Category Archives: vulcanism

USGS California Volcano Observatory Opens

Posted on February 9, 2012 by

  “More than 500 volcanic vents have been identified in the State of California. At least 76 of these vents have erupted, some repeatedly, during the last 10,000 years. …  Sooner or later, volcanoes in California will erupt again, and … Continue reading →

Posted in vulcanism | Tagged , | 26 Comments

Gradually heading to hell in a handbasket just as bad as instant doom

Posted on February 8, 2012 by

From the National Science Foundation: Global Extinction: Gradual Doom as Bad as Abrupt In “The Great Dying” 250 million years ago, the end came slowly The deadliest mass extinction of all took a long time to kill 90 percent of … Continue reading →

Posted in Extinction, paleoclimatology, Science, vulcanism | Tagged , , , , , , , | 78 Comments

New paper speculates on volcanoes during the Little Ice Age

Posted on January 30, 2012 by

From NCAR/UCAR, they’re still trying to stamp out solar influence as a potential cause of the Little Ice Age. One of the things I wonder about is that during low sunspot activity, does the reduced solar-magnetic influence have any effect … Continue reading →

Posted in paleoclimatology, vulcanism | Tagged , , , , , , , | 287 Comments

Death Valley’s Big Bang Theory

Posted on January 24, 2012 by

From the The Earth Institute at Columbia University Waiting for Death Valley’s Big Bang A volcanic explosion crater may have future potential In California’s Death Valley, death is looking just a bit closer. Geologists have determined that the half-mile-wide Ubehebe … Continue reading →

Posted in vulcanism | Tagged , , , , , , , | 47 Comments

Undersea volcanoes might be more common than previously thought

Posted on August 11, 2011 by

Reader “Mark” in Tips and Notes writes: Surprise Underwater Volcanic Eruption Discovered Excellent 3D graphic representation of the lava. Note this particular volcano was previously report by Scarlet- yesterday. Click photo to view more images. (British Antarctic Survey) “An undersea … Continue reading →

Posted in vulcanism | 72 Comments

Volcano found on the Moon’s farside

Posted on July 25, 2011 by

Non-mare silicic volcanism on the lunar farside at Compton–Belkovich Bradley L. Jolliff,Sandra A. Wiseman,Samuel J. Lawrence,Thanh N. Tran,Mark S. Robinson,Hiroyuki Sato,B. Ray Hawke,Frank Scholten,Jürgen Oberst,Harald Hiesinger, Carolyn H. van der Bogert,Benjamin T. Greenhagen,Timothy D. Glotch& David A. Paige Nature Geoscience … Continue reading →

Posted in space, vulcanism | Tagged , , | 51 Comments

New study suggests that the volcanic impact on climate may be significantly underestimated

Posted on July 11, 2011 by

Thick ash poured from Iceland’s Eyjafjallajökull Volcano when the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Aqua satellite acquired this image on April 17, 2010. The ash in this image is at two different altitudes. A concentrated plume rises over … Continue reading →

Posted in aerosols, vulcanism | Tagged , , | 51 Comments

Katla: Let’s get ready to ruuuummmbbbbllle

Posted on July 9, 2011 by

Russ Steele writes: Iceland Update: Katla is rumbling again I wrote about the possibility that Katla is Iceland might become active again in this decade here, based on a swarm of earth quakes. Now those quakes are getting more intense. … Continue reading →

Posted in vulcanism | 46 Comments

Satellite Composite Shows Chilean Volcano Plume Spreading Globally

Posted on June 15, 2011 by

Since its eruption in early June, several NASA satellites have captured images of the ash plume from the eruption of the Chilean Volcano called Puyehue-Cordón Caulle and have tracked it around the world. NASA has collected them in the NASA … Continue reading →

Posted in vulcanism | Tagged , , , , | 33 Comments

Dramatic satellite images of the Ethiopian eruption

Posted on June 13, 2011 by

The MODIS/AQUA rapidfire website finally had a pass overhead online early this AM of the Ethiopian/Eritrean area volcanic eruption of Nabro, and I have them below. The plume stretches well over 1000 miles now. In the photo below, the Red … Continue reading →

Posted in vulcanism | Tagged , , , | 71 Comments

Earthquakes and volcanic eruption in Ethiopia

Posted on June 12, 2011 by

UPDATE: I’ve updated the sat IR image below, plus added some Google Earth imagery below. The ash plume has hit the stratosphere and has now extended to more than 1000 miles from the point of origin. It looks more and … Continue reading →

Posted in vulcanism | Tagged , , , | 98 Comments

Sulfur Dioxide plume from the Chilean volcano

Posted on June 10, 2011 by

Here’s the eruption seen from NASA MODIS: This visible image was taken on June 8 at 18:30 UTC (2:30 p.m. EDT) by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) instrument that flies aboard NASA’s Aqua satellite. The plume from the Puyehue-Cordón … Continue reading →

