national geographic volcano case study

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• BOOK REVIEW
• 22 April 2024

How volcanoes shaped our planet — and why we need to be ready for the next big eruption

• Heather Handley 0

Heather Handley is an associate professor of volcanic hazards and geoscience communication in the Department of Applied Earth Sciences at the University of Twente in Enschede, the Netherlands.

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Lava erupts from a volcano in Iceland, part of a series of eruptions that began last year. Credit: Anton Brink/Anadolu via Getty

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Adventures in Volcanoland: What Volcanoes Tell Us About the World and Ourselves Tamsin Mather Abