America came late. Humanity had come from Africa, and spread out over Eurasia. This happened mainly during the ice age, when lower sea levels allowed walking migration where previously a significant swim or float had been required. They moved mainly along the coast line, quickly reaching southeast Asia, and from there even Australia, as early…
It is sometimes said to be the highest volcano in Europe. There is an obvious problem with that: El Teide is not in Europe. It may be Spanish, but the location is in the Canary Island which politically are included in Europe but geographically are not. A second problem is that there are much higher…
Albert’s article Volcanoes and rain explores the possible links between volcanic eruptions and subsequent periods of wet weather. But there is another side to this story: rain can, in turn, have an impact on volcanic activity, and maybe even trigger eruptions! The possibility of rainfalls causing eruptions has actually been speculated long ago. Georg Forster,…
It has been wet in the UK. Nothing unusual there, it may seem, although compared to the tropics, the rain is mostly mild. Temperatures are moderate and therefore the air does not contain as much moisture. Major deluges are rare. But not this winter. Especially the south of England has seen widespread flooding. France too…
Who doesn’t love a good mystery? The allure of the unknown captivates all, no matter one’s social, political, religious, or scientific standing. From dark matter to what could lie beyond death to the ending of the Simpsons, these almost incomprehensible ideas steal our thoughts. I would contend that we Volcanic fanatics have some of the…
Wouldn’t it be nice to be able to forecast major eruptions? So far, the opportunity has been lacking. VEI-7 eruptions are rare: we have not seen one since Tambora in April 1815. To make a right forecast, the event needs to happen! Part of the forecast is recognising that the mountain is a volcano. Tambora…
Life in paradise can be hard. Paradise is a Greek word of Persian origin made famous by the Jewish bible: it comes from a mix of very different cultures. The word means a walled garden. The garden provides food and the wall provides safety: together it makes the perfect refuge from normal life. And isn’t…
A repost from the archives, with minor updates When the ground starts to rise beneath your feet, it is time to sit up. Fishermen would be the first to notice, being unable to leave their harbours due to lack of sea. Governments would discuss the risk of reduction in tax income from fishing, and would…
Let’s image the simplest, most boring volcano possible. It consists of a magma balloon fed by a straw. The ground is perfectly flat above the balloon. Magma comes up the straw at a constant rate. It would be easy to predict such a volcano. The balloon inflates until it bursts. Eruption happens. Because the supply…
Along the western edge of South America, the Andes Mountains encompass one of the largest concentrations of volcanoes on Earth. Many of these volcanoes are active, and in the historical record of just the past few centuries, eruptions have devastated villages, contaminated rivers and streams, and killed many people and animals. Today, active volcanoes threaten…
Many volcanoes have captured the attention of fanatics such as us, we often pick favorites depending on our internal biases. After all volcanoes provide varieties of intrigue to curious minds, from the mechanics of explosions surpassing the greatest of bombs, million years long eruptions that cover entire regions in magma, to simpler things such as…
2 years ago, I wrote an article detailing my selections for the most likely CFE candidates and a lot has changed. My opinion on Katla has changed and I do think an eruption in the near future more likely than not thanks to recent information from recent studies. We’ve gained insight into the magmatic structure…
Austin feels laid-back. The small down-town area has bars and restaurants with live music of varying quality. One person does morning percussion on the sidewalk. There are quite a few self-driving cars on the roads, a few with bored-looking drivers but many devoid of driver or passengers, making one wonder what they are there for.…
Io, moon of Jespiter Jupiter, is famously volcanically active. It has more than 400 active volcanoes, over an area the size of Asia. Some of the volcanic mountains are taller than Mount Everest. The sulphur deposits have painted Io into 50 shades of yellow. But Io is only one of the 4 major moons of…
I take it where I left it in my last post. Using volcanic signals (mainly sulfate spikes) in the Greenland and Antarctica ice cores, I listed the most powerful explosive eruptions between the years 1500 and 1900: Largest explosive eruptions, from 1900 to 1500 AD. Many of these eruptions have written records, so it was…
