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Volcanos / Volcanoes

rynner2 said:
'World's largest volcano discovered beneath Pacific
Scientists say that they have discovered the single largest volcano in the world, a dead colossus deep beneath the Pacific waves.
A team writing in the journal Nature Geoscience says the 310,000 sq km (119,000 sq mi) Tamu Massif is comparable in size to Mars' vast Olympus Mons volcano ...
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The Tamu Massif was subsequently "disqualified" as the world's largest volcano because it was determined to be a set of multiple volcanos (see earlier post).

This meant Mauna Loa once again held the title. Now a much bigger volcanic structure has been identified and measured in the Pacific.
The World's Largest Shield Volcano Isn't What We Thought It Was

Beneath the cyan and cerulean waters of the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands lurks a leviathan. Its true extent has been hidden for many years, but no more. What geologists have found is a marvel - the biggest, hottest known volcano in the world.

Startlingly, it's more than twice the size of the previous record holder, Mauna Loa on the Island of Hawai'i. ...

The new record-breaker spreads across around 148,000 cubic kilometres (35,507 cubic miles) beneath the waves of the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument, compared to Mauna Loa's 74,000.

Only relatively small rocky pinnacles known as the Gardner Pinnacles break the surface, giving the volcano its name - Pūhāhonu, the Hawai'ian word for 'turtle rising for breath'.

"We are sharing with the science community and the public that we should be calling this volcano by the name the Hawaiians have given to it, rather than the western name for the two rocky small islands that are the only above sea level remnants of this once majestic volcano," said geologist Michael Garcia of the University of Hawai'i at Manoa.

Back in the 1970s, low-resolution bathymetric data suggested Pūhāhonu was around 54,000 cubic kilometres in size, then thought to be the largest volcano before a more extensive survey of Mauna Loa revealed its true size.

Pūhāhonu only regains its crown after extensive surveys of the region added high-resolution bathymetric and multibeam sonar data to our existing understanding of the northwest Hawaiian Ridge, from which the volcano rises. ...
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FULL STORY: https://www.sciencealert.com/the-world-s-largest-volcano-isn-t-what-we-thought-it-was
 
New research suggests active volcanism may still be occurring in northern Europe.
Volcanism Under the Heart of Northern Europe: New Evidence From Thousands of GPS Antennas

Scientists have discovered new evidence for active volcanism next door to some of the most densely populated areas of Europe. The study ‘crowd-sourced’ GPS monitoring data from antennae across western Europe to track subtle movements in the Earth’s surface, thought to be caused by a rising subsurface mantle plume. The work is published in Geophysical Journal International.

The Eifel region lies roughly between the cities of Aachen, Trier, and Koblenz, in west-central Germany. It is home to many ancient volcanic features, including the circular lakes known as ‘maars’.

These are the remnants of violent volcanic eruptions, such as the one which created Laacher See, the largest lake in the area. The explosion that created this is thought to have occurred around 13,000 years ago, with a similar explosive power to the cataclysmic Mount Pinatubo eruption in 1991.

The mantle plume that likely fed this ancient activity is thought to still be present, extending up to 400km down into the Earth. However, whether or not it is still active is unknown: “Most scientists had assumed that volcanic activity in the Eifel was a thing of the past,” said Prof. Corné Kreemer, lead author of the new study. “But connecting the dots, it seems clear that something is brewing underneath the heart of northwest Europe.” ...

The new results complement those of a previous study in Geophysical Journal International that found seismic evidence of magma moving underneath the Laacher See. Both studies point towards the Eifel being an active volcanic system.

The implication of this study is that there may not only be an increased volcanic risk, but also a long-term seismic risk in this part of Europe. ...
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FULL STORY: https://scitechdaily.com/volcanism-...-new-evidence-from-thousands-of-gps-antennas/
 
Ancient Tree Rings Could Pin Down Date of Massive Thera Volcano Eruption

By comparing tree rings from around the world, a tentative date of 1560 B.C. arrived at.

