The EGU 2020 abstract submissions are now open for the next two months! Every few days, we will highlight a geochemistry, mineralogy, petrology and/or volcanology session right here – great news if you are paralysed by indecision or overwhelmed by the number of sessions. Today it’s the turn of GMPV1.7, “Geochronology in hot and dynamic systems: approaches and tools to unravel the ...[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 important (e.g. through industrial activity and burni ...[Read More]
#mineralmonday: tiptopite
#mineralmonday: your weekly* dose of obscure mineralogy, every Monday** [*not guaranteed; **or possibly Tuesday-Sunday] What is it? Tiptopite: K2Na1.5Ca0.5Li3Be6(PO4)6(OH)2•(H2O) What’s it made of? Take a deep breath and recite after me: potassium, sodium, calcium, lithium, beryllium, phosphorus, oxygen and water (H2O). Is it pretty? Yes, it’s a beautiful fibrous mineral. You wouldn ...[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), a liquid melt phase (the magma), and a solid phase (consisting ...[Read More]