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24 June 2022
9-Extinctions: Not your science fair volcano
For many of us, the word “extinctions” conjures up images of dinosaurs, asteroids, and (maybe?) volcanos. And while that last point did likely play a role in the demise of the dinosaurs, volcanos in their own right can go extinct. In this episode, we chatted with volcanologist Janine Krippner, Honorary Research Associate at the University of Waikato, about what exactly makes a volcano extinct, the difference between volcanic ash and smoke, …
3 June 2022
6.5-Extinctions: Dinosaurs, volcanoes, the space station, oh my!
Join us for our next six-part miniseries on Extinctions as we learn about the demise of the dinosaurs, what makes a comet “extinct,” the Cambrian and Triassic periods, volcanoes, and the aforementioned (planned) fiery end of the International Space Station!
20 May 2022
The Mount Popa debris avalanche
About 8,000 years ago a massive landslide occurred on the flank of Mount Popa in Myanmar. The landslide, which had a volume of about 1.3 cubic kilometres, travelled about 11 km from the crater of the volcano.
29 March 2022
Mount Talakmau: landslides from the 25 February 2022 Sumatra Earthquake
An earthquake on 25 February 2022 triggered multiple landslides on the flanks of Mount Talakmau in west Sumatra, Indonesia.
16 August 2021
Staff Picks: Parking Lot Lava
In a parking lot behind the Comstock Art Facility at Syracuse University, geologist Jeff Karson and sculptor Bob Wysocki cook up something almost unimaginable – homemade lava. Using a gas furnace the size of a small truck, the two professors melt gravel typically used for roadbeds into hot molten rock that they pour onto sand to recreate natural lava flows seen in places like Hawaii, Iceland and Italy.
28 May 2021
Bringing the world to a standstill
By Ned Rozell On a fine June day about 100 years ago, in a green mountain valley where the Aleutians stick to the rest of Alaska, the world fell apart. Earthquakes swayed the alders and spruce. A mountain shook, groaned, and collapsed in on itself, its former summit swallowing rock and dust until it became a giant, steaming pit. About six miles away, hot ash began spewing from the ground …
9 April 2021
Weather Satellites Do Far More Than Monitor Weather. They Watch Volcanoes Too
The La Soufrière volcano on St. Vincent has rumbled to life and the loop below shows the second of two eruptions today. This is a dangerous volcano. It killed over 1000 in 1902 and it is a stratovolcano. Those are the ones that go BANG, unlike the shield volcanoes in Hawaii that spread runny lava everywhere. The last eruption was in April of 1979, and let’s hope this one is …
24 December 2020
Top AGU news and views from 2020
As we look back on 2020, we wanted to share some of the top news and views coming out of AGU.
16 December 2020
Highlights from Tuesday 15 Dec. at #AGU20
If you missed some sessions from Tuesday, 15 December, don’t worry – you can check them out, along with all other sessions, on demand until 15 February.
15 December 2020
Highlights from Monday 14 December at #AGU20
The first day of the last week of #AGU20 continued with full programming, two innovative sessions, two plenaries and some great events – all available on demand through 15 February for attendees.
10 December 2020
Watch to watch for on Friday at #AGU20
Tomorrow marks the end of the second week of #AGU20. Be sure to check out these events and sessions before the weekend begins.
2 November 2020
Nejapa: a deadly channelised flow in El Salvador
Nejapa: a deadly channelised flow in El Salvador on 29 October 2020 killed ten people and displaced 60 families
13 July 2020
Escape from Thera
About 3,600 years ago, a colossal volcanic eruption blew apart the Greek island Thera, now the popular tourist destination known as Santorini. Falling volcanic rock and dust buried the Bronze Age settlement Akrotiri, on the south side of the island, preserving multi-story buildings, frescoes, tools, furniture and food, until archaeological excavations uncovered them in the last century, much like the eruption of Vesuvius in 79 CE famously buried Pompeii and Herculaneum. But unlike the Roman cities, Akrotiri has a notable lack of bodies.
15 June 2020
Instruments of Unusual Size
Volcanic craters could be the largest musical instrument on Earth, producing unique sounds that tell scientists what is going on deep in a volcano’s belly.
18 May 2020
Mt. St. Helens: 40 Years Later
On May 18, 1980, Mt. St. Helens erupted in Washington state, capping off a series of volcanic events that began on March 27th of that year. The May 18th explosions is credited with causing 57 deaths, >$1 billion in property damage, and forever changed the surrounding landscape.
27 April 2020
New Mexico badlands help researchers understand past Martian lava flows (video)
Planetary scientists are using a volcanic flow field in New Mexico to puzzle out how long past volcanic eruptions on Mars might have lasted, a finding that could help researchers determine if Mars was ever hospitable to life. People don’t usually think of New Mexico as a volcanically active place, but it has some of the youngest (geologically speaking) large lava flows in the continental United States.
24 March 2020
Et tu, Etna?
In 44 BCE, a momentous event occurred. Somewhere on Earth, a volcano erupted—one of the largest of last 2,500 years terms of climate impact. Traces of the eruption can be found in ice cores from Greenland and Antarctica, in signs of cold weather in the growth rings of trees around the world, and records of famine and agricultural disaster from Egypt to China. The eruption caused global climate effects lasting several years.
17 March 2020
The catastrophic lahars from Mount Kelud in 1919
In 1919 a devastating eruption of Mount Kelud in Indonesia triggered massive lahars that killed 5,160 people on the flanks of the volcano
26 December 2019
Forces from Earth’s spin may spark earthquakes and volcanic eruptions at Mount Etna
A new study suggests that polar motion and subsequent shifts in Earth’s crust may increase volcanic activity. “I find it quite exciting to know that while climate drives Earth’s spin, its rotation can also drive volcanoes and seismicity,” said Sébastien Lambert, a geophysicist at Paris Observatory in France and lead author of the study. The new findings, however, don’t allow scientists to forecast volcanic activity.
19 December 2019
Survey reveals low awareness of volcanic hazards in Australia
On December 9, several Australians were among the dozens of tourists who were killed, injured, or went missing after a deadly eruption on Whakaari/White Island in New Zealand. Whakaari/White Island has seen more volcanic activity in the past 10 years than neighboring Australia has seen for 5,000, but according to volcanologists, the country is not free from the risks of a potential eruption. And according to a new survey, Australian citizens are mostly unaware of their country’s potential volcanic hazards.
