Volcanology on EARTH Magazine

Down to Earth With: Volcanologist Thorvaldur Thordarson

Fri, 31 Aug 2018 20:17:56 -0400

Thordarson studies the 1995–96 eruption of Mount Ruapehu in New Zealand, where he witnessed the beginning phases of the eruption from a helicopter above the crater. Credit: courtesy of Thor Thordarson.

Despite growing up in Iceland, with Earth’s most volcanically active landscape as his playground, Thorvaldur Thordarson had no idea he would grow up to be a volcanologist. Nor did he suspect that his career path would take him all over the world to witness eruptions and aftermaths on six continents.

Cracking the temperature of columnar jointing

Tue, 03 Jul 2018 11:11:33 -0400

A new study found that columnar joints form at temperatures between 840 and 890 degrees Celsius. Credit: public domain/Patrice78500.

When molten rock cools and contracts, it sometimes cracks to form geometrically shaped columns. This process, called columnar jointing, has led to several famous geological structures, including Giant’s Causeway in Northern Ireland and Devils Postpile National Monument in California.

Chemical tipping point triggers eruptive transitions

Mon, 19 Mar 2018 14:23:18 -0400

Mount Pinatubo in the Philippines is most famous for the explosive phases of its 1991 eruption, but the months-long eruption was also punctuated by gentler periods of oozing lava. Credit: U.S. Geological Survey.

During an eruption, some volcanoes vacillate unpredictably between effusive and explosive behavior. New research has identified a chemical tipping point in some magmas that may trigger the transition between such mild and violent eruptive cycles.

Down to Earth With: Volcanologist Jess Phoenix

Mon, 11 Dec 2017 13:15:11 -0500

Jess Phoenix, a volcanologist and co-founder of Blueprint Earth — a nonprofit organization that brings scientists together with students to inventory ecosystems — is running for Congress in California's 25th District. Credit: Belle & Epic Photography.

Field geologists usually love camping, hiking and all things outdoors. Today, Jess Phoenix is no different, but she wasn’t always that way. As a child growing up in Colorado, she bucked traditional backpack-wearing pursuits. “I would take the horses on trail rides and that was probably the most outdoorsy thing that I did,” Phoenix says. Instead, she took after the athletic interests of her parents, both FBI agents, playing “every sport under the sun.”

Down to Earth With: Volcanologist Kayla Iacovino

Thu, 20 Oct 2016 09:53:21 -0400

Kayla Iacovino stands on the crater rim of Mount Paektu Volcano in China, with a view of North Korea in the background and Lake Chon in the summit crater. Credit: Kayla Iacovino.

When Kayla Iacovino enrolled as a freshman at Arizona State University in 2005, she thought she might become an astronaut. But, after a field trip to outcrops in northern Arizona during her first semester, she became hooked on geology.

Down to Earth With: Volcanologist Stephen Sparks

Tue, 13 Jan 2015 12:55:15 -0500

From the Caribbean to Iceland to the Andes, volcanologist Stephen Sparks has spent a lifetime studying volcanoes. As a professor of geology at the University of Bristol in England for more than 20 years, Sparks has devoted much of his time to figuring out where the next eruption will occur and how to respond to it. His latest effort is a project that will connect experts and technology in a global network to improve volcanic risk assessment.

Down to Earth With: Volcanologist John Eichelberger

Tue, 13 Jan 2015 09:58:36 -0500

Volcanologist John Eichelberger, coordinator of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Volcano Hazards Program, will become dean of the graduate school at the University of Alaska at Fairbanks this fall. Credit: Courtesy of John Eichelberger.

The 2010 eruption of Iceland’s Eyjafjallajökull showed that volcanic hazards are blind to international borders. After the eruption ended and air traffic returned to normal, discussion among the public of “ash” and “jet turbine blades” cooled. Not so for volcanologist John Eichelberger, who, as the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Volcano Hazards Program Coordinator, deals with volcanic hazards daily, while working to improve monitoring of the United States’ many dangerous volcanoes and to internationalize research and risk reduction.