volcanology

Meyerhoff Scholar Rileigh Mansfield '26, mathematics, has excelled in applied math research in fields from from epidemiology to volcanology. Her journey took her from Ecuador to Rwanda, and now she heads to Stanford for a geophysics Ph.D. Her academic excellence is only matched by her spunk and adventurous spirit—she tries out for Survivor ever year.

Scientists spent three years figuring out why this volcano did the opposite of everything they predicted. The answer changes how we read the sky.

From a geothermal hotspot to the one-time “Lighthouse of the Pacific,” the heat is on beneath the volcanic landscape of western El Salvador.

The new ELI today is an extension of one we published many years ago, 'See how they run; investigate why some lavas flow further and more quickly than others'. This activity involves an investigation into some of the factors which can affect the viscosity of lavas. The two activities included involve varying the temperature and composition of the 'lava' using treacle and honey. Other related acti…

Eyewitness video showed large ash clouds billowing from the Mayon volcano on Luzon island in the Philippines over the weekend. Emergency services issued alerts to nearby towns and more than 5,450 fled to emergency shelters. Mayon is the most active volcano in the country and last erupted in 2023. Continue reading...

Nature Communications, Published online: 02 May 2026; doi:10.1038/s41467-026-72563-w 3D mineral stopwatches reveal multi-stage magmatic history before the 1820 lava fountaining eruption at Kīlauea volcano, Hawai’i. Magmas can be stored for decades then mobilized over days before ascending to the surface in a matter of hours.

Yellowstone eruptions may be driven by shifts in Earth's crust, rather than a deep well of magma, study finds.

A fiery eruption in Hawaii is giving scientists an unexpected tool to detect active volcanoes on Venus—and it could change how we read the planet’s hidden surface.

Evidence suggests that Venus is still volcanically active, and new data about a big eruption in Hawaii a few years ago could help scientists find out for sure.

Mount Etna's strange lava has long perplexed scientists, but new research reveals that the volcano formed in a bizarre way — making it unlike any other known volcano on Earth.

'Extinct' volcanoes that haven't erupted for tens of thousands of years may not actually be...

Africa may be slowly breaking apart—and that same process could explain our fossil record. Eastern Africa’s Turkana Rift is known both for its rich collection of early human fossils and its intense volcanic activity driven by shifting tectonic plates. Now scientists report that the crust beneath this region has thinned far more than previously recognized, [...]

Tiny crystals suggest extinct volcanoes could still grow underground, a finding that could reshape how scientists assess eruption risk.

U.S. Geological Survey work party in a fumarolic area near Crater Rock, Mount Hood, Oregon. Credit: Ingebritsen et al. [2026] , Figure 4c

Tiny grains produce big charges The post Why Volcanoes Sometimes Shoot Out Lightning appeared first on Nautilus .

Mount Etna is more than half a million years old, but this massive stratovolcano in...

They’re filled with a lot more fury than their millennia-long slumber would suggest The post When “Extinct” Volcanoes Reawaken appeared first on Nautilus .

Thríhnúkagígur is a volcano near Reykjavík in Iceland with an empty magma chamber decorated with vivid colors that scientists and tourists can access via an open cable elevator.

New images from the Mars Express spacecraft show ancient volcanic ash spreading across the Red Planet.

In 2022 a swarm of earthquakes in the Azores suggested that an eruption was imminent, but none happened. Now we know why, and it means magma can be sneakier than we knew