Volcanology articles within Nature Geoscience

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  • Letter |

    Lavas erupted from volcanoes in the north of the Hawaiian volcanic island chain have a different geochemical signature from those in the south. Analysis of the geochemistry of lavas erupted in the Samoan and Marquesas volcanic chains reveals similar trends, implying that the lowermost mantle beneath the southern Pacific is isotopically enriched.

    • Shichun Huang
    • , Paul S. Hall
    •  & Matthew G. Jackson

  • Article |

    Lavas erupted above subduction zones commonly show evidence for recycling of subducted sediments. Geochemical analyses of sedimentary rocks that experienced subduction indicate that trace elements in the sediments can be efficiently recycled, because metamorphosed sediments rise buoyantly from the subducting plate and undergo partial melting at high temperatures in the overlying mantle wedge.

    • Mark D. Behn
    • , Peter B. Kelemen
    •  & Hans-Joachim Massonne

  • Letter |

    During continental breakup, the onset of seafloor spreading is thought to be marked by the first occurrence of a magnetic anomaly. Analysis of seismic and magnetic data from the Iberia–Newfoundland continental-rift system suggests that the first magnetic anomaly observed here instead represents a magmatic event that pre-dates seafloor spreading.

    • Adrien Bronner
    • , Daniel Sauter
    •  & Marc Munschy

  • Letter |

    Fragments of ancient continental lithosphere, entrained in the shallow oceanic mantle, have been found in a number of locations in the Southern Hemisphere. Isotopic analyses of material from Quaternary volcanic centres in Hispaniola indicate that the lavas are derived from an ancient lithospheric fragment with affinities to the supercontinent Gondwana.

    • George D. Kamenov
    • , Michael R. Perfit
    •  & Robert D. Shuster

  • Letter |

    Variations in the volume, geochemistry and location of volcanism in Hawaii cannot be explained as the simple consequence of an underlying mantle plume. A numerical model of the Hawaiian plume suggests that small-scale convection in the mantle erodes the base of the overlying tectonic plate and may help generate the anomalous volcanism.

    • Maxim D. Ballmer
    • , Garrett Ito
    •  & Paul J. Tackley

  • News & Views |

    Why broad fields of volcanism are found in the interior of tectonic plates is hard to explain. Spatial correlations between sheared mantle flow and volcanism suggest that differential motion between surface plates and the mantle generates upwelling and melt.

    • Scott D. King

  • Letter |

    The geochemistry of lavas erupted at locations where mantle plumes interact with mid-ocean ridges reflects the mixing between the two sources. Analysis of lavas erupted above the Foundation hotspot, near the Pacific–Antarctic Ridge, reveal a geochemical signature indicative of both a primitive mantle plume source and a recycled oceanic lithosphere source.

    • N. A. Stroncik
    •  & C. W. Devey

  • Letter |

    Volcanism observed far from plate boundaries, in the interior of oceanic and continental plates, may result from flow in the underlying mantle. Comparison between a numerical model of mantle flow and the spatial distribution of intraplate volcanism indicates that rapid shear motion in the mantle may drive melting that causes intraplate eruptions.

    • Clinton P. Conrad
    • , Todd A. Bianco
    •  & Paul Wessel

  • Letter |

    The timing and style of magmatism and extension during the final stages of continental breakup are uncertain. Analysis of ongoing rifting processes in Ethiopia reveals that after a protracted period of extension by magma intrusion, late-stage breakup is characterized by a final phase of plate stretching and voluminous basalt extrusion.

    • Ian D. Bastow
    •  & Derek Keir

  • Letter |

    Volcanism at mid-ocean ridges is usually effusive, but some explosive eruptions have been documented. Measurement of the carbon dioxide content of lavas erupted at the Juan de Fuca Ridge, Pacific Ocean, indicate that elevated concentrations of carbon dioxide in the upper oceanic mantle could drive these explosive eruptions.

    • Christoph Helo
    • , Marc-Antoine Longpré
    •  & John Stix

  • News & Views |

    How the giant sediment-hosted gold deposits of Nevada were formed is disputed. A model linking regional tectonics with magma emplacement and fluid generation at depth suggests that these deposits result from an optimal coincidence of processes.

    • Jeremy P. Richards

  • Article |

    During the Eocene, profuse magmatism and hydrothermal activity in the Great Basin of western North America produced Earth’s second largest concentration of gold in Nevada. An integration of mineral analyses, experimental data and age and isotope data suggests a magmatic source for these deposits.

    • John L. Muntean
    • , Jean S. Cline
    •  & Anthony A. Longo

  • Letter |

    Magma transports metals to the Earth’s surface to form ore deposits, but only sulphide-undersaturated magmas were thought to be capable of generating large amounts of ore. Laboratory experiments indicate that large volumes of gold ore can also be generated by sulphide-saturated magma, if the redox conditions of the magma are suitable.

    • Roman E. Botcharnikov
    • , Robert L. Linnen
    •  & Jasper Berndt

  • News & Views |

    Magma from the mantle meets the ocean at seafloor spreading centres. At young rifts, basalt sills may heat overlying sediments and induce natural carbon release; basalt flows elsewhere may offer secure reservoirs for sequestration of anthropogenic carbon.

    • David Goldberg

  • Letter |

    Continental rifting creates narrow ocean basins, where coastal ocean upwelling and enhanced silicate weathering remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Evidence from seismic data, sonar backscatter and seafloor images, and geochemical water analyses suggest that in young sedimented rifts, active magmatism occurs in a broader region than appreciated and releases carbon from the sediments.

