Large-scale lava experiments are helping scientists imagine how metallic lava would flow across and shape a landscape, either on Earth or on a distant asteroid.
lava & magma
Posted inNews
Insights from the Depths of Hawaii’s Kīlauea Volcano
One of the world’s best monitored and most active volcanos still has secrets to yield, and researchers are turning to vapor bubbles trapped in melt inclusions to find them.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Antarctic Lava Yields Clues to Earth’s Past Magnetic Field
A new analysis suggests that a widely accepted approximation of ancient magnetic field strength may be less accurate for the past 5 million years than previously thought.
Posted inNews
Corn Syrup Reveals How Bubbles Affect Lava’s Flow
New research shows that huge bubbles can change the viscosity of lava and drastically affect how it moves across the landscape.
Posted inScience Updates
A Fresh Perspective on Intricate Volcanic Plumbing Systems
Combining commercial hydrocarbon and mineral exploration data with novel academic research and modeling capabilities helps answer key questions about underground magma systems.
Posted inNews
New Volcano, Old Caldera
Researchers suggest a magma chamber sits within an old submarine caldera structure that extends into the mantle. Nearby, a new underwater volcano emerged with a flurry of seismicity.
Posted inFeatures
From Lava to Water: A New Era at Kīlauea
At Kīlauea Volcano, scientists are using unoccupied aircraft to monitor the new water lake, a possible harbinger of explosive activity, that formed after the volcano’s 2018 eruption.
Posted inEditors' Highlights
Gas-Rich, Transcrustal Magma Storage in the Main Ethiopian Rift
Increments of melt trapped in crystals reveal upper crustal magmas in the Main Ethiopian Rift are rich in water and other volatiles, leading to extensive diffuse degassing and hydrothermal systems.
Posted inNews
New Evidence of a Giant Lava Lamp Beneath the Ancient Pacific
Seismic surveys find evidence of a superplume in Earth’s mantle that fueled ancient megaeruptions in the Pacific.
Posted inNews
Are Geysers a Signal of Magma Intrusion Under Yellowstone?
Steamboat Geyser, the world’s tallest, is in the midst of one of its largest periods of activity. Is it linked to new magma intruding under the Yellowstone caldera?