how volcanic ash is basically tiny airborne pieces of rock and volcanic glass, not the ash we generally associate with wildfires, and so is capable of smothering small fires. 

I am always curious about physical evidence that matches up with events described in the Book of Mormon. There are two volcanic events that look like they match up with the descriptions in 3 Nephi 8, but they are currently estimated to have occurred 200-400 years too late for the Book of Mormon timeline. One is the huge volcanic eruption of Tierra Blanca Joven (TBJ) Eruption (Ilopango), which dropped a thick layer of ash, displaced people, and destroyed settlements. The second is the submersion of a city under Lake Atitlán in Guatemala by an eruption of the Atitlán volcano. (Another member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saint already blogged about this submerged city at https://saintsunscripted.com/faith-and-beliefs/the-restoration-of-christs-church/book-of-mormon-samabaj-evidence-sunken-cities/). 

The issue of timing remains. I wonder whether we are measuring time properly in Central America when we do carbon-14 dating. Here is the timing information I found online for Ilopango:

The massive Tierra Blanca eruption (14C dated 260 ± 114 CE) destroyed early Mayan cities and resulted in the formation of the Ilopango Caldera (Sheets, 1979). AMS radiocarbon dating combined with careful analysis of previous dates provided a weighted age of 1605 ± 20 yrs BP (Dull et al., 2001). This has a 2-sigma calendar age of 408-536 CE, with the probability distribution weighted toward the early part of this range, between 415 and 476 CE. Dull et al. (2001) noted evidence for sudden evacuation of archaeological sites over broad areas after about 400 CE, and Sheets (2004) estimated 30,000 fatalities within the area swept by pyroclastic flows. The 71 km3 airfall tephra volume (Kutterolf et al., 2008) does not include the unknown volume of pyroclastic flows.

(https://volcano.si.edu/volcano.cfm?vn=343060)

Radiocarbon dating is done by measuring the ratio of radioactive carbon-14 to non-radioactive carbon 12. But, during a large volcanic explosion, a very large amount of old, non-radioactive carbon-12 can be ejected into the air, which I would think would make it problematic to rely on radiocarbon dating for a place as continuously volcanically active as Central America has been and still is.

It seems simplistic to estimate ancient timing based on only one factor or to use multiple factors without being able to take into account whether the factors were variable and/or interdependent over 1500 years ago. Events like supernovas can increase carbon-14 (see https://www.syfy.com/syfy-wire/supernovas-have-left-bizarre-evidence-on-earth). Maybe some cosmic events increased the amount of carbon-14 in the air over central America 2000 years ago; 3 Nephi Chapter 1 does record a cosmic event at that time that resulted in the western hemisphere experiencing a night that was bright like it had been day, and that then left a lingering "star" for some time afterward.

Tree-ring data, which is often used to calibrate carbon-14 dating, isn't possible in Central America for dates going back more than 400 years; they just don't have trees that old to use.

Someday we'll probably get told that scientists have changed their calculated date windows for large volcanic eruptions in Central America. I recognize that I am biased on this issue by my beliefs. I think there is much in the Book of Mormon that accurately describes the Preclassic culture and geography of central America. And whenever someone brings up a supposed mistake that they think discredits the Book of Mormon as a historical record, there is usually a well-founded apologetic argument as to why it's not actually a mistake.