Since the inception of the UArizona Laboratory of Tree-Ring Research in 1937, an assortment of tree ring samples from all over the world accumulated in less-than-ideal conditions beneath Arizona Stadium. But since the completion of the university’s upgraded Bryant Bannister Tree Ring Building in 2013, the curation team, led by Peter Brewer, has been relocating, organizing and preserving samples for future research.

“This is the collection that founded the field of tree ring research, and it’s by far the world’s largest,” Brewer said. “Researchers come from all over to use our collection.”

“It’s just crammed full of the remains of ancient forests and archaeological sites, which no longer exist, and it contains wood samples that were fundamental in the growth of the discipline of dendrochronology,” Pearson said.

Pearson, a University of Arizona assistant professor of dendrochronology and anthropology, is lead author of a paper, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, in which she and her colleagues have used a new hybrid approach to assign calendar dates to a sequence of tree rings, which spans the period during which Thera erupted, to within one year of a calendar date. This allows them to present new evidence that could support an eruption date around 1560 B.C.
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Full details at link.
 
Scientists unearth the ‘holy grail’ of volcano research after finding way to predict eruptions

Volcanoes have long been a great source of mystique for scientists. In particular, figuring out how to detect an imminent eruption sooner to avoid deadly outcomes, such as the New Zealand eruption in 2019, is a top priority. Now, volcanologists say they have discovered the “holy grail” of volcano research after finding a way to predict eruptions by looking at decades-old lava crystals.

A new study of dried-up lava reveals that crystal formations can tell scientists about magma flows underground and give hints about when they might next blow. The astounding discovery at Kilauea Iki, a pit crater next to the main summit caldera of the Kilauea Volcano in Hawaii, came after examining deposits of olivine, a green mineral brought up from beneath the earth’s surface, during eruptions.

Kilauea-lava-fountain-475x318.jpg


A lava fountain during the 1959 eruption of Kilauea Iki. (Image credit: USGS)

Despite being leftover from an eruption of Kilauea Iki as far back as 1959, an analysis of the millimeter-sized crystals revealed they were oriented in an odd, but surprisingly consistent pattern. The crystals form when the magma, which is called lava once it reaches the surface, comes into contact with cool air, which causes it to solidify rapidly and trap the crystals as they were at the moment of eruption.

Scientists from Stanford University in California realized the patterns in the crystals were created by a wave in the magma below the surface moving in two directions at once. They say one flow moved directly on top of the other, rather than pouring through the hollow column at the center of the volcano, known as the conduit, in one steady stream.

With this new knowledge, and computer simulations, the team now think they can predict future eruptions based on flow patterns and even uncover information about volcanic activity from the past.

https://www.studyfinds.org/scientists-find-holy-grail-of-volcano-research-predict-eruptions/

maximus otter
 
Surprised nobody mentioned Mount Etna erupting recently:
News story

Sorry about the ad-heavy page, but the photos are good. Nobody injured, but would you like to wake up to that of a morning?
 
GNC said:
Surprised nobody mentioned Mount Etna erupting recently:
News story

Sorry about the ad-heavy page, but the photos are good. Nobody injured, but would you like to wake up to that of a morning?
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The way 2020 is going it wouldn’t surprise me to wake up to that one morning. My local volcano is supposed to have been extinct for 300 million years, I err on the side of caution and think of it as merely being dormant for a very long time...
 
It seems that volcanic activity and symptoms of pending activity are increasing in the Caribbean.
Dormant Volcano in The Caribbean Just Came Back to Life, Causing Evacuation Warnings

Residents of St. Vincent and the Grenadines have been told to remain alert after a Caribbean volcano came back to life.

La Soufrière is the highest point in St. Vincent and is located near the northern tip of the country but remained dormant for decades before beginning to spew ash on Tuesday this week, AP reported.

Steam, gas, and a volcanic dome formed by lava that reached the earth's surface could also be seen above the volcano, according to the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency (CDEMA). ...

The country's government, which consists of a chain of islands home to more than 100,000, raised the alert level to orange, meaning that eruptions could occur with less than 24 hours' notice. ...

