Volcano on EARTH Magazine

Travels in Geology: Mid-ocean volcanic excursion: The calderas and caldeiras of the Azores

Fri, 11 Jan 2019 16:32:53 -0500

One of the most beautiful places in the Azores, the caldera of Sete Cidades is ringed by hiking trails and trachytic pumice. Credit: Kat Cantner and Colin McFadden.

In the middle of the Atlantic, 1,600 kilometers off the coast of Portugal, lie the Azores, an archipelago comprising nine remote islands, each with its own history, culture and geology worth exploring. Visitors to São Miguel, the largest island, can bathe in a hot spot in the ocean thanks to an unusual geothermal outflow. On Faial, they can view remnants of the most recent eruption that devastated the island. Meanwhile, Santa Maria offers opportunities to see the only fossils in these volcanic islands.

Quirky lunar swirls expose the moon's secret past

Fri, 21 Dec 2018 11:09:44 -0500

The bright and dark shading characteristic of lunar swirls is seen in this oblique view looking east over the Reiner Gamma formation. The image was taken by the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter. Credit: NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center/Arizona State University.

Lunar observers have long noted mysterious “swirls,” patterns of alternating bright and dark shading, adorning the lunar surface. The popular Reiner Gamma formation — first described by Renaissance astronomers and now beloved by backyard astronomy enthusiasts — is one such lunar swirl.

Ecuadorian volcano plays its pipe

Mon, 10 Sep 2018 11:44:11 -0400

The once-visible floor of Cotopaxi's summit crater dropped out of sight after the 2015 eruptions. Credit: both: Silvia Vallejo Vargas/Instituto Geofisico, Escuela Politécnica Nacional.

An active volcano in central Ecuador may be the largest musical instrument on Earth: After eruptions in 2015, Cotopaxi’s newly configured crater started emitting distinctly musical rumblings that scientists may be able to use to monitor future activity at the volcano.

Down to Earth With: Volcanologist Scott Rowland

Fri, 03 Aug 2018 12:58:11 -0400

Volcanologist Scott Rowland, who studies Hawaiian lava flows and also works as a volcanologist on the Mars Curiosity Rover team, with the testbed rover at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif. Credit: Megan Kennedy-Wu.

Hawaii seems like an ideal place to nurture a budding volcanologist. Kilauea, on the Big Island, is one of the world’s most active volcanoes. And the terms used to describe the main types of basaltic lava flows — aa and pahoehoe — are Hawaiian words.

Searching for the volcanic origins of iron ore

Tue, 03 Jul 2018 11:46:10 -0400

To replicate conditions inside magma chambers, samples were encapsulated in gold foil and subjected to temperatures up to 1,040 degrees Celsius and pressures up to a thousand times atmospheric pressure. Credit: ©Lennart A. Fischer.

Most iron ore comes from sedimentary deposits. However, a sizeable minority is mined from volcanic rocks, including those found along the Coastal Cordillera of northern Chile, and in Kiruna, Sweden.

Plumbing Masaya's lava lake

Tue, 03 Jul 2018 11:17:16 -0400

In recent years, volcanic activity at Nicaragua’s Masaya Volcano has been relatively benign, with small eruptive episodes occasionally producing a lava lake in a summit crater that has become one of the country’s top tourist attractions. But Masaya’s explosive eruptive history suggests that the volcano could someday threaten the surrounding towns and the capital city of Managua, 20 kilometers to the north. Two new studies explored novel ways to monitor activity at the volcano and have revealed new information about Masaya’s multiple magma chambers.

Hazards in paradise: Indonesia prepares for natural disasters

Tue, 05 Jun 2018 15:07:47 -0400

Mount Agung on Bali erupts in November 2017. It is one of nearly 80 volcanoes in Indonesia that have erupted in recorded history. Credit: Michael W. Ishak, CC BY-SA 4.0.

With a little imagination, it’s not hard to see a natural hazard map of Indonesia as a dartboard with many bull’s-eyes. Throw a dart anywhere in the vicinity of the 18,000 islands that make up the Indonesian Archipelago, and it will almost certainly land close to more than one active volcano, and near areas severely impacted by past earthquakes and tsunamis, as well as dozens of fires, floods, tornadoes and landslides, which all routinely disrupt this country’s lush beauty.

