The censured volcano

The only truly dead volcanoes are the ones whose existence we have forgotten about. The Netherlands is not known for its volcanoes. There is a volcano with a Dutch name: Beerenberg, an impressive stratovolcano on Jan Mayen, but the volcano itself is in fact Norwegian (another nation not known for its volcanoes). But dig down…

The Cerro Negro Problem

Over the past 6 years I’ve watched Chiles-Cerro Negro go through 4 different phases of unrest. Like a toxic lover, no matter how much I try, I can’t shake this volcano. I honestly thought I was going somewhere with Grimsvotn and Iwo-Jima but no. Grimsvotn is stable in the sense that nothing has really changed…

Medicine Lake Volcano and Lava Beds National Monument

A repost from 2016, written by Henrik and part of our series on volcanoes of the American west. There is enough there to make any nation proud! This follows on from the post on Mount Shasta and on Tehama. The more you read about volcanism in North America, the more confused you become by the…

The Kamchatka earthquake

It came as a shock – quite literally. It shouldn’t have, because a recent paper had predicted that the area was preparing for a large earthquake. On 29 July, at 23:25 UTC, the 5th largest earthquake from modern measurements hit the Kamchatka peninsula with a reported magnitude of M8.8. (It is listed as occuring on…

Fig 7. This view of the climactic eruption of May 22nd, 1915, was taken from Anderson, California, more than 33 km (20 miles) from the volcano. (smate.wwu.edu)

Mount Tehama, Brokeoff Mountain and the Lassen Volcanic National Park

A repost on the region of Lassen Peak in California, originally written by Henrik in 2013 This article began as a regular piece on Lassen Peak but quickly expanded as I discovered how complex the geology and history of the Lassen Volcanic Complex was. Unlike nearby Shasta, Lassen Peak is but a dacite lava dome, one…

Katla: My First Love

It seemed like yesterday, the day I first discovered volcanic winter while conducting research on the infamous 1993 “storm of the century,” and some passing weather enthusiast had brought up Pinatubo and volcanic winter, and from that moment, I would delve into volcanology headfirst. The first Vixen volcano that caught my eye was the Illustrious…

The White Mountain, Úytaahkoo or Mount Shasta

This is a repost from the archives, an older post by Henrik which has been updated to reflect more recent findings. Did you know there are 255 volcanoes or volcanic features listed in the US? Volcanic activity in North America is surprisingly infrequent. In spite of there being no less than 255 volcanoes or volcanic…

Volcanoes: limits to the growth

The highest volcano in the world is Cerro Ojos del Salado. It is a stratovolcano in South America’s Central Volcanic Zone, reaching an impressive 6893 meters above sea level (or at least above what sea level used to be). It doesn’t look much: the volcano is a mess of overlapping domes with two separate summits,…

The Vredefort impact

The centre of South Africa is an amazing place. The long drive from Cape Town in-land is exciting for the first two hours, while the road climbs up through the mountains, past vineyards and valleys full of fynbos. Once on the high interior plateau of South Africa, the landscape becomes dry and monotonous – and…