volcano Archives

On June 12, 2009, a fortuitous orbit of the International Space Station (ISS) made it possible for an astronaut on board to capture Sarychev Volcano in the early stages of eruption. The volcano is located on the northwestern end of Matua Island, which is part of the Kuril Islands, a chain of 56 islands northeast of Japan. Larger image -- NASA

Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biophysics, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Extinction events, Microbiology & Virology, Status Report

Carboxydovores From The Pseudomonadota Colonise Volcanic Soils During Succession

by Keith CowingJune 24, 2024June 24, 2024

Carbon monoxide (CO) degrading microorganisms are present in volcanic deposits throughout succession, with vegetation and soil influencing the communities present. The carboxydovores are a subset of CO degraders that use […]

This rectangular slice of Mars shows the terrain atop Mars’s volcano Olympus Mons. Rippled, uneven, stepped terrain can be seen, with different illuminations. The right-hand side of the image is blue-toned, representing the newly discovered water ice frost. -- Credits: ESA/TGO/CaSSIS; CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO larger image

Mars, Press Release

Newfound Frost Atop The Martian Volcano Olympus Mons

by Keith CowingJune 20, 2024June 20, 2024

This high-resolution image shows newly discovered frost at the top of Olympus Mons, the tallest volcano not only on Mars but in the entire Solar System. The frost appears blue […]

Field emission scanning electron microscopy images of “Grotta Catanese I” (GC) samples. Representative FESEM images of the studied samples, depicting A Actinobacteria-like coccoid (with 1-μm diameter) and rod-shaped cells with spiny ornamentation (GC1_1A); B filaments with hairy ornamentation, intermingled with coccoid cells (GC1_1A); and C, D clusters of the diatom Orthoseira roeseana and Humidophila (GC1_2) -- Microbial Ecology via PubMed

Away Teams & Field Reports, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Caves, Craters, Mountains, Subsurface, Lava Tubes, Exploration Gear & Tech, Extremeophiles and Extreme Environments, Habitable Zones, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Microbiology & Virology, Polar / Alpine Expeditions, Status Report

First Insights Into The Bacterial Diversity of Mount Etna Volcanic Caves

by Keith CowingJune 13, 2024June 13, 2024

While microbial communities in limestone caves across the world are relatively understood, knowledge of the microbial composition in lava tubes is lagging behind. These caves are found in volcanic regions […]

This simulated perspective oblique view shows Olympus Mons, the tallest volcano not only on Mars but in the entire solar system. The volcano measures some 600 km across. Credit: ESA/DLR/FU Berlin (A. Valantinas)

Arctic / Antarctic / Alpine, Astrogeology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Caves, Craters, Mountains, Subsurface, Lava Tubes, Cryobiology, Habitable Zones, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Mars, Press Release

Water Frost Detected On The Tharsis Volcanoes On Mars

by Keith CowingJune 11, 2024June 11, 2024

An international team of planetary scientists has detected patches of water frost sitting atop the Tharsis volcanoes on Mars, which are not only the tallest volcanic mountains on the Red […]

Jupiter moon Io, imaged by SHARK-VIS on Jan. 10, 2024. This is the highest resolution image of Io ever obtained by an Earth-based telescope. The image combines three spectral bands — infrared, red and yellow — to highlight the reddish ring around the volcano Pele (below and to the right of the moon's center) and the white ring around Pillan Patera, to the right of Pele.

Astrogeology, Astronomy & Telescopes, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Io, Lava / magma ocean / Volcanic Worlds, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Press Release

New Telescope Images Of Volcano World Io

by Keith CowingJune 7, 2024June 7, 2024

New images of Jupiter’s volcano-studded moon Io, taken by the Large Binocular Telescope on Mount Graham in Arizona, offer the highest resolution of Io ever achieved with an Earth-based instrument. […]

This computer-generated 3D model of Venus’ surface shows the volcano Sif Mons, which is exhibiting signs of ongoing activity. Using data from NASA’s Magellan mission, Italian researchers detected evidence of an eruption while the spacecraft orbited the planet in the early 1990s. Credit: NASA/JPL

Astrogeology, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Caves, Craters, Mountains, Subsurface, Lava Tubes, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Lava / magma ocean / Volcanic Worlds, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Missions & Hardware, Status Report, Venus

