March 15, 2018
LIP split by South Atlantic breakup was sourced from deep
Massive volumes of rock called large igneous provinces (LIPs) have formed many times throughout Earth’s history, fed by some of the planet’s …
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Volcanoes
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January 16, 2018
Mediterranean drawdown may have caused burst of volcanism
Between 5 million and 6 million years ago, during an event known as the Messinian Salinity Crisis (MSC), large amounts of seawater evaporated …
December 14, 2017
Volcanism spiked global temps during past hothouse
Roughly 56 million years ago, global temperatures rose 5 degrees Celsius within a few thousand years in an event called the Paleocene-Eocene …
September 14, 2017
Glass shards reveal a fiery history in Ethiopia
Chains of volcanoes and a lava lake pepper the landscape of the Afar Triangle in northeastern Ethiopia, where eruptions and earthquakes are …
May 19, 2016
Surprise quake at Mount Fuji triggered by rising gases
On March 15, 2011, four days after the magnitude-9 Tohoku megathrust earthquake and tsunami struck Japan, a magnitude-5.9 earthquake shook the …
March 29, 2016
King Oraefajokull
The Öraefajökull Volcano boasts Iceland’s highest peak — 2,109 meters above sea level — and has the reputation of being Iceland’s largest and …
March 29, 2016
Hekla the heckler
Hekla is one of Iceland’s most active volcanoes, erupting more than 25 times since its first recorded eruption in 1104. The most recent eruptions …
March 29, 2016
Eerily quiet Katla
Katla Volcano is located near the southern tip of Iceland, under the Mýrdalsjökull Ice Cap. Ashfall deposits found as far away as Norway and …
March 29, 2016
Where fire freezes: All eyes, ears and instruments on Iceland's volatile volcanoes
With examples of every type of volcano on Earth, and about a third of the island’s more than 30 active volcanic systems buried under glacial ice, …
December 31, 2015
Impact or eruptions: Are both to blame in the great end-Cretaceous whodunit?
Few episodes in geologic history are as widely recognized as the Cretaceous-Paleogene, or K-Pg, boundary 66 million years ago. Utter “K-Pg,” …
December 16, 2015
Modeling 'magma mush' could reveal volcanic histories
Volcanic eruptions can spew large amounts of molten rock and ash, putting nearby communities as well as aircraft at risk. Gas emissions and …
November 2, 2015
Opalescent pools shimmer beneath Santorini
With its bright blue waters and dramatic cliffside villas, Santorini, Greece, is an idyllic vacation destination, but lurking beneath the Aegean …
October 6, 2015
Campi Flegrei makes its own concrete caprock
In the 1980s, Tiziana Vanorio was a teenager living in the Italian port city of Pozzuoli west of Naples when the Campi Flegrei volcanic complex …
September 2, 2015
Ancient floods degassed Lake Kivu
The deep, cold waters of Lake Kivu — a stratified volcanic lake in the East African Rift Valley on the border of Rwanda and the Democratic …
August 7, 2015
Volcanic lightning turns ash into glass
Within the ash plumes of explosive volcanic eruptions, collisions among countless pyroclastic particles sometimes lead to the buildup of static …
July 13, 2015
Bare Earth Elements: "Volcano of Fire" eruption forces evacuations in Mexico
Mexico’s civil protection agency, along with local officials, issued an emergency declaration Saturday for the area surrounding Colima Volcano, …
April 7, 2015
Down the Earth With: Clive Oppenheimer
North Korea is perhaps the most isolated country in the world, with a people, culture and landscape largely veiled from outside observation, …
March 9, 2015
A front-row seat at a fire-and-ice show
Many of the world’s volcanoes are high enough and cold enough to sport seasonal snow, and some even boast year-round glaciers. But what happens …
March 6, 2015
Getting there and getting around the Andean Volcanoes
The towns of Puerto Montt, Temuco and Osorno make suitable jumping-off points for the region, and all are accessed via a short (and scenic!) …
March 6, 2015
Andean ski volcanoes
The caldera of Volcán Puyehue is an amazing experience, but it’s not for the uninitiated. Several other Andean volcanoes offer brilliant skiing …
March 6, 2015
Chaitén's vigorous volcanic history revealed
When the Chaitén volcano erupted in southern Chile on May 2, 2008, the explosive event took local residents — and geologists — by surprise: …
March 4, 2015
Down to Earth With: The USGS Landslide Response Team
Over the last year and a half, the Western U.S. has suffered a rash of devastating landslides. The streak began in September 2013, when heavy …
March 2, 2015
Travels in Geology: Skiing into the heart of an Andean Volcano
“OK, everybody,“our guide said. “Just calm down.” His voice had an edge to it, but the words were calming. “I know this is intense. But everyone …
February 2, 2015
Magma pancakes underlie Toba supervolcano
Giant eruptions from so-called supervolcanoes eject tremendous volumes of lava and ash, but details about the source of all that volcanic …