Two studies, conducted 40 years apart, show how combining field observations and thermal modeling can reconstruct the history of massive lava flows and how they altered the surrounding landscape.
basalts
Posted inEditors' Highlights
Machine Learning Looks Anew at Isotope Ratios in Oceanic Basalts
While past attempts to define isotopic endmembers and assign them a geodynamic significance ended in controversy, a machine-learning clustering algorithm offers a solution to this classical problem.
Posted inNews
Isótopos de criptón proporcionan nuevos indicios sobre el pasado de los planetas
Para determinar cómo los elementos cruciales para el desarrollo de la vida llegaron a la Tierra, los científicos estudian los gases nobles. Actualmente, métodos mejorados traen consigo nuevos indicios a partir del criptón, el gas noble más enigmático.
Posted inNews
This One Simple Trick Helps Us Understand How Much Water Is in Martian Lavas
Understanding how much water is in Martian magma is vital for understanding whether the Red Planet had seas in its early history.
Posted inEditors' Highlights
Why Do Arc Volcanoes Deform Less Than Ocean Island Volcanoes?
Volcanic ground deformation is not simply correlated with erupted volume. Researchers propose that high concentrations of magmatic volatiles make systems more compressible and suppress deformation.
Posted inNews
Krypton Isotopes Provide New Clues to Planets’ Pasts
To trace how crucial ingredients for life arrived at Earth, scientists track noble gases. Now, improved methods are drawing new clues from krypton, the most cryptic of noble gases.
Posted inNews
The Surprising Greenhouse Gas That Caused Volcanic Summer
Extended periods of volcanism known as flood basalt eruptions lead to volcanic winters, which are often followed by an extended period of warming. But it was more than just carbon dioxide that warmed the globe.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Western U.S. “Megafloods” Might Not Have Been So Mega
The flooding that carved eastern Washington State 20,000 to 12,000 years ago could have been 80% smaller than the canyons’ volume today.
Posted inNews
Roman-Era Millstone and Mixer Makers Knew Their Rocks
The geochemistry of basalt millstones and mixers from the city of Volubilis suggests a local origin—and that rocks were picked for specific purposes, from crushing olives to mixing dough.
Posted inEditors' Highlights
A Novel Thermobarometer to Infer Mantle Melting Conditions
The algorithm RevPET automatically reverses the complex multi-phase fractional crystallization path of oceanic basalts and offers new perspectives for advancing mantle thermobarometry.