Volcanology articles within Nature Communications

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  • Article |

    Andesites are a large part of the continental crust, but their origins remain enigmatic. Here, the authors update older mixing models via high-temperature experiments and thermal calculations, showing that homogeneous mixtures are only possible with high mafic fractions and during high magma flux.

    • Mickael Laumonier
    • , Bruno Scaillet
    •  & Laurent Arbaret

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Submarine mud volcanoes are difficult to observe from the sea surface and previous recordings at depth have been short term. Here, the authors provide the first long-term monitoring from Håkon Mosby and suggest that mud volcanoes may be more important to the global methane budget than previously thought.

    • Tomas Feseker
    • , Antje Boetius
    •  & Dirk de Beer

  • Article |

    Carbonate melt is one of the most important materials involved in the carbon cycle of the Earth’s interior; however, its mobility is poorly understood. Here, the authors suggest that carbonate melts possess much lower viscosities than previously thought, which in turn suggest very high mobility.

    • Yoshio Kono
    • , Curtis Kenney-Benson
    •  & Craig E. Manning

  • Article |

    Although observations of volcanic deposits on Mars are more accessible than ever, constraining Martian eruption styles remains a challenge. Here, the authors show that volcanic eruption style can be characterized through X-ray diffraction analysis of groundmass crystallinity in basaltic volcanic deposits.

    • Kellie T. Wall
    • , Michael C. Rowe
    •  & Jennifer D. Eccles

  • Article |

    The origin of bimodal (mafic–felsic) rock suites is a fundamental question in volcanology. Here, the authors present a new model for magmatic differentiation in continental igneous provinces and explain how large volumes of granitic magma can be produced in otherwise basaltic systems.

    • F. C. Meade
    • , V. R. Troll
    •  & I. Klonowska

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Pumice rafts result from volcanic eruptions into and onto water, and can be extensive and potentially hazardous, but tracking their dispersal is difficult. Jutzeler et al.combine satellite imagery and an ocean model to accurately forecast pumice raft dispersal routes.

    • Martin Jutzeler
    • , Robert Marsh
    •  & Leif Karlstrom

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Deformation is often used in volcano monitoring, but the associated hazard is hard to interpret. Biggs et al.analyse 20 years of global satellite data and show a strong statistical link between deformation and eruption, although deformation alone is not necessarily a precursor of imminent eruption.

    • J. Biggs
    • , S. K. Ebmeier
    •  & T. A. Mather

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Visualization of magma in a conduit with classical probes remains challenging due to geological heterogeneity and the geometrical structure of the conduit involved. Tanaka et al.use cosmic ray muons and report the first radiographic observation of the ascent and descent of magma along a conduit.

    • Hiroyuki K. M. Tanaka
    • , Taro Kusagaya
    •  & Hiroshi Shinohara

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Understanding dyke thickness distributions is essential to quantify magma transport rates and improve eruption forecasting. Krumbholz et al.show that dyke thicknesses are Weibull-distributed and identify host-rock strength as the primary parameter that controls dyke emplacement.

    • Michael Krumbholz
    • , Christoph F. Hieronymus
    •  & Nadine Friese

  • Article |

    Obsidian lava flows accompanied some of Earth’s most powerful eruptions, yet an active advancing flow field has never been observed. Tuffen et al.present four-dimensional models of the lava flow following the 2011 eruption of Cordón Caulle, Chile, and provide new insights into silicic lava flow dynamics.

    • Hugh Tuffen
    • , Mike R. James
    •  & C. Ian Schipper

  • Article |

    Subglacial volcanoes host passage zones that can be used to define high stands of englacial lakes and paleo-ice thickness. This study identifies a pyroclastic passage zone in a subglacial volcano, which may help calculate transient paleolake levels and improve estimates of paleo-ice thickness.

    • James K. Russell
    • , Benjamin R. Edwards
    •  & Lucy A. Porritt

  • Article |

    The onset of the ongoing summit eruption at Kilauea Volcano was associated with changes in seismic anisotropy and increased gas flux. This study shows that seismic anisotropy variations are also a function of alterations in stress conditions, and provides a new method for tracking gas flux using seismic observations.

    • Jessica H. Johnson
    •  & Michael P. Poland

  • Article |

    In mature continental rifts, magma intrusion appears to accommodate significant crustal extension. Here, radiometric ages for lavas suggest that this style of focused magmatic accretion and rifting remained stable in the Ethiopian crust for at least ~200 kyr, prior to the onset of true oceanic spreading.

    • David J. Ferguson
    • , Andrew T. Calvert
    •  & Tim J. Wright

  • Article |

    Kimberlites are volatile-rich magmas that form diverging pipes containing pelletal lapilli - well rounded clasts that consist of an inner seed particle. Gernonet al. suggest that pelletal lapilli are formed when fluid volatile-rich melts intrude into earlier volcaniclastic infill close to the diatreme root zone.

    • T.M. Gernon
    • , R.J. Brown
    •  & T.K. Hincks

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The Arctic Mid-Ocean Ridge spreads extremely slowly and hydrothermal vent fields have not been reported in its vicinity. Pedersenet al. describe a black smoker vent field with large hydrothermal deposits and novel fauna distinct from those found in similar environments in the Atlantic.

    • Rolf B. Pedersen
    • , Hans Tore Rapp
    •  & Steffen L. Jorgensen

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