The roots of volcanoes remain enigmatic, largely because geophysical and petrological models remain rudimentary. Scientific drilling and exploration can help.
lava & magma
Homemade Lava Flows Fuse Science with Art on Video
An artist’s impulse to recreate natural landscapes leads to fiery scientific explorations that elucidate the behavior of erupting lava and the solid shapes it becomes.
Can Volcanic Gas Levels Predict an Eruption?
Researchers test whether the changing composition of volcanic gas can signal a coming eruption in Chile’s Villarrica volcano.
Understanding Kamchatka’s Extraordinary Volcano Cluster
An international seismological collaboration in Kamchatka, Russia, investigates the driving forces of one of the world’s largest, most active volcano clusters.
An Improved Model of How Magma Moves Through the Crust
Researchers have developed a new numerical model that can, for the first time, solve for both the speed and the path of a propagating dike.
Balloons of Lava Bubble into the Ocean from Seafloor Blisters
These peculiar features of submarine volcanic eruptions could be the result of undersea lava lakes.
Tracking Volcanic Bombs in Three Dimensions
A new method allows researchers to precisely track in three dimensions bits of fragmented magma as they are expelled in explosive volcanic eruptions.
Pulses of Rising Magma in Sierra Nevada's Past
A detailed study of layered igneous material at California's Fisher Lake offers a novel approach to identifying the pathways and timescales of individual magma pulses in volcanic arcs.
Pinpointing the Trigger Behind Yellowstone's Last Supereruption
Geologists suggest that mixing of magma melt pockets could have caused the explosion a little more than 600,000 years ago.
Scientists Offer New Explanation for Island's Unexpected Uplift
Researchers developed a new timeline for the rise, fall, and rise again of a puzzling island in the Azores.