Topic description and stories

Fagradalsfjall volcano, Iceland

Lava from 2021 Icelandic eruption gives rare view of deep churnings beneath volcano

16 Sep 2022

After centuries without volcanic activity, Iceland’s Reykjanes peninsula sprang to life in 2021 when lava erupted from the Fagradalsfjall volcano...

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Magma ocean and first rocky crust on the Moon

‘Slushy’ magma ocean led to formation of the Moon’s crust

13 Jan 2022

Scientists have shown how the freezing of a ‘slushy’ ocean of magma may be responsible for the composition of the Moon’s crust.

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Kīlauea eruption, 2018

Size matters: if you are a bubble of volcanic gas

06 Aug 2018

The chemical composition of gases emitted from volcanoes – which are used to monitor changes in volcanic activity – can change depending on the size...

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The Deccan Traps in western India

Did dinosaur-killing asteroid trigger largest lava flows on Earth?

12 May 2015

The asteroid that slammed into the ocean off Mexico 66 million years ago and killed off the dinosaurs probably rang the Earth like a bell, triggering...

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Bárðarbunga and Holuhraun

New understanding of how magma moves underground

15 Dec 2014

An international team of geoscientists have demonstrated how magma-filled cracks form and spread underneath volcanic systems, such as the one...

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And now, the volcano forecast

22 Oct 2014

Scientists are using volcanic gases to understand how volcanoes work, and as the basis of a hazard-warning forecast system.

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Luck and lava

06 Oct 2014

A team of researchers from Cambridge’s Department of Earth Sciences have recently returned from Iceland where, thanks to a bit of luck, they have...

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Monitoring Bárðarbunga and Holuhraun

26 Aug 2014

Cambridge scientists and PhD students are at the forefront of monitoring the activity of the Bárðarbunga volcano in Iceland. The research group, led...

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