Vent fluids collected from the Knipovich Ridge contain unexpectedly high concentrations of hydrogen, potentially produced by the degradation of organic matter.
lava & magma
Posted inFeatures
Discovering Venus on Iceland
Scientists trekked across Icelandic lava flows that served as stand-ins for Venus’s volcanic landscapes, testing tools and methods the upcoming VERITAS mission will use when it reaches the planet.
Posted inNews
A “Lava World” Unexpectedly Hosts an Atmosphere
TOI-561 b, an exoplanet roughly 275 light-years away, seems to have a thick atmosphere despite being wildly irradiated by its host star.
Posted inScience Updates
Lessons and Lingering Questions from Collapsing Basaltic Calderas
Research into the hazardous collapses of basaltic volcanoes has revealed common physical processes, but addressing remaining questions requires learning more from historical events.
Posted inNews
Crystal Clusters Contain Clues to Magma’s Past and Future Eruptions
It’s now become easier to forecast the next eruption of Alaska’s Bogoslof volcano. New research led by Pavel Izbekov, a volcanologist at the Alaska Volcano Observatory, is applying the foundations of diffusion chronometry—the study of chemical change in crystals over time—to a new eruption forecasting approach. Izbekov’s team used crystal clusters and their collective records […]
Posted inEditors' Highlights
Complex Plumbing Dynamics for Kīlauea Volcano
A new analysis of subtle seismic velocity changes provides insights into the coupling of magma reservoirs of Hawaiian volcanoes.
Posted inEditors' Highlights
The Invisible Brake: Near‑Surface Cooling Stalls Giant Dyke Swarms
Sill-based pressure reconstructions show Mull’s giant dykes had eruption-capable pressures, but near‑surface groundwater cooling increased magma viscosity and stalled lateral propagation.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Webb Telescope Spies Io’s Volcanic Activity and Sulfurous Atmosphere
New James Webb Space Telescope images reveal cooling lava, volcanic sulfur monoxide gas, and sulfur gas emissions created by interactions between plasma and the moon’s atmosphere.
Posted inEditors' Highlights
Three Magmatic Pulses Helped Rifting Transform into Seafloor Spreading
A new geochronology of Mesozoic magmatism along the eastern margin of North America shows that continental breakup involved three distinct pulses of magmatism that localized extensional deformation.
Posted inEditors' Highlights
Coupled Isotopes Reveal Sedimentary Sources of Rare Metal Granites
Using coupled isotopes, a new study shows that a class of economically important granites are derived by sediment melting without mantle input.