Hydrous silica-rich magmas can degas through connected bubble pathways when as little as 20% crystals are present, influencing transitions from explosive, Vulcanian-style eruptions to lava effusion.
experiments
Posted inEditors' Highlights
Follow The ‘Hum’: The Seismic Signal of Pacific Ocean Storms
Have you ever noticed that the Earth is humming? Seismologists have! Discover how individual storms in the northern Pacific Ocean generate a long-period seismic signal.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
In a Submarine Trough, Permeable Rocks May Lead to Quakes
In Japan’s submarine Nankai Trough, rock permeability is much higher when measured at larger scales, likely because of big fractures and faults that are not captured at small scales.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
How Are Sediment Pulses Generated?
A new long-term flume experiment shows that bed load gravel travels downstream in recurring, 10-hour pulses even when water flow and sediment supply are constant.
Posted inEditors' Highlights
Acoustic Monitoring of Inelastic Compaction in Porous Limestone
During triaxial compression experiments, acoustic monitoring reveals compaction localization in a high porosity limestone, accompanied by a significant decrease in P-wave velocity.
Posted inNews
Homemade “Spatter Bombs” Can Reveal Volcanic Secrets
Researchers use trial and error to develop a technique to create volcanic lava bombs.
Posted inNews
Offshore Islands Might Not Shield Coastlines from Tsunami Waves
Rather than offering protection, islands sometimes cause increased wave run-up on shorelines, experiments in a wave laboratory suggest.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Probing the Grain-Scale Processes That Drive Plate Tectonics
New experimental data suggest that rock composition may play a critical role in forming and perpetuating shear zones.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Lab Experiments Show How Fault Surfaces Get Groovy
Formation of nanometer-scale quartz beads could promote linear “slickenline” patterns and facilitate fault movement.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Retracing the First Spaceborne Electric Field Measurement
Fifty years ago, a sounding rocket made history by taking the first measurement of an electric field in space. What techniques were used to capture this data?