    • Daniel Lizarralde
    • , S. Adam Soule
    •  & Giora Proskurowski

  • Letter |

    Ocean islands formed over hotspots can uplift and subside as the hotspots evolve. The history of the Cape Verde islands reveals large-scale uplift owing to growth of the hotspot swell, but also variable uplift of individual islands resulting from the local intrusion of magma.

    • R. Ramalho
    • , G. Helffrich
    •  & D. N. Schmidt

  • News & Views |

    Passive margins were thought to be tectonically inactive. Documentation of a volcanic dyke intrusion along the eastern flank of the Red Sea rift proves this plate tectonic tenet wrong, however, with implications for hazard assessments in these regions.

    • Cynthia Ebinger
    •  & Manahloh Belachew

  • Letter |

    Large earthquakes are known to trigger subsequent earthquakes in nearby regions, but similar triggering has not been confirmed for volcanic hazards. Analysis of the progressive deformation associated with 13 volcanic dykes intruded in Ethiopia between 2005 and 2009 indicates that magmatic intrusions can help to trigger subsequent intrusions.

    • Ian J. Hamling
    • , Tim J. Wright
    •  & Elias Lewi

  • Article |

    Volcanic fields at the eastern margin of the Red Sea rift were regarded as seismically quiet until a swarm of 30,000 earthquakes struck in 2009. Geological analyses reveal the intrusion of a volcanic dyke and indicate that rift-related extension is spread over a broad region far from the rift axis.

    • John S. Pallister
    • , Wendy A. McCausland
    •  & Mohammed R. H. Moufti

  • Letter |

    Instrumental records, proxy data and climate modelling show that multidecadal variability is a dominant feature of North Atlantic sea-surface temperature variations. Simulations with a coupled climate model suggest that the timing of this variability is determined mainly by external forcing, for example from volcanic eruption or solar forcing.

    • Odd Helge Otterå
    • , Mats Bentsen
    •  & Lingling Suo

  • News & Views |

    Andesite magmas were once thought to be simple melts derived from a subducting oceanic slab or the mantle. Analysis of lavas at Mount Hood shows that instead andesites are a complex mixture of magmas formed in the continental crust just before eruption.

    • John Eichelberger

  • Letter |

    At subduction zones, andesite lavas erupt in greater abundance than the individual magmas that mix to produce them. Textural and geochemical analyses of andesites from Mount Hood, Oregon, reveal that injection and mixing of iron- and magnesium-rich magma in the magma chamber can initiate the volcanic eruption.

    • Adam J. R. Kent
    • , Cristina Darr
    •  & Kari M. Cooper

  • News & Views |

    Direct evidence for the role of volatiles in magmatic ore formation has been elusive. Magma degassing at Merapi volcano in Indonesia is found to be directly linked to the selective leaching of metals from sulphide melts that ultimately form ore deposits.

    • Bruno Scaillet

  • Article |

    The metal content of ore deposits formed during subduction-zone volcanism was thought to be established when the ore fluid separates from the parent magma. Analyses of metal concentrations in erupted melts and the volcanic gases emitted after an eruption in Indonesia reveal that metals can be added to the ore fluid later, during mixing with separated melts.

    • Olivier Nadeau
    • , Anthony E. Williams-Jones
    •  & John Stix

  • Letter |

    Natural petroleum seepage emits large volumes of oil and methane to the oceans every year, accompanied by the formation of asphalt volcanoes on the sea floor. The discovery of seven asphalt volcanoes off the coast of southern California may help to explain high methane emissions recorded during the late Pleistocene.

    • David L. Valentine
    • , Christopher M. Reddy
    •  & Morgan Soloway

  • News & Views |

    Oceanic crust forms through the addition of volcanic rock to mid-ocean ridges. Widely dispersed, young lavas observed at an ultraslow-spreading ridge provide impetus for the redevelopment of models of oceanic magmatism.

    • John Maclennan

  • Article |

    Mid-ocean ridges grow through tectonic and volcanic processes. Uranium-series dating of volcanic rocks at the ultraslow-spreading Southwest Indian Ridge reveals widely dispersed, young, off-axis volcanism that is spatially coincident with fault surfaces. Faults may therefore provide a mechanism for the wide dispersal of magma at ultraslow-spreading ridges.

    • Jared J. Standish
    •  & Kenneth W. W. Sims

  • News & Views |

    About 94.5 million years ago, oxygen levels in the deep ocean dropped while carbon burial rapidly increased. Geochemical analyses suggest that the release of sulphate from extensive volcanism set off a sequence of biogeochemical reactions that led to ocean anoxia.

    • Haydon P. Mort

  • Letter |

    There is evidence for the existence of differentiated crust early in Earth’s history, but little is known about the timing and nature of the crust and its formation. New samarium–neodymium data from the Dresser Formation in Western Australia point to differentiation of the early crust from the mantle more than 4.3 billion years ago.

    • Svetlana G. Tessalina
    • , Bernard Bourdon
    •  & Pascal Philippot

  • Letter |

    Ninety-four million years ago, during Ocean Anoxic Event 2, there was a marked increase in the burial of organic carbon in marine sediments. Measurements of stomata in fossil leaves show that the two main pulses of carbon burial were associated with a decline in atmospheric CO2 levels of up to 26%.

    • Richard S. Barclay
    • , Jennifer C. McElwain
    •  & Bradley B. Sageman

  • Letter |

    Several periods of global ocean anoxia punctuated the Cretaceous period. Marine-sediment chemistry indicates that extensive volcanism at the beginning of Oceanic Anoxic Event 2 released sulphur to the oceans, triggering a biogeochemical cascade that led to enhanced surface productivity and depletion of oxygen in the underlying waters.

    • Derek D. Adams
    • , Matthew T. Hurtgen
    •  & Bradley B. Sageman

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