volcano Archives

Caleb Rosen traveled to Mt. Erebus, Antarctica to collect gas and rock samples. Caleb is in the bottom-left stamp, right figure. -- USC

Arctic / Antarctic / Alpine, Away Teams & Field Reports, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Caves, Craters, Mountains, Subsurface, Lava Tubes, Extremeophiles and Extreme Environments, Habitable Zones, Icy Worlds, Lava / magma ocean / Volcanic Worlds, Microbiology & Virology, Polar / Alpine Expeditions, Press Release, Sample Return

Studying Microbes On Mt. Erebus, Antarctica

by Keith CowingMay 12, 2025May 12, 2025

Earth Sciences Ph.D. student, Caleb Rosen, traveled to Mt. Erebus, Antarctica in Nov ’23 and Nov ’24 with an international research team based at the Thermophile Research Unit at the […]

Val Finlayson (left) and Paulo Galvan recovering rock samples from a dredge from a 2013 expedition. Credit: Val Finlayson.

Away Teams & Field Reports, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Lava / magma ocean / Volcanic Worlds, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Press Release, ROVs/Submersibles/Diving, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography

Solving One Of Earth’s Ancient Volcanic Mysteries

by Keith CowingMay 2, 2025May 2, 2025

Geologists led by the University of Maryland and the University of Hawaiʻi finally connected the dots between one of the largest volcanic eruptions in Earth’s history and its source deep […]

Hunga Tonga–Hunga Ha‘apai volcano erupts on 14 January 2022 in this still from a video posted to social media. Credit: Tonga Geological Services

Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Extinction events, Impact events, Lava / magma ocean / Volcanic Worlds, Press Release

Hunga Volcano Eruption Cooled, Rather Than Warmed, Earth’s Southern Hemisphere

by Keith CowingApril 3, 2025April 3, 2025

When Hunga Tonga–Hunga Haʻapai, an underwater volcano near Tonga in the South Pacific Ocean, erupted in 2022, scientists expected that it would spew enough water vapor into the stratosphere to […]

Magma Ocean on Early Earth -- Grok via Astrobiology.com

Astrogeology, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Habitable Zones, Lava / magma ocean / Volcanic Worlds, Status Report

Scattering Blanketing Effect Of Earth’s Proto-atmosphere: Enhanced Suppression Of Planetary Radiation And Magma Ocean Cooling

by Keith CowingApril 3, 2025

The thermal evolution of magma oceans formed by giant impacts is strongly influenced by a proto-atmosphere through its blanketing effect, which suppresses outgoing planetary radiation.

The new bathymetric map of the volcanic chain south-southeast of Rarotonga Note the data is shown here before processing, which will improve the quality further. -- Cook Islands Seabed Minerals Authority

Analog Studies, Away Teams & Field Reports, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Exploration Gear & Tech, Habitable Zones, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Lava / magma ocean / Volcanic Worlds, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Missions & Hardware, Robotics/Rovers/UAVs, Status Report, Tricorders & Sensors, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography

Water Planet Surveys: Discovering Underwater Volcanoes

by Keith CowingMarch 30, 2025March 30, 2025

The Seabed Minerals Authority (SBMA), in collaboration with other partners such as the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA), University of California Santa Barbara, and Kiva Marine, recently […]

These Martian landforms were created when volcanic ash was modified by water to various degrees over millennia. These layered deposits are on a plateau near Juventae Chasma in the Valles Marineris region of Mars. Researchers have found that these bright layered deposits contain opaline silica and iron sulfates, which hint at their origins. Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona

Astrogeology, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Lava / magma ocean / Volcanic Worlds, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Mars, Press Release

How Ash and Water Intricately Sculpted the Surface of Mars

by Keith CowingMarch 12, 2025

The plateaus that flank the largest canyon in the Solar System are shrouded in hypnotically complex landforms called light-toned layered deposits. Fifteen years ago, PSI Senior Scientist Catherine Weitz first […]

A complex web of interactions between geological features including volcanoes, subsurface mantle, oceans and the atmosphere created the chemical mixture necessary for early life to oxygenate our atmosphere. -- Credit ©2025 Watanabe et al. CC-BY-ND

Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Gaia - Planetary Perspectives, Habitable Zones, Lava / magma ocean / Volcanic Worlds, Microbiology & Virology, Press Release, Terraforming & Geoengineering, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography

Are Volcanoes Behind The Oxygen We Breathe?

by Keith CowingMarch 12, 2025March 12, 2025

It is widely believed that Earth’s atmosphere has been rich in oxygen for about 2.5 billion years due to a relatively rapid increase in microorganisms capable of performing photosynthesis. Researchers, […]

A massive hotspot — larger the Earth’s Lake Superior — can be seen just to the right of Io’s south pole in this annotated image taken by the JIRAM infrared imager aboard NASA’s Juno on Dec. 27, 2024, during the spacecraft’s flyby of the Jovian moon. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI/ASI/INAF/JIRAM

Astrogeology, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Caves, Craters, Mountains, Subsurface, Lava Tubes, Io, Jupiter, Lava / magma ocean / Volcanic Worlds, Press Release

Juno Spots The Most Powerful Volcanic Activity On Io To Date

by Keith CowingJanuary 29, 2025January 29, 2025

Even by the standards of Io, the most volcanic celestial body in the solar system, recent events observed on the Jovian moon are extreme.

Astrogeology, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Habitable Zones, Lava / magma ocean / Volcanic Worlds, Status Report, Venus

The Punctuated Evolution of the Venusian Atmosphere From a Transition in Mantle Convective Style and Volcanic Outgassing

by Keith CowingJanuary 22, 2025January 22, 2025

A key question in the planetary sciences centers on the divergence between the sibling planets, Venus and Earth. Venus currently does not operate with plate tectonics, and its thick atmosphere […]

The north polar region of Jupiter’s volcanic moon Io was captured by NASA’s Juno during the spacecraft’s 57th close pass of the gas giant on Dec. 30, 2023. Data from recent flybys is helping scientists understand Io’s interior. Credit: Image data: NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI/MSSS Image processing by Gerald Eichstädt

Astrogeology, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Caves, Craters, Mountains, Subsurface, Lava Tubes, Io, Jupiter, Lava / magma ocean / Volcanic Worlds, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Press Release

How Io Became The Most Volcanic Body In Our Solar System

by Keith CowingDecember 26, 2024

Scientists with NASA’s Juno mission to Jupiter have discovered that the volcanoes on Jupiter’s moon Io are each likely powered by their own chamber of roiling hot magma rather than […]