Posted in vulcanism | Tagged , , | 39 Comments

Some flights cancelled due to Iceland volcano

Posted on May 23, 2011 by

In our earlier coverage on the subject, we reported from a Xinhua story that: But scientists in Iceland believed that the new eruption in Grimsvotn could be small and would not lead to a repeat of the air travel chaos … Continue reading →

Posted in vulcanism | 23 Comments

Iceland volcano eruption not likely to disrupt air travel

Posted on May 21, 2011 by

STOCKHOLM, May 21 (Xinhua) — An eruption has started in Iceland’s most active volcano Grimsvotn, according to reports reaching here from Reykjavik on Saturday. The smoke from the eruption can be seen from many places in south Iceland, Iceland’s television … Continue reading →

Posted in vulcanism | Tagged , , | 58 Comments

Eruption of the Tungurahua Volcano in Ecuador

Posted on May 1, 2011 by

This is what it looks like from the ground April 29th This satellite view of the sulfur dioxide plume is quite vivid:

Posted in vulcanism | Tagged , | 29 Comments

On ocean heat content, Pinatubo, Hansen, Bulldogs, cherrypicking and all that

Posted on April 23, 2011 by

Self proclaimed “Hansen’s Bulldog” (now oddly deleted but available at the Wayback machine via this link), the blogger known as “Tamino” loves to bloviate his views about imagined cherrypicking whenever he thinks we aren’t showing everything we are supposed to, … Continue reading →

Posted in ENSO, NASA GISS, oceans, vulcanism | Tagged | 79 Comments

Yellowstone’s supervolcano – worse than we thought

Posted on April 12, 2011 by

From www.unews.utah.edu via Eurekalert Electric Yellowstone Conductivity image hints volcano plume is bigger than thought SALT LAKE CITY, April 11, 2011 – University of Utah geophysicists made the first large-scale picture of the electrical conductivity of the gigantic underground plume … Continue reading →

Posted in vulcanism | Tagged , , | 72 Comments

Icelandic volcano exonerated for harsh winter of 1783–1784

Posted on April 6, 2011 by

From AGU’s Geophysical Research Letters:   In June 1783 the Laki volcano in Iceland began to erupt, and continued erupting for months, causing a major environmental disaster. The eruption spewed out toxic sulfuric acid aerosols, which spread over northern latitudes … Continue reading →

Posted in paleoclimatology, vulcanism | Tagged , | 41 Comments

The sound of ‘splode: volcanic frequency signature established

Posted on February 23, 2011 by

From Yale University and the University of British Columbia, an important step forward in being able to forecast explosive volcanic events. Before the explosion — volcano’s warning tremors explained New Haven, Ct. – No matter their size or shape, explosive … Continue reading →

Posted in vulcanism | Tagged , , , , , | 58 Comments

Mount Merapi SO2 plume headed for Australia

Posted on November 10, 2010 by

Indonesia’s Mount Merapi volcano put a lot of ejecta into the air; ash, CO2, and SO2. Here’s a recent news report showing the eruption: Tracked by satellite, now the Sulfur Dioxide plume is headed for Australia.

Posted in aerosols, vulcanism | 35 Comments

Indonesian Volcano eruptions increasing

Posted on November 5, 2010 by

Indonesia Volcano’s Eruptions Stump Scientists By Lauren Frayer, AOL News Eruptions from Indonesia’s ferocious Mount Merapi keep getting worse, prompting more villagers to run for their lives and puzzling scientists trying to decipher Mother Nature’s plans. Hot ash clouds are … Continue reading →

Posted in vulcanism | 76 Comments

Hydrothermal vents may contribute more to the thermal budget of the oceans than previously assumed

Posted on October 10, 2010 by

From the Max Planck Society New deep-sea hot springs discovered in the Atlantic Scientists from the MARUM Center for Marine Environmental Sciences and the Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology in Bremen on board the German research vessel Meteor have … Continue reading →

Posted in oceans, vulcanism | 92 Comments

Sumatran volcano erupts: first time since 1600

Posted on August 28, 2010 by

Located at 3.17°N 98.392°E the volcano erupted suddenly and without warning. The Jakarta Post and Xinhua have photos of the eruption:

Posted in vulcanism | 38 Comments

Katla making noise

Posted on July 10, 2010 by

Katla volcano in iceland sees 14 earthquakes in 48 hours. This may mean nothing, or it may be a prelude to an eruption. Either way it bears watching. Via Ice Age Now: Fourteen earthquakes have occurred below Iceland’s Mýrdalsjökull glacier … Continue reading →

Posted in vulcanism | 54 Comments

Spencer on Pinatubo and climate sensitivity

Posted on June 27, 2010 by

Revisiting the Pinatubo Eruption as a Test of Climate Sensitivity By Roy W. Spencer, PhD. The eruption of Mt. Pinatubo in the Philippines on June 15, 1991 provided a natural test of the climate system to radiative forcing by producing … Continue reading →

Posted in aerosols, climate sensitivity, vulcanism | 72 Comments