At over 5 million years old, the island of Kauai is the oldest island in the Hawaiian Achipelago. Hawaii, Maui and Oahu are all younger and lie further to the southeast. This island chronology is no coincidence – the Archipelago formed as a result of intra-plate volcanic activity. Intra-plate volcanism occurs where an upwelling magma plume or ‘hot spot’ lies beneath a continental plate. In this ca ...[Read More]
Geotalk: Dr Olivier Galland
GeoTalk, featuring short interviews with geoscientists about their research, continues this month with a Q&A with Dr Olivier Galland (University of Oslo), who tells us about his volcanology research and the importance of outreach in promoting the Earth sciences. If you’d like to suggest a scientist for an interview, please contact Bárbara Ferreira. First, could you introduce yourself and ...[Read More]
Imaggeo on Mondays: Crater lake
At the border between the Pacific and Australian plates, crossed by the Pacific Ring of Fire, New Zealand is one of the most geologically active countries in the world. Volcanoes abound in this island-country, which contains the “world’s strongest concentration of youthful rhyolotic volcanoes“, and earthquakes are a frequent presence. Mount Ruapehu, a stratovolcano located in the ...[Read More]
Imaggeo on Mondays: Volcano in the tropics
The text of this week’s Imaggeo on Mondays comes from the photographer himself, Brenner Silva. I took this picture from an airliner in September 2010 on my way to the Estación Científica San Francisco, South Ecuador, for field work. The flight route Quito-Loja goes through the two highest volcanoes, Chimborazo and Cotopaxi, of the so-called Avenue of the Volcanos in Ecuador. The pilot, attracted b ...[Read More]