Confusion over the meaning of "magma" can generate popular misperceptions, including a nonexistent molten sea underneath Yellowstone National Park. We propose a different definition.
volcanoes
Posted inScience Updates
Probing the History of New Zealand's Orakei Maar
A team of scientists drilled into the bed within a northern New Zealand explosion crater lake to gain insights into volcanic hazards and past climates.
Posted inEditors' Vox
Volcanic Java and Climate Change
An account of a geophysicist's recent trip to Indonesia wouldn't be complete without intrigue and elucidations about what Java, climate change, and Butch Cassidy all have in common.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Does Water Vapor from Volcanic Eruptions Cause Climate Warming?
By studying past volcanic eruptions, scientists find that the amount of water vapor reaching the stratosphere during moderately explosive eruptions may not be contributing to the greenhouse effect.
Posted inNews
Tanzanian Volcanoes May Hoard Helium Ready for the Taking
Sweet spots of volcanic heat that are not too close to active eruptions may hold the world's richest reservoirs of the scientifically and medically important gas helium.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Volcanic Eruptions Stir an Already Complex Atmosphere
A study of Earth's atmospheric response to major volcanic eruptions seeks to reconcile contradictions between observations and climate models.
Posted inScience Updates
Cameroon's Lake Nyos Gas Burst: 30 Years Later
9th Workshop of the IAVCEI-Commission on Volcanic Lakes (CVL9); Cameroon, 14–24 March 2016
Posted inResearch Spotlights
A New Tool to Better Forecast Volcanic Unrest
In a retrospective study of volcanic unrest at Indonesia's Kawah Ijen, a new model was able to pick up on the rising probability of eruption 2 months before authorities were aware of the risk.
Posted inNews
Telica Volcano Rested Quietly Right Before Spewing Ash
The length of quiet periods predicts the severity of eruption events, according to a new model that might soon help forecast explosions worldwide.
Posted inNews
Eyjafjallajökull Gave Lava and Ice Researchers an Eyeful
New insights from the 2010 eruption may help volcanologists determine how glaciers shaped ancient lava flows.