Unprecedented exploration of undersea volcano yields surprising results

Tue, 10 Apr 2018 11:14:14 -0400

Lava from the 2012 eruption of the Havre underwater volcano is shown in shades of red in this high-resolution model. Credit: University of Tasmania/Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.

Underwater volcanic eruptions happen every day, but because of the vastness of the ocean and the great depth of water blocking the view, catching an active eruption is a game of chance. In fact, the largest-known underwater eruption of the past century was something of a fluke discovery. In July 2012, an airline passenger spotted a huge pumice raft floating in the South Pacific during a flight to Auckland, New Zealand. Upon landing, she alerted researchers, and scientists confirmed the 400-square-kilometer pumice raft near the Havre Seamount using NASA satellite imagery.

Looking under Lusi: Indonesian mud volcano linked to nearby volcanic complex

Fri, 12 Jan 2018 14:52:03 -0500

The Lusi mud eruption began in May 2006 and has continued unabated since. Currently, it spews about 80,000 cubic meters of mud per day. Credit: Adriano Mazzini/Lusi Lab Project.

On May 29, 2006, a massive mud eruption in East Java, Indonesia, began spewing as much as 180,000 cubic meters — the volume of 72 Olympic-sized swimming pools — of hot muddy debris each day from several vents, quickly burying nearby villages and forcing the relocation of more than 60,000 people. Almost 12 years later, the eruption, nicknamed Lusi, continues to produce more than 80,000 cubic meters of mud a day, and nobody knows how long the oozing will continue. In a new study, however, scientists have gotten the clearest look yet of the roots of the mud volcano and its possible connection to a nearby volcanic complex that may be driving the eruption.

Caldera clays may hold key to lithium independence

Wed, 15 Nov 2017 14:29:17 -0500

Oregon's Crater Lake was created when water filled the caldera created by an enormous eruption of Mount Mazama about 7,700 years ago. Clay deposits at the bottom of the lake may concentrate lithium, according to a new study. Credit: Mary Caperton Morton.

Most of the world’s lithium is mined in South America and Australia. New research suggests that the United States may have its own untapped lithium supplies in lake deposits in the calderas left behind by large volcanic eruptions. In the study, published in Nature Communications, researchers detail a new way to detect deposits of the silvery white metal in places such as Crater Lake in southern Oregon.

Ice (Re)Cap: November 2017

Wed, 18 Oct 2017 12:21:26 -0400

Jarvis Glacier flows from Mount Silvertip in the eastern Alaska Range. Runoff from mountain glaciers supplies water to streams and recharges aquifers in Alaskan watersheds. Credit: Anna Liljedahl.

From Antarctica to the Arctic; from polar caps, permafrost and glaciers to ocean-rafted sea ice; and from burly bears to cold-loving microbes, fascinating science is found in every nook and crevasse of Earth’s cryosphere, and new findings are announced often. Here are a few of the latest updates.

Geomedia: Books: Vivid anecdotes abound in "Eruption: The untold story of Mount St. Helens"

Fri, 13 Oct 2017 14:05:55 -0400

"Eruption: The Untold Story of Mount St. Helens," Steve Olson, W. W. Norton & Company, 2017, ISBN-13: 978-0393353587.

The 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens was a pivotal event in the geologic careers of many volcanologists. Maybe it drove them to the geosciences, maybe it opened a door for more monitoring and research jobs in the United States, or maybe it was just an excellent example that the lower 48 states are volcanically active. However, as seminal as the 1980 eruption was, it happened almost 20 years before most of today’s college students were even born. To them, the eruption is another example from history, like Pelée or Vesuvius. They likely don’t have the same visceral reaction to it as those who remember it (even if, like me, you were still in preschool when the eruption occurred.)

New method offers improved monitoring of Kilauea

Tue, 03 Oct 2017 15:33:28 -0400

Steam rises from Kilauea's Halema'uma'u Caldera. Credit: Nathan Forget, CC BY 2.0

Kilauea Volcano, on Hawaii’s Big Island, has been erupting continuously since 1983, mostly releasing relatively slow-moving lava flows, although rare violent eruptions have occurred. Both explosive and nonexplosive eruptions pose risks to tourists, roughly 2.6 million of whom visit Kilauea annually, as well as to island residents whose safety and property have at times been put in jeopardy by flowing lava.

