volcanic

Δ17O vs. δ18O (left) and δ18O vs. δ15N (right), in Anatolian (n=27), Peruvian (n=8) and Italian (n=3) volcanic deposits. EM1 represents nitrates generated by NOx oxidation via ozone. EM2 represents atmospheric nitrates formed via the oxidation of NOx by an atmospheric oxidant with Δ17O=0‰ and possibly biological nitrates. Blue symbols, which are well correlated in the Δ17O vs. δ18O plot, correspond to nitrates with co-varying Δ17O-δ18O isotopic…

January 18, 20243 min readIceland, Hawaii and Italy have all tried to control lava to save cities in the past. A volcanologist explains the methodsBy Loÿc Vanderkluysen & The Conversation USLava flows from a fissure near Grindavik, Iceland, on Jan. 14, 2024. The following essay is reprinted with permission from The Conversation, an online publication covering the latest research.Fountains of lava erupted from the Sundhnúkur volcanic system in southwest Iceland on Jan. 14, 2024. As the world watched on webcams and…

Running for hundreds of miles along the northeastern edge of the Pacific region of Melanesia, the Melanesian Border Plateau is a geological graveyard of dead reefs and failed islands.The feature is one of countless formations known as large igneous provinces. Such geological superstructures are typically the result of huge volumes of rock bleeding from the endless slide and grind of ocean plate tectonics.Yet the origin of the Melanesia Border Plateau (MBP) has long lacked detail. A study by an international team of…

Peregrine is Astrobotic’s small-class lunar lander. It is poised to carry out one of the first commercial missions to the Moon, and be among the first American spacecraft to land on the Moon since the Apollo program. Credit: Astrobotic TechnologyThe first Artemis robotic launch to the Moon …An Artemis lunar robotic rover is halfway built …And an up-close look at a volcanic moon …A few of the stories to tell you about – This Week at NASA!https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PIg5syFH7qgThe First Commercial Robotic Launch to the…

The most volcanic object in the Solar System has just been unveiled in new, glorious detail.On 30 December 2023, Jupiter probe Juno conducted its closest flyby of Io yet, snapping some incredible pics in the process. In them, Jupiter's moon seems to gleam with sickly, sulfurous hues, its surface mottled with features created by the ongoing volcanic activity that roils therein.Juno's flyby was the closest any probe has approached Io in decades, swooping within just 1,500 kilometers (930 miles) of the moon's surface. The…

The mutilated surface of Jupiter’s moon Io was revealed in great detail by the Juno spacecraft, which has been exploring the Jovian system since 2016 and recently pulled off the closest flyby of the volcanic world.Let’s Eat a Chocolate Xbox ControllerNASA’s Jupiter probe had its close encounter with Io on Saturday, December 30, flying at a distance of 930 miles (1,500 kilometers) away from its hellish surface. This marked not only the closest flyby of Io by Juno, but by any spacecraft in the past 20 years, according to…

Prepare for a celestial spectacle as NASA's Juno spacecraft gears up for an unprecedented rendezvous with Jupiter's fiery moon, Io, on Saturday, December 30. This close encounter, at a mere 930 miles (1,500 kilometers) from Io's tumultuous surface, marks the closest any spacecraft has ventured to the moon in over two decades, promising a deluge of groundbreaking data.Leading the scientific charge is Juno's principal investigator, Scott Bolton of the Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio, Texas, who anticipates a…

In December 1818, the poet Shelley, with his wife Mary and stepsister-in‑law Claire Clairmont, climbed Vesuvius. Starting from the village of Resina (modern Ercolano), they stopped off at the hermitage of San Salvador where an “old hermit” offered refreshments. In a letter to Thomas Love Peacock, Shelley described the ascent to the cone, whose “difficulty has been much exaggerated”. On the summit he surveyed with awe “the most horrible chaos that can be imagined … ghastly chasms … fountains of liquid fire”. The passionate…

On December 18, a volcano emerged on the Reykjanes peninsula in Iceland, just north of the town of Grindavik, near the world famous Blue Lagoon. The volcanoes on the Reykjanes peninsula have awakened after eight hundred years.  The tectonic plates of Eurasia and North America are moving apart. The area, 45 minutes from Reykjavik, had been experiencing earthquakes for the past two months, and Grindavik, a town of almost four thousand people, was evacuated on November 10, when it seemed the volcano might emerge under the…

The location of the fissure where magma erupted starting Dec. 18, 2023, a few miles from the town of Grindavík and just east of Svartsengi power plant and ajacent Blue Lagoon thermal spa. Credit: Icelandic Met Office Lava erupted through a fissure in Iceland's Reykjanes Peninsula on Dec. 18, 2023, shooting almost 100 feet (30 meters) in the air in its early hours. …