Scientists have drilled into Earth’s crust for decades to understand natural hazards, past climates, energy resources, and more. They’ve only scratched the surface of what we can learn.
volcanoes
Volcanism Could Lead to Less, Not More, Atmospheric CO₂
The atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide temporarily fell by 50% immediately preceding a period of intense volcanism, likely because of increased weathering, new results reveal.
Tracing the Eruption History of a Volcano in a Tourist Hot Spot
Sediment cores extracted from deep under the Aegean Sea reveal the timing of explosive eruptions of Kolumbo Volcano and a potential link to neighboring Santorini.
New Evidence Points to Venusian Lava Tubes, and They’re Really Big
Researchers bring new life to 30-year-old Magellan data to unearth the first direct evidence of the long-hypothesized structures.
A Mid-Ocean Ridge in the Norwegian Sea Pumps Out Hydrogen
Vent fluids collected from the Knipovich Ridge contain unexpectedly high concentrations of hydrogen, potentially produced by the degradation of organic matter.
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.
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.
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 […]
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.
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.