Travels in Geology: Cones and craters in Flagstaff, Arizona

Mon, 18 Sep 2017 13:20:03 -0400

Although better known for its parched deserts and graceful saguaros, Arizona also hosts a wide variety of spectacular volcanic features, including Grand Falls. This waterfall, which only flows at certain times of the year when snows melt or monsoon rains fall, was created when a lava flow from Merriam Crater blocked the channel of the Little Colorado River. Credit: Terri Cook and Lon Abbott.

When it comes to U.S. volcanoes, most people think of Hawaii, Alaska, or Mount St. Helens and Mount Rainier in the Pacific Northwest. Ask them about Arizona, and images of the Grand Canyon, red rock deserts and saguaros baking in the sun probably come to mind. But Arizona also hosts an impressive volcanic field. Near the outdoorsy college town of Flagstaff in northern Arizona, more than 600 mounds and mountains — every one of them a volcano in the San Francisco Volcanic Field — are sprinkled across the high plateau on which the town is perched. Few places in the country exhibit so many types of volcanic features, including jagged lava flows, crumbly cinder cones and the remnants of a towering stratovolcano, in such a compact region. This great diversity led NASA to select the area as a training ground for the Apollo astronauts in the 1960s and ‘70s. But Flagstaff’s cones and craters, and the region’s spectacular scenery, also offer non-astronauts an out-of-this-world experience.

Geologic Column: Volcanoes: Awesome and dangerous

Thu, 22 Jun 2017 09:57:51 -0400

A view from space of the Copahue volcano in Argentina. Credit: Public Domain.

Volcanoes never cease to fill me with awe. Volcanism has been a part of Earth’s history since the planet formed about 4.6 billion years ago, and volcanoes continue to punctuate the fiery, dramatic and ongoing creation story of our planet. I have been fortunate to visit several volcanoes around the world while filming science documentaries, and even descended into the vent of Copahue, an active volcano in the Neuquén province of Argentina.

Red Planet Roundup: June 2017

Wed, 17 May 2017 12:27:53 -0400

Although Curiosity has found ample evidence that water flowed long ago on Mars' surface, the rover has found no signs of carbonate rocks in its travels through Gale Crater, including at Yellowknife Bay (seen here), suggesting that ancient Mars had much lower atmospheric carbon dioxide levels than previously thought. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS.

With two rovers patrolling the surface of Mars, six spacecraft orbiting above it, and scientists here on Earth studying the Red Planet from afar, new findings are announced often. Here are a few of the latest updates.

Timing of famed "Millennium Eruption" pinpointed

Mon, 15 May 2017 21:04:20 -0400

A fossilized tree, killed by the Millennium Eruption of Changbaishan Volcano on the border between China and North Korea, has allowed scientists to pinpoint the date of the eruption. Credit: Clive Oppenheimer.

Changbaishan Volcano in northeastern China, on the border with North Korea (where it’s known as Mount Paektu), is steeped in superstition, having produced devastating eruptions several times in recorded history. Legends that a massive eruption in the 10th century led to the downfall of a regional empire have now been refuted, however, thanks to a new analysis of a fossilized tree killed by the eruption that dates the eruption to after the kingdom fell.

And then there was one: Ceres' disappearing ice volcanoes

Thu, 27 Apr 2017 12:26:49 -0400

A simulated perspective view of Ahuna Mons, a cryovolcano on Ceres, with the elevation exaggerated by a factor of two. Credit: NASA

Earth has numerous volcanoes, both active and extinct — some of which continue to tower over landscapes long after they finished erupting. On the chilly dwarf planet Ceres, however, scientists have identified just a single volcano — an ice-erupting cryovolcano — raising questions about whether others ever existed there and, if so, what happened to them. In a new study, researchers suggest that Ceres has likely had other volcanoes, but that, over time, their icy slopes have been flattened beyond recognition.

Seafloor volcanism linked to glacial cycles

Wed, 29 Mar 2017 13:57:37 -0400

Sea-level changes related to glacial and interglacial cycles may affect magma production at mid-ocean spreading ridges. Credit: K. Cantner, AGI, and Julia Rosen.

Eruptions from seafloor volcanoes and cycles of global glaciations may seem unrelated, but new research suggests otherwise, indicating that pulses of volcanism at mid-ocean ridges might have influenced glacial and interglacial periods during the latter half of the Pleistocene.

