Category: Volcanoes

Although volcanologists are getting pretty good at forecasting the start of an eruption, predicting the end is much more difficult.

Lava samples have revealed a surprising discovery about the geological makeup of the Earth’s crust and could have implications for volcanic eruption early warning systems, a University of Queensland led study has found.

International research led by geologists from Curtin University has found that a volcanic region in the Indian Ocean called the Kerguelen Plateau was the worlds most continuously active – erupting for 30 million years – fueled by a constantly moving conveyor belt of magma. 

New study suggests a catastrophic supervolcano eruption could be much more likely than currently believed. Current knowledge about the likelihood of eruptions is based on the presence of liquid magma under a volcano, but new research warns “ eruptions can occur even if no liquid magma is found”.

Scientists find it extremely challenging to try and predict when a supervolcano might erupt again due to the sheer diversity of events that have gone before.

Volcanoes are one of the most powerful forces on Earth and it is becoming increasingly clear that these forces are being altered by climate change. 

Currently, most thinking is around the threat of a massive volcanic eruption, However, a team of experts now argues that too much focus is on the risks of these rare volcanic explosions, while far too little attention is paid to the potential domino effects of moderate eruptions in key parts of the planet.

A massive volcanic eruption in Indonesia about 74,000 years ago likely caused severe climate disruption in many parts of the globe, but early human populations were sheltered from the worst effects, according to a new study led by Rutgers.

A team of geologists and geophysicists, led by the University of Geneva, Switzerland, has studied what causes a volcano to erupt and why some erupt regularly, while others remain dormant for thousands of years. They determined that most of the magma rising from depth actually does not cause a volcanic eruption.

Scientists say it is extremely challenging to try and predict when a supervolcano might erupt. There is not a single model which can describe how these catastrophic events happen.