Volcano World : Supplement

Volcandpark Congress 2012

Robert Peckyno — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 19:30:59 +0000

Volcandpark Congress will be held from May 21-25th 2012 in Olot, Spain. It is the first congress to be devoted to the management of protected volcanic areas. It aims to act as a forum for debate and thought that will provide a link between knowledge of vulcanology and territorial planning and awareness in the people who work in these volcanic landscapes (national and natural parks, natural reserves, etc.).

The abstract presentation period for those who wish to present an oral communication or poster will close on February 13. Abstracts for submission should be sent to secretary@volcandpark1.com with “Comunicacions Volcandpark” in the subject line, along with the following information:

1. Title of the communication
2. Author: SURNAME, followed by first name
3. Institution the author represents
4. Name of the person who will present the communication
5. Type of presentation: only poster OR poster and oral communication
6. Contact information (e-mail and telephone)
7. Date of session the author wishes to contribute to
8. Text (maximum 300 words)

Participants can register for the Congress on-line at www.volcandpark1.com and that the period of reduced registration fees ends on March 20.

Full details of the Volcandpark Congress (board and lodging, transport, programme, etc.) can be found at www.volcandpark1.com

Kilauea’s Lava Lake Churns

Robert Peckyno — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 16:54:09 +0000

January is Volcano Awareness Month on Hawaii Island and 2012 and is full of events commemorating the 100th anniversary of the U.S. Geological Survey Hawaiian Volcano Observatory.

Check out this great video of Kilauea’s lava lake churning posted by Big Island Video News yesterday.

For more information on HVO’s 100 years of work see:

January 18-24, 2012

Robert Peckyno — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 16:11:11 +0000

Volcanoes with reported activity last week include:

As always, you can view detailed reports with loads of additional background information at the Smithsonian/USGS Global Volcanism Program at:

http://www.volcano.si.edu/reports/usgs/

Fresh images from Nyamuragira

Robert Peckyno — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 18:26:14 +0000

Check out these recent images detailing activity at Nyamuragira just posted from photovolcanica.com

These images were taken between

monday (1/23) and wednesday (1/25) of this week.

We talked about the African volcano Nyamuragira just recently in this post with great satellite images.

Why is magma called lava after it erupts?

Robert Peckyno — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 10:21:53 +0000

Magma comes from an Italian word that means a thick, pasty substance, which is how molten rock behaves within the Earth.

Lava, another Italian word, means to slide, which is what molten rock does once it reaches the surface.

Pu`u `Ō `ō cone, September 1983. Image courtesy of the USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory.

All magma contains dissolved gases. As it rises to the surface, the pressure is reduced and the dissolved gases can escape. If the lava is runny (not viscous), the gases can escape easily and the lava will just run down the landscape (somewhat like syrup).

However, if the lava is thick and pasty (highly viscous), the gases cannot escape and they build up tremendous pressure (like a shaken soda bottle) causing the volcano to erupt/explode violently forming volcanic ash, dust, pumice, etc., and lava.

January 11-17, 2012

Robert Peckyno — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 10:19:23 +0000

Volcanoes with reported activity last week include:

As always, you can view detailed reports with loads of additional background information at the Smithsonian/USGS Global Volcanism Program at:

http://www.volcano.si.edu/reports/usgs/

Volcanic Flood Plains on Mercury

Robert Peckyno — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 12:28:28 +0000

“For more than 35 years we have been uncertain about the role of volcanic activity on Mercury,” said James W, Head III, professor of geological sciences at Brown University.

But no more.

The MESSENGER team confirmed, in a recent Science Paper, that Mercury’s northern latitudes are covered in smooth plains which show several flow features along the margins and embay or cover several impact craters. These flows are massive covering 6 percent of Mercury’s surface, an area that would cover nearly 60 percent of the continental United States, and are similar to flood basalt eruptions on Earth.

Watch MESSENGER PI, Sean Solomon, present an overview of the new discoveries here. For even more detail, watch both oral presentations (The View From Orbit II & III) from this years AGU Meeting. (You will have to scroll to get to the right presentations)

Want a guided tour of Mercury? Now you can have one in Google Earth!!

Find out how on the MESSENGER website here!

MESSENGER (MErcury Surface, Space ENvironment, GEochemistry, and Ranging) is a NASA-sponsored scientific investigation of the planet Mercury and the first space mission designed to orbit the planet closest to the Sun. The MESSENGER spacecraft launched on August 3, 2004, and entered orbit about Mercury on March 17, 2011

What’s the biggest volcano in the world?

Robert Peckyno — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 11:19:07 +0000

The largest volcano in the world, Mauna Loa in Hawaii which is estimated at around 80,000 cubic kilometers. Peter Lipman of the U.S. Geological Survey used high resolution bathymetry of the underwater slopes of the volcano, data from seismic profiling and gravity studies, and the subsidence rate of Mauna Loa to define the shape and density of the buried part of the volcano. The enormous volcano covers half of the Island of Hawai`i and by itself amounts to about 85 percent of all the other Hawaiian Islands combined!!

Want to see what it looks like from the summit right now??

Click here to see the amazing HVO live webcam composite!

Jaunary 04-10, 2012

Robert Peckyno — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 11:01:17 +0000

Volcanoes with reported activity last week include:

As always, you can view detailed reports with loads of additional background information at the Smithsonian/USGS Global Volcanism Program at:

http://www.volcano.si.edu/reports/usgs/

Nyamuragira continues to erupt

Robert Peckyno — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 08:29:52 +0000

NASA’s Earth Observatory has just posted some great images of Africa’s Nyamuragira volcano and new lava flow produced by the latest activity there. As the Eruptions! blog noted in November, this volcano is remote and poses no threat to people (though there are endangered gorillas that live nearby). The satellite images were taken by the Advanced Land Imager (ALI) aboard the Earth Observing-1 (EO-1) satellite.