Travels in Geology: Easter Island's enduring enigmas

Thu, 23 Mar 2017 13:10:23 -0400

After being knocked down by a tsunami in 1960, the 15 moai perched on Ahu Tongariki were restored a few decades later. Credit: Terri Cook and Lon Abbott.

Few destinations are as steeped in mystique as Easter Island. Located in the southeastern Pacific nearly 3,700 kilometers west of Chile, and more than 2,000 kilometers from the nearest inhabited land, Easter Island is one of the most isolated places on the planet. The lonely isle is renowned for its remarkable moai — massive stone carvings of human-like figures with oversized heads — that for centuries have stood watch over this small speck of land. The moai’s original purpose, as well as the means by which they were transported and erected, remains shrouded in mystery; for some, the figures’ eternal stares have come to symbolize societal collapse due to environmental degradation, although the details of the theory behind this view have been vigorously contested. Also controversial, at least among geologists, is the origin story of the island itself and whether or not it was formed by a hot spot. While planning a recent trip to Chile, we couldn’t resist the opportunity to visit Easter Island’s storied shores and experience these enduring enigmas first-hand.

Tectonics trigger underwater volcanism

Mon, 20 Mar 2017 12:35:00 -0400

The East Pacific Rise runs along the Pacific seafloor from southern California to Antarctica. Credit: K. Cantner, AGI.

In 2006, a large eruption occurred on the seafloor about 1,000 kilometers off the coast of Mexico. Geochemical dating of the erupted lava suggested the event went on for up to 10 months. Now, researchers taking a closer look at seismic and audio recordings made during the event have found that the eruption likely occurred over a much shorter period — a matter of days instead of months. The findings shed light on the sequence of events leading up to the event, as well as on the mechanisms of such seafloor eruptions.

Beneath one volcano, enough water to fill Lake Superior

Thu, 16 Feb 2017 10:54:04 -0500

Beneath a Bolivian volcano called Cerro Uturuncu sits one of Earth’s largest-known magma reservoirs, the Altiplano-Puna Magma Body (APMB), which may have a volume as large as 500,000 cubic kilometers. Dissolved in the APMB magma, scientists report in a new study in Earth and Planetary Science Letters, is enough water to fill Lake Superior or Lake Huron — two of the largest lakes in the world.

Red Planet Roundup: February 2017

Wed, 25 Jan 2017 14:11:41 -0500

The bright spots in this ultraviolet view of Mars, assembled from images collected by the MAVEN orbiter in July, are clouds that rapidly formed over Mars' largest volcanic peaks. Credit: NASA/MAVEN/University of Colorado.

Active Japanese volcano due for large eruption?

Tue, 27 Dec 2016 16:46:26 -0500

Magma accumulating beneath Sakurajima Volcano indicates that an eruption — one on par with a major event in 1914 that covered nearby Kagoshima (foreground) in ash — could occur within a few decades. Credit: Mstyslav Chernov, CC BY-SA 3.0.

In January 1914, Japan’s most active volcano, Sakurajima, erupted violently, covering the nearby city of Kagoshima in a layer of ash. The lava flows from this event filled the strait between the mainland and the island volcano, transforming it into a peninsula.

An undersea volcano yields its secrets

Mon, 19 Dec 2016 16:17:57 -0500

A hollow pillow flow with a frozen tongue of lava spilling from the opening rests atop glass-covered flows that formed during the 2015 eruption. The front of this flow was ~127 m thick. Water depth is 1773 m. Credit: University of Washington/OOI-NSF/CSSF-ROPOS

One of the world’s most active volcanoes has been seen by only a handful of humans — that’s because it lies 470 kilometers offshore of the Oregon-Washington border and about 1.5 kilometers below the surface of the Pacific Ocean. Nevertheless, Axial Seamount on the Juan de Fuca Ridge is one of the best studied of all volcanoes thanks to the Ocean Observatories Initiative (OOI), a global network of seven arrays consisting of more than 800 instruments.

Life-saving diplomacy: The Volcano Disaster Assistance Program at thirty

Mon, 12 Dec 2016 16:17:56 -0500

While Indonesia's Sinabung Volcano erupted, scientists from the Volcano Disaster Assistance Program (VDAP) and Indonesian colleagues installed Differential Optical Absorption Spectroscopy (DOAS) instruments — one of many projects VDAP officials have helped with at volcanoes around the world. DOAS, which measures the emission rate of gases, makes it possible to analyze emissions without approaching the dangerous and active summit of the volcano. Credit: Christoph Kern, USGS.