La Soufrière last erupted in 1979 but did not cause any harm due to warning, while a 1902 eruption led to 1,600 deaths.

In an unrelated incident early last month, authorities from the nearby Caribbean island of Martinique issued a yellow alert due to seismic activity under Mount Pelée ...

Fabrice Fontaine from the Volcanological and Seismological Observatory of Martinique told AP that it is the first time an alert of its kind has been issued since the volcano last erupted in 1932.

Mount Pelée also erupted in 1902 and killed almost 30,000 people, making it the deadliest eruption in the whole of the 20th century. ...
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FULL STORY: https://www.sciencealert.com/carrib...on-as-decades-dormant-volcano-springs-to-life
 
'St. Vincent and the Grenadines' sounds like a band name.
 
The Keilir mountain on Iceland is expected to blow real soon now. Here's the live stream from the area.
 
Vardoger said:
The Keilir mountain on Iceland is expected to blow real soon now. Here's the live stream from the area.
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It's probably not going to "blow" but just spew some lava. It's not considered a big threat to people or air travel. I hope it's pretty, though.
 
Vardoger said:
The Keilir mountain on Iceland is expected to blow real soon now. Here's the live stream from the area.
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New live stream from Keilir. The one quoted has stopped.
 
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Mauna Loa, The World’s Biggest Volcano, Is Waking Up And It’s Time To Prep For An Eruption

Scientists monitoring the unsettled geological activity on Hawaii’s biggest island say that while an eruption of the volcano that dominates the landscape isn’t yet imminent, Mauna Loa’s long nap may be coming to an end.

960x0.jpg


The Big Island of Hawaii is really a collection of five volcanoes poking out of the Pacific Ocean, including one of the world’s most active - Kilauea - and the world’s largest: Mauna Loa, making up about half the island’s land mass.

Mauna Loa has been slumbering since it last erupted in 1984.

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1984

But over the past week, the Hawaii Volcano Observatory recorded over 200 small magnitude earthquakes below Mauna Loa. These and other observations of increased activity in recent weeks all point to an increased flow of magma into the volcano’s shallow storage system.

In other words, Mauna Loa is slowly waking up.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/ericma...king-up-and-its-time-to-prep-for-an-eruption/

maximus otter
 
maximus otter said:
Mauna Loa, The World’s Biggest Volcano, Is Waking Up And It’s Time To Prep For An Eruption

Scientists monitoring the unsettled geological activity on Hawaii’s biggest island say that while an eruption of the volcano that dominates the landscape isn’t yet imminent, Mauna Loa’s long nap may be coming to an end.

960x0.jpg


The Big Island of Hawaii is really a collection of five volcanoes poking out of the Pacific Ocean, including one of the world’s most active - Kilauea - and the world’s largest: Mauna Loa, making up about half the island’s land mass.

Mauna Loa has been slumbering since it last erupted in 1984.

maxresdefault.jpg


1984

But over the past week, the Hawaii Volcano Observatory recorded over 200 small magnitude earthquakes below Mauna Loa. These and other observations of increased activity in recent weeks all point to an increased flow of magma into the volcano’s shallow storage system.

In other words, Mauna Loa is slowly waking up.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/ericma...king-up-and-its-time-to-prep-for-an-eruption/

maximus otter
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I read somewhete that Hawaii has been gradually moving north over the millenia, older volcanic islands slowly sink back into the sea to be replaced with new land created from volcanic eruptions, link a big volcanic convayor belt.
 
Wow! Well worth going full-screen and 1080 for that. You can see how close some folks are going to the flames!
Just one massive boulder could divert the lava . . . :popc:
 
Blue blinking orbs appearing around the Iceland volcano right now. Might be flashlights. Don't know why they're blue though.
 
Vardoger said:
Blue blinking orbs appearing around the Iceland volcano right now. Might be flashlights. Don't know why they're blue though.
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Probably emergency vehicles Police/Fire services keeping an eye on things. Last night there were a couple of helicopters flitting about.
 
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