Volcanoes

Detailed Mars data analysis revealed the Noctis volcano. Detailed analysis of the altimetry of the region using NASA's Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter (MOLA) data, in combination with high-resolution imaging data from NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) High-Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) and Context Imager (CTX), and from the European Space Agency's Mars Express (MEX) High-Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC)…

Scientists analyzed mercury levels from core samples from the Mochras Farm (Llanbedr) borehole in Wales to estimate how much and how rapidly carbon was released during ancient volcano events in Earth's history. Credit: Stephen Hesselbo Massive volcanic events in Earth's history that released large amounts of carbon into the atmosphere frequently correlate with periods of severe environmental change and mass extinctions. A new…

Figure 1. Topographic data are draped over infrared image data showing complex tectonic structures and volcanic deposits in the Eridania region of Mars. Warm colors are higher elevations. Credit: NASA/Mars Odyssey/HRSCMars’s complex volcanism, driven by vertical tectonics, provides insights into ancient crustal recycling, offering new perspectives on both Martian and Earth geology.Volcanoes are a common feature on the surfaces of solid planets within the solar system, resulting from magmatic activity occurring within the…

For a quiet, dusty lump of a planet we see today, Mars has had a surprisingly violent history, one that could reveal some clues about Earth's own past.A new survey of the Martian surface suggests that in its younger years, the red planet was littered with volcanoes that might resemble the rumblings of our little blue dot before it formed tectonic plates some 3 billion years ago.Planetary scientist Joseph Michalski of the University of Hong Kong and colleagues cataloged the scars of volcanic activity in the planet's…

Beneath the rusty red surface of Mars lies a thrilling mystery that scientists have long tried to unravel: was there a time when life flourished on the lifeless (as far as we know) Red Planet many, many years ago?Recent revelations suggest that scientists are getting closer to an answer.New evidence about the geology of Mars has found that Earth’s neighboring planet has had more tectonic and volcanic activity than what scientists previously imagined. The discovery includes the finding of 63 types of volcanoes and an…

Quirks and Quarks19:09The aftermath of a record-smashing volcano: Hunga Tonga–Hunga Haʻapai two years laterIt was a record-breaking blast that swept the world — several times over, as it turns out. A little over two years ago, the most powerful underwater volcano ever recorded erupted off the coast of the tiny island nation of Tonga in the Pacific Ocean, about 2,000 kilometres from New Zealand.Kevin Mackay, a marine geologist with New Zealand's National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research, spoke with Quirks &…

2023 was a busy year in science. Here are 10 stories worth revisiting as we wind up the year.1. Canadian Jeremy Hansen chosen to fly to the moonA Canadian astronaut was selected as part of the crew for NASA's Artemis II mission to the moon.Jeremy Hansen and three crew mates will fly in an Orion capsule that will orbit the moon and fly farther into deep space than any humans have gone before.Hansen will not land on the moon, but the planned 10-day mission will be the first of a series of missions expected to culminate with…

A view from the summit of Volcán Salín, one of three Andean volcanoes where researchers uncovered the mummified cadavers of mice. Analyses of the mummies, combined with the capture of live specimens, suggest that the rodents scaled the Mars-like peaks on their own — and are somehow managing to live on them. Credit: Jay Storz, University of Nebraska–LincolnThe study dismisses any connection to Incan rituals, suggesting that mice ascended independently.In the midst of the driest desert on Earth, atop 20,000-foot volcanoes,…

A recent study of the Ciomadul volcano in Romania highlights just how quickly – and how powerfully – long-dormant volcanoes can erupt.One of the youngest volcanoes in eastern-central Europe, Ciomadul hasn't erupted for some 30,000 years. Through a sophisticated geological analysis, a team of European scientists has shed more light on the cycle of volcanic activity that Ciomadul has gone through over the millennia.In particular, the team wanted to look at the change in eruption type over a lengthy period of time, from the…

Can a volcano erupt after tens of thousands of years of dormancy? If so, how can this be explained and what makes volcanic eruptions more dangerous, i.e., explosive? These are key questions in volcanic hazard assessment and can also draw attention to volcanoes that appear to be inactive. Even in a quiet, dormant phase, a volcano can rapidly become active, and its eruption can pose a previously unknown threat to the surrounding area. New research by…