Ongoing Venus Volcanic Activity Discovered With NASA’s Magellan Data

by Keith CowingMay 31, 2024May 31, 2024

Direct geological evidence of recent volcanic activity on Venus has been observed for a second time. Scientists in Italy analyzed archival data from NASA’s Magellan mission to reveal surface changes […]

Volcanic ash and mollusc shells surround a deep-sea hydrothermal vent at the vent field in the Kingdom of Tonga, Pacific Ocean. URI researchers had a unique opportunity to study the biology of the organisms living at the site of a volcanic eruption in the southern Pacific, able to see how life there is impacted by dramatic environmental change, whether natural (volcanic activity) or human (deep-sea mining).(Roxanne Beinart, chief scientist, URI. Funder: NSF © Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)

Away Teams & Field Reports, Caves, Craters, Mountains, Subsurface, Lava Tubes, Exploration Gear & Tech, Extinction events, Habitable Zones, Microbiology & Virology, Press Release, ROVs/Submersibles/Diving, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography

Seafloor Life Devastated Near Explosive Volcanic Eruption In Pacific

by Keith CowingMay 20, 2024May 20, 2024

A University of Rhode Island oceanographer leading her first research cruise in the southern Pacific uncovered a surprise when her vessel looked below the waters in the Polynesian nation of […]

Astrogeology, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Io, Jupiter, Press Release

Atmospheric Isotopes Reveal 4.5 Billion Years Of Volcanism On Io

by Editor PostedApril 18, 2024August 19, 2024

Sulfur and chlorine isotopes in the atmosphere of Jupiter’s moon Io indicate that it has been volcanically active for the entire 4.57 billion-year history of the Solar System, according to […]

A schematic representation of the scenario we propose here for clean high-yield production of prebiotic feedstock. Events move around from top left clockwise: first Earth has a neutral atmosphere; this is reduced following giant impact at 4.3 Ga by oxidation of the impactor’s metal core to produce a massive H2 atmosphere with significant methane and ammonia; This atmosphere quickly cools (in < 1 kyr) with photochemistry producing a tholin-rich haze that deposits complex nitrogen-rich organics; these organics become progressively buried and graphitized by interaction with magma, the atmosphere clears as H2 is lost to space and becomes neutral again; finally, magmatic gases interact with the graphite, and are scrubbed to produce high yields of clean HCN, HC3N and isonitriles. -- astro-ph.EP

Astrogeology, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Caves, Craters, Mountains, Subsurface, Lava Tubes, Extremeophiles and Extreme Environments, Habitable Zones, Impact events, Origin & Evolution of Life, Status Report

A Surface Hydrothermal Source of Nitriles and Isonitriles

by Keith CowingMarch 24, 2024March 24, 2024

Giant impacts can generate transient hydrogen-rich atmospheres, reducing atmospheric carbon. The reduced carbon will form hazes that rain out onto the surface and can become incorporated into the crust. Once […]

Extended Data Fig. 5. Heat maps showing major metabolic potential functions and KEGG pathways for individual Halobacteria MAGs assembled from north Danakil hypersaline ecosystems. a, Presence (blue)-absence (white) of metabolic functions as inferred by Metabolic G in Danakil MAGs and representative GTDB genomes of Halobacteria. b, Modules of KEGG pathways identified in Halobacteria MAGs and GTDB reference genomes (outgroup). The blue color intensity indicates the completeness of the respective pathway (intense, complete). The names of our MAGs are highlighted in red. Aa, amino acid. -- biorxiv.org

Analog Studies, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Away Teams & Field Reports, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biophysics, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Extremeophiles and Extreme Environments, Fossils & Paleontology, Genomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics, Habitable Zones, Lava / magma ocean / Volcanic Worlds, Microbiology & Virology, Status Report

Extremely Acidic Proteomes And Metabolic Flexibility In Bacteria And Highly Diversified Archaea Thriving In Geothermal Chaotropic Brines

by Keith CowingMarch 17, 2024November 21, 2025

Few described archaeal, and fewer bacterial, lineages thrive at salt-saturating conditions, such as solar saltern crystallizers (salinity above 30%-w/v).