The history of aluminum-rich basalts in Mare Frigoris may help scientists better understand the evolution of the lunar mantle.
lava & magma
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Hawaii’s Swelling Lava Lake Charts a Volcano’s Hidden Plumbing
Geophysicists used unique seismic signatures to track the cyclic rise and fall of lava inside Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park's Overlook crater.
Posted inScience Updates
Team Gets Firsthand Look at the New Holuhraun Eruption Site
Iceland 2015: Field Workshop on Active Lava–Water Interactions; Holuhraun, Iceland, 20–28 August 2015
Posted inNews
Earth's Water Came from Space Dust During Planetary Formation
A new analysis of lava from the deep mantle indicates that water-soaked dust particles, rather than a barrage of icy comets, asteroids, or other bodies, delivered water to the newly forming Earth.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Dating Lava Domes in California's Salton Trough
Scientists use a trio of techniques to resolve the age and duration of rhyolite volcanism of the Salton Buttes.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Evidence for Volcanoes on Venus
Infrared light from the planet's surface shows hot spots that might be caused by lava.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
A Magmatic Seafloor Source at an Ultraslow-Spreading Ridge
An ultraslow-spreading stretch of the Southwest Indian Ridge is thicker than expected: both tectonic and volcanic processes may be feeding the growing seafloor there.
Posted inFeatures
What Lies Deep in the Mantle Below?
For decades, scientists have probed Earth's remote mantle by analyzing how seismic waves of distant earthquakes pass through it. But we are still challenged by the technique's limitations.
Posted inAGU News
Ghiorso and Sack Receive 2014 Norman L. Bowen Award
Mark Ghiorso and Richard O. Sack received 2014 Norman L. Bowen Awards at the 2014 American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting, held 15–19 December in San Francisco, Calif. The award recognizes outstanding contributions to volcanology, geochemistry, or petrology.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Found: The Submarine Source of an 1891 Eruption Near Sicily
Analysis of a volcano may help explain why some eruptions produce volcanic balloons–hollow chunks of lava that encase a gas-filled cavity.