Arrgh. Three days ago, a New York Times article reported: Yellowstone’s last supereruption occurred 631,000 years ago. And it’s not the planet’s only buried supervolcano. Scientists suspect that a supereruption scars the planet every 100,000 years, causing many to ask when we can next expect such an explosive planet-changing event. Advertisements
Guest post by David Middleton The discovery of volcanoes under the Antarctic ice sheet may be old news, but now we have evidence that at least some of them have recently (geologically speaking) erupted… The First Solid Evidence of Eruptions Under Antarctic Ice By Ross Pomeroy September 14, 2017 In August, researchers at Edinburgh University announced that…
Guest post by David Middleton I didn’t realize this was “Apocalypse Week”…. Apocalypse Week Volcano Geology Nasa’s ambitious plan to save Earth from a supervolcano With an eruption brewing, it may be the only way to prevent the extinction of the human race. By David Cox 17 August 2017 Lying beneath the tranquil settings of…
By Larry Kummer. From the Fabius Maximus website. Summary: While we obsess about climate change and debate if we live in the Anthropocene, we prepare poorly or not at all for natural forces like volcanoes that can level cities. This is folly we can no longer afford. Experts recommend a simple first step to better…
David Middleton Here’s a novel take on the Siberian Traps and the End-Permian extinction: Geology Massive underground magma pulse caused the world’s largest mass-extinction The end-Permian wiped out almost all marine species Geologists have suggested that Earth’s most severe mass-extinction was caused by a huge pulse of magma which released deadly levels of greenhouse gases…
Guest post by David Middleton July 24, 2017 New study challenges prevailing theory about how deep-sea vents are colonized An article just published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B describes two remarkably different hydrothermal vent fields discovered in the southern Gulf of California. Despite being relatively close together, these vents host very different animal…
Guest essay by Eric Worrall A study published in the Journal of Geophysical Research claims that global warming will impede the ability of volcanoes to push sulphur compounds into the stratosphere, which will in turn reduce the cooling effect of volcanic eruptions. Climate change may prevent volcanoes from cooling the planet … When an eruption…