In early January 2009, volcanologist Gari Mayberry unexpectedly found herself aboard a flight to Africa alongside two colleagues. Just a few days earlier, the trip hadn’t been on her radar, but in late December, she had received a call from the acting director of the U.S. Agency for International Development’s (USAID) Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance (USAID/OFDA). Tanzania needed assistance assessing a potentially dangerous ongoing volcanic hazard — could she go?

Benchmarks: November 13, 1985: Nevado del Ruiz eruption triggers deadly lahars

Thu, 20 Oct 2016 10:30:51 -0400

The 1985 eruption of Nevado del Ruiz in Colombia unleashed deadly lahars that swept through Armero, killing 20,000 people in that town alone. Credit: U.S. Geological Survey.

By Bethany Augliere

New magma chamber discovered beneath New Zealand

Tue, 18 Oct 2016 13:25:53 -0400

Subduction of the Pacific Plate under the North Island of New Zealand causes magma upwelling in the Taupo Volcanic Zone (TVZ). Credit: Ian Hamling.

New Zealand is no stranger to volcanism, but a newly discovered magma chamber 9.5 kilometers below the surface was an unexpected find for scientists studying ground movement around the country’s most active volcanic zone. The new chamber doesn’t sit directly beneath New Zealand’s familiar volcanoes, but just north and west of them beneath the Bay of Plenty coast. The find suggests recent intrusions of molten rock into a previously unknown magmatic zone. Researchers led by geophysicist Ian Hamling of GNS Science, a research institute and consulting firm in New Zealand, inferred the chamber’s presence indirectly from measurements of uplift in the Taupo Volcanic Zone (TVZ), which stretches beneath the country’s North Island to just offshore under the Bay of Plenty; the TVZ is where most of New Zealand’s volcanism over the past 1.6 million years has occurred. “The magnitude and spatial pattern of deformation along the Bay of Plenty coast are not consistent with a tectonic origin,” the authors wrote in a new study in Science Advances. “Given the proximity to the active TVZ, we assume that the observed uplift is a result of the accumulation of magma at depth.”

Travels in Geology: Climbing Mount Kilimanjaro: From parasitic cones to equatorial glaciers

Tue, 27 Sep 2016 09:34:47 -0400

Mount Kilimanjaro, located in northern Tanzania, is the tallest mountain in Africa, with an elevation of 5,892 meters above sea level. Credit: Max Tuttman.

Zahra Hirji

Getting there and getting around Guatemala's Volcan Pacaya

Thu, 15 Sep 2016 14:11:12 -0400

Shops, restaurants and hotels line Antigua's famed cobblestone streets. Agua Volcano looms behind Santa Catalina Arch, which originally allowed nuns to cross from one side of the Santa Catalina convent to the other without going outside. Credit: ©iStockphoto.com/ loca4motion.

Visitors to Guatemala fly into Guatemala City’s La Aurora International Airport, the country’s only international airport. From there, I recommend traveling to the beautiful old colonial city of Antigua, a UNESCO World Heritage site that offers some of the best of Guatemalan culture, from restaurants and bars to architecture and shopping. It is common for travelers to share a shuttle bus from the airport to Antigua — expect to pay about $10 for the 60- to 90-minute journey.

Travels in Geology: Guatemala's Volcan Pacaya: A feast for the senses

Thu, 15 Sep 2016 14:00:06 -0400

The summit of Volcán Pacaya in February 2016. Credit: Michael Steel.

Located in northernmost Central America, Guatemala is home to 22 volcanoes, seven of them active, some of which are accessible to hikers looking for a thrilling experience. The most popular volcano for tourists to climb is the infamous Volcán Pacaya, close to the former capital city of Antigua — a UNESCO World Heritage site that is worth a visit in its own right. The trip up Pacaya is suitable for hikers of all levels, including beginners and youngsters, as it takes just a few hours to complete. The views en route and at the summit are spectacular; and how many other places are there where you can stand atop still-cooling tephra while roasting marshmallows over “hot pockets” in the ground? If climbing an active volcano is on your bucket list, I highly recommend Pacaya.

