. 24/7 Space News .
SHAKE AND BLOW
What lies beneath: Volcanic secrets revealed
by Staff Writers
Brisbane, Australia (SPX) Sep 15, 2021

Basaltic lava flow.

Lava samples have revealed a new truth about the geological make-up of the Earth's crust and could have implications for volcanic eruption early warning systems, a University of Queensland-led study has found.

UQ volcanologist Dr Teresa Ubide said it was previously understood that cooled lava from so-called 'hot spot' volcanoes was 'pristine' magma from the melting mantle, tens of kilometres under the Earth's surface.

"This isn't quite the case - we've been misled, geologically deceived," Dr Ubide said.

"For decades, we have considered hot spot volcanoes to be messengers from the earth's mantle, offering us a glimpse into what's happening deep under our feet.

"But these volcanoes are extremely complex inside and filter a very different melt to the surface than what we've been expecting.

"This is due to the volcano's intricate plumbing system that forces many minerals in the magma to crystallise."

Dr Ubide said the minerals are being recycled by the rising magma, changing their overall chemistry to 'appear' pristine, which is an important new piece of the jigsaw to better understand how ocean island volcanoes work.

"We have discovered that hot spot volcanoes filter their melts to become highly eruptible at the base of the Earth's crust, situated several kilometres below the volcano," she said.

"The close monitoring of volcanoes can indicate when magma reaches the base of the crust, where this filtering processes reaches the 'tipping point' that leads to eruption.

"Our results support the notion that detection of magma at the crust-mantle boundary could indicate an upcoming eruption.

"This new information takes us one step closer to improving the monitoring of volcanic unrest, which aims to protect lives, infrastructure and crops."

Hot spot volcanoes make up some of the world's most beautiful landscapes, such as the Canary Islands in the Atlantic and Hawaii in the Pacific.

The international team of researchers analysed new rock samples from the island of El Hierro, in Spain's Canary Islands, just south-west of Morocco.

This data was combined with hundreds of published geochemical data from El Hierro, including the underwater eruption in 2011 and 2012.

The team then tested the findings on data from ocean island hot spot volcanoes around the world, including Hawaii.

Dr Ubide said hot spot volcanoes are also found in Australia.

"South-east Queenslanders would be very familiar with the Glass House Mountains or the large Tweed shield volcano, which includes Wollumbin (Mount Warning) in New South Wales," she said.

"Hot spot volcanoes can pop up 'anywhere', as opposed to most other volcanoes that occur due to tectonic plates crashing into each other, like the Ring of Fire volcanoes in Japan or New Zealand, or tectonic plates moving away from each other, creating for example the Atlantic Ocean.

"South-east Queensland hot spot volcanoes were active millions of years ago.

"They produced enormous volumes of magma and make excellent laboratories to explore the roots of volcanism.

"There are even dormant volcanoes in South Australia, that could erupt with little warning, that would benefit from better geological markers for early detection."

Research paper


Related Links
University Of Queensland
Bringing Order To A World Of Disasters
When the Earth Quakes
A world of storm and tempest


Thanks for being there;
We need your help. The SpaceDaily news network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain.

With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords.

Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year.

If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.
SpaceDaily Monthly Supporter
$5+ Billed Monthly


paypal only
SpaceDaily Contributor
$5 Billed Once


credit card or paypal


SHAKE AND BLOW
Volcano analysis in real time
Potsdam (SPX) Sep 08, 2021
Explosive volcanic eruptions often announce themselves: The dynamic of gas and magma flows inside the mountain change noticeably before eruptions and cause, among other things, the rising and lowering of the volcano's surface, which is recorded by satellites. To better analyse and interpret such changes, an interdisciplinary team led by Binayak Ghosh and Mahdi Motagh from the German Research Centre for Geosciences Potsdam (GFZ) has further developed machine learning methods to detect, using satellite me ... read more

Comment using your Disqus, Facebook, Google or Twitter login.



Share this article via these popular social media networks
del.icio.usdel.icio.us DiggDigg RedditReddit GoogleGoogle

SHAKE AND BLOW
Space Babes

Safeguarding clean water for spaceflight missions

Astronauts smell smoke, burning on Russia's ISS module

Cosmonaut calls 1st approach to Nauka Module during spacewalk from ISS 'Historic Moment'

SHAKE AND BLOW
DLR agrees cooperation with Spanish start-up Pangea Aerospace

Winds delay South Australian launch attempt

Space industry grapples with COVID-19-related oxygen fuel shortage

ESA Council agrees resolution on Ariane 6 and Vega-C exploitation and future space transportation

SHAKE AND BLOW
NASA Mars mission begins a new chapter of science with a new leader

Buttes on Mars may serve as radiation shelters

China develops prototype Mars helicopter

NASA's Perseverance rover collects first rock sample

SHAKE AND BLOW
Space exploration priority of nation's sci-tech agenda

New extravehicular pump ensures stable operation of China's space station

Chinese astronauts out of spacecraft for second time EVA

China's astronauts make spacewalk to upgrade robotic arm

SHAKE AND BLOW
Adaptable optical communications to facilitate future low-earth orbit networks

SpaceX launches Starlink satellites into orbit from West Coast

China launches Zhongxing-9B satellite

Hughes and OneWeb announce agreements for low earth Orbit satellite service in US and India

SHAKE AND BLOW
Now we're cooking with lasers

Scientists explore method to produce composites with 'shape memory'

TPY-4 Radar earns official US Government Designation

Global computing's carbon footprint is bigger than previously estimated

SHAKE AND BLOW
The first cells might have used temperature to divide

Cold planets exist throughout our Galaxy, even in the Galactic bulge

New class of habitable exoplanets are 'a big step forward' in the search for life

Did nature or nurture shape the Milky Way's most common planets

SHAKE AND BLOW
A few steps closer to Europa: spacecraft hardware makes headway

Juno joins Japan's Hisaki satellite and Keck Observatory to solve "energy crisis" on Jupiter

Hubble finds first evidence of water vapor on Ganymede

NASA Awards Launch Services Contract for the Europa Clipper Mission









The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2024 - Space Media Network. All websites are published in Australia and are solely subject to Australian law and governed by Fair Use principals for news reporting and research purposes. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA news reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. All articles labeled "by Staff Writers" include reports supplied to Space Media Network by industry news wires, PR agencies, corporate press officers and the like. Such articles are individually curated and edited by Space Media Network staff on the basis of the report's information value to our industry and professional readership. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) Statement Our advertisers use various cookies and the like to deliver the best ad banner available at one time. All network advertising suppliers have GDPR policies (Legitimate Interest) that conform with EU regulations for data collection. By using our websites you consent to cookie based advertising. If you do not agree with this then you must stop using the websites from May 25, 2018. Privacy Statement. Additional information can be found here at About Us.