Volcanology articles within Nature Geoscience

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  • News & Views |

    The climatic response to the eruption of the Samalas Volcano in 1257 has been elusive. Medieval archives tell of a spatially variable reaction, with Europe and Japan experiencing severe cold compared to relative warmth in North America.

    • Francis Ludlow

  • Article |

    Carbonated silicate melts are expected to exist in the mantle, but have been elusive in nature. Geochemical analyses of rocks from the South China Sea identify such melts formed in the mantle and erupted at the surface through thin lithosphere.

    • Guo-Liang Zhang
    • , Li-Hui Chen
    •  & Albrecht W. Hofmann

  • Article |

    The MESSENGER spacecraft has revealed geochemical diversity across Mercury’s surface. Magma crystallization experiments suggest a crustal mineralogy consistent with a transition towards shallower and cooler mantle melting conditions.

    • Olivier Namur
    •  & Bernard Charlier

  • News & Views |

    Mantle enrichment processes were thought to be limited to parts of oceanic plates influenced by plumes and to continental interiors. Analyses of mantle fragments of the Pacific Plate suggest that such enrichment processes may operate everywhere.

    • Jonathan E. Snow

  • News & Views |

    At mid-ocean ridges, the directions in which plates spread and the underlying mantle flows were thought to broadly align. A synthesis of results from ridges that spread at a variety of rates reveals that instead there may be a systematic skew.

    • Mladen R. Nedimović

  • Article |

    Mantle flow beneath mid-ocean ridges was thought to respond passively to plate motions. Analysis of seismic data from ridges reveals a skew between the directions of plate motion and mantle flow, implying mantle flow may stress the plates.

    • Brandon P. VanderBeek
    • , Douglas R. Toomey
    •  & William S. D. Wilcock

  • Letter |

    One volcanic eruption can trigger another. Global analysis of coupled eruptions suggests that the extent of magma mush, stress changes, dyke intrusions and earthquakes can couple volcanic eruptions over increasing distances.

    • Juliet Biggs
    • , Elspeth Robertson
    •  & Katharine Cashman

  • Letter |

    Porphyry ore deposits are increasingly hard to discover. Geochemical analysis of minerals formed in porphyry systems worldwide shows that the most fertile deposits are associated with excess Al and water-rich magma injections.

    • B. J. Williamson
    • , R. J. Herrington
    •  & A. Morris

  • News & Views |

    The volcanic eruption that created the Ontong Java Plateau released large quantities of carbon dioxide. A reconstruction of CO2 concentrations suggests that the eruption promoted climate change and the expansion of ocean anoxia.

    • Heather M. Stoll

  • Letter |

    Magma in Earth’s crust is in a crystal-rich mushy state, yet must be fluidized before eruptions. Numerical simulations show that rapid injection of new magma into a reservoir creates a mixing bowl of fluid and crystals that are able to erupt.

    • G. W. Bergantz
    • , J. M. Schleicher
    •  & A. Burgisser

  • News & Views |

    The Moon was once thought to be depleted in volatile elements. Analyses of the carbon contents of lunar volcanic glasses reveal that carbon monoxide degassing could have produced the fire-fountain eruptions from which these glasses were formed.

    • Bruno Scaillet

  • Letter |

    The volatile-rich eruptions required to produce the lunar volcanic glasses are at odds with a volatile-poor Moon. Analyses of the glasses suggest that there was enough of the volatile element carbon in the parent magmas to drive the eruptions.

    • Diane T. Wetzel
    • , Erik H. Hauri
    •  & Malcolm J. Rutherford

  • Letter |

    NASA’s Curiosity rover detected light-toned rocks along its traverse on Mars. Geochemical data suggest that the rocks represent a diversity of silica-rich magmatic rock types that may be analogous to Earth’s early continental crust.

    • V. Sautter
    • , M. J. Toplis
    •  & J. J. Wray

  • Letter |

    Continental breakup can occur with or without extensive magmatic activity. Numerical simulations show that magmatic and amagmatic rifts can develop in the same tectonic setting, if a rising mantle plume is deflected to one side of the continent.

    • A. Koptev
    • , E. Calais
    •  & T. Gerya

  • Editorial |

    The eruption of Mount Tambora in 1815 has been linked to climate change and social unrest. Such historical eruptions could serve as test cases for models used to assess future climate changes.

  • Commentary |

    200 years after the eruption of Mount Tambora, the eruption volume remains poorly known, as is true for other volcanic eruptions over past millennia. We need better records of size and occurrence if we are to predict future large eruptions more accurately.

    • Stephen Self
    •  & Ralf Gertisser

  • Commentary |

    The impact of a volcanic eruption depends on more than just its size. We need more interdisciplinary research to understand the global societal consequences of past and future volcanic eruptions.

    • Clive Oppenheimer

  • Editorial |

    Modern societies require more and more metals, not least for renewable energy generation. Scientists from a range of disciplines are needed to prospect for ore deposits and provide a basis for sustainable exploration.

  • News & Views |

    Metals often accumulate in the crust beneath volcanoes. Laboratory experiments and observations reveal important roles for magmatic vapours and brines in transporting and concentrating the metals into deposits worth targeting for extraction.

    • Olivier Nadeau

  • News & Views |

    The Witwatersrand Basin in South Africa contains extraordinary amounts of gold. Thermodynamic calculations suggest that the gold may have accumulated there in response to a perfect storm of conditions available only during the Archaean.

    • Fabrice Gaillard
    •  & Yoann Copard

  • News & Views |

    The fate of water that enters the mantle within subducting slabs is unclear. Laboratory experiments indicate that subducted crust can transport large amounts of water into the deep Earth, and the lower mantle may become more hydrated over time.

    • Masayuki Nishi

  • News & Views |

    Aqueous subduction-zone fluids contain CO2 and methane. New calculations indicate that these fluids also host a wide array of organic carbon species, in concentrations sufficient to influence the deep carbon cycle.

    • Jay J. Ague

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