Bubble accumulation could explain massive volcanic sulfur releases

Tue, 16 Aug 2016 13:35:13 -0400

Steam and gas rise from the caldera floor of Mount Tambora in Indonesia. New research may explain why some volcanic eruptions, such as Tambora's 1815 eruption, are so explosive and emit large amounts of sulfur gases. Credit: Georesearch Volcanedo Germany, CC BY-SA 3.0.

The spectacular 1815 eruption of Indonesia’s Mount Tambora spewed large amounts of sulfur gases into the atmosphere, which formed fine sulfur-rich particles that blocked sunlight and lowered global temperatures by more than half a degree Celsius, causing famine and death on a global scale.

Helium escape may help predict volcanic activity

Mon, 15 Aug 2016 13:23:52 -0400

Mount Etna, seen here beyond the Sicilian town of Taormina, rises to a height of more than 3,300 meters. Credit: Miguelftorres, CC BY-SA 3.0.

Europe’s tallest active volcano, Mount Etna, rises 3,300 meters above the island of Sicily, which lies just off the coast of Italy’s “toe.” Within 100 kilometers of more than 3 million people, Etna frequently rumbles and occasionally belches. As recently as last May, explosions accompanied lava fountains and ash erupted from one of the volcano’s craters over several days. This was just one of many eruptions in a long line of events, with historical documents dating similar outbursts back to 1500 B.C. Scientists cannot pinpoint when Etna will next erupt, but in a new study in Geology, researchers have identified a clue that may help them better understand how the volcano’s inner plumbing system changes just prior to an eruption.

Benchmarks: July 1, 1912: Hawaiian Volcano Observatory officially becomes the first of its kind in U.S.

Mon, 01 Aug 2016 13:58:35 -0400

Thomas A. Jaggar Jr., seen here in 1916, prompted the establishment of the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory and served as its director from 1912 until 1940. Credit: USGS HVO.

Living on the fringe of an active volcano in Hawaii is a precarious venture. Because Hawaii’s shield volcanoes aren’t prone to explosive activity, you’re typically not threatened by violent eruptions such as would occur at Mount St. Helens, for example. On the other hand, the slow-moving, unpredictable lava flows can still overtake your home, even if it has avoided years of previous eruptions.

Benchmarks: June 10, 1886: New Zealand's Mount Tarawera erupts

Mon, 01 Aug 2016 13:40:21 -0400

Hinemihi meeting house at Te Wairoa, before the Mount Tarawera eruption in 1886 (left) and after the eruption (right). It was moved to Clandon Park in Surrey, England, in 1892 by the British Governor General of New Zealand. Today it is once again used as a meeting house by the Māori community in England. Credit: Left: Burton Bros, Dunedin, courtesy of the Alexander Turnbull Library; right: photograph taken circa 1886 by Edmund Wheeler and Son, courtesy of the Alexander Turnbull Library.

On June 10, 1886, Mount Tarawera on New Zealand’s North Island erupted catastrophically, killing more than 100 people. With few warning signals, the explosive basaltic eruption caught many people by surprise as it rocked the mountain, forming fissures that extended for 17 kilometers into the adjacent Lake Rotomahana and Waimangu Valley.

Researchers profile magma chamber beneath North Korean volcano

Wed, 20 Jul 2016 14:00:29 -0400

Lake Chon fills part of Mount Paektu's caldera on the border of China and North Korea. Credit: James Hammond.

An enigmatic volcano straddling the border between North Korea and China has been investigated for the first time by an international team of seismologists. In 2013, researchers installed seismometers near the volcano — called Mount Paektu in North Korea and Changbaishan in China — to determine what was going on beneath the surface. The team’s results, detailed in a new study published in Science Advances, reveal a potential source of magma that may have created one of the largest volcanic eruptions in the last few thousand years — and that could cause the volcano to erupt again.

Drilling for gold inside a submarine volcano

Thu, 14 Jul 2016 15:12:35 -0400

In 2018, researchers aboard International Ocean Discovery Program's JOIDES Resolution ship will drill into an active submarine volcano — Brothers Volcano, part of the Kermadec Arc north of New Zealand — for the first time. Credit: William Crawford, IODP JRSO/TAMU

Earth scientists have been given the green light to drill into an active submarine volcano for the first time, with the hope of discovering substantial new reserves of valuable metals, as well as new forms of extreme life.