Are you interested in Volcanoes? Do you want to learn more about volcanic activity, geysers, magma dynamics and the relationship between humans and volcanoes, from the mythology to the art and the agriculture? Or maybe you just want to be updated on the worldwide ongoing eruptions and listen to nice interviews with people who actually …[Read More]
Volcanoes
GMPV for Sustainable Development – Geohazards and Volcanic Monitoring
GMPV and The Sustainable Development Goals In 2015 all United Nations Member States adopted a set of Global Goals, as a universal call to protect our planet, end poverty and ensure that all people can enjoy peace and prosperity. These are called the Sustainable Development Goals – 17 integrated goals aimed at addressing the challenges our society is …[Read More]
Volcanoes and Wines, Part 2
And here we go, with the second part of “Volcanoes and Wines”! In Part 1 blog post we introduced you to the inevitably bond between wine and geology, with a focus on volcanic areas and minerals. We are sure we left you with a taste of volcanic soil in your mouth, wondering where you can …[Read More]
Volcanoes and Wines, Part 1
Why talk about wine on the GMPV blog? Well, this geologist-favourite drink is not only good memories of the EGU General Assembly but also a topic that spans among all the GMPV categories. Indeed, wine composition, flavour, structure and quality are inevitably bound to the mineralogy and geochemistry of the soil, making it so common …[Read More]
Happy Birthday Mama Etna!
18 May 1971. This date may not mean anything to you at the moment, but it represents a very special day for the evolution of Mount Etna, leaving a deep mark in the recent eruptive activity of the volcano. Exactly 50 years ago, Mount Etna saw the birth of what, only a short time later, …[Read More]
The Volcano & the Ash cloud: Eyjafjallajökull eruption 11 years later
11 years on from the infamous eruption and ash cloud that shut down the European airspace, there are parallels between current travel restrictions and another Icelandic eruption that’s currently in the news. 11 years ago the now infamous eruption of Eyjafjallajökull occurred. I remember that one, the ash cloud, right? Yes, that’s the one. The …[Read More]
Ask us (almost) anything: how is tuff formed?
Tarun Goswami, an archaeologist from India, asks: How is a tuff formed? and more specifically… Why do some deposits have more ash than others? We are paraphrasing – the questions are specifically about the tuffs formed in the Toba supereruption. So… you asked, we answer! First of all, modern definitions generally describe a tuff as …[Read More]
Can limestone digestion by volcanoes contribute to higher atmospheric carbon dioxide levels?
By Frances Deegan and Ralf Halama Carbon – the element on everyone’s lips. Carbon is unquestionably one of the most important elements on Earth – terrestrial life is carbon-based and so are many of our energy sources. From the perspective of a human time-scale, biological and anthropogenic (caused by human activity) carbon fluxes are very …[Read More]
How do crystal aggregates form in magma chambers?
By Penny Wieser (PhD student at the University of Cambridge) Clues into the inner workings of volcanoes can be gleamed from material which is erupted at the surface, or that which solidified at depth in the crust. Just before eruption, three main phases are present: a gas phase (containing water, carbon dioxide, sulphur, chlorine etc), …[Read More]
Fire, Fog, Frost, Famine – French Revolution? The Lakagígar eruption in Iceland, 1783-1784 [Part 2]
PART II: Were the Haze Hardships caused by Men? Famine Before the Lakagígar eruption, the population of Iceland was 48810 people; four years later, it was down to 38518. Disregarding about 1500 deaths which were caused by a smallpox epidemic, the eruption may still have killed about 1/6 of the population [5]. These deaths were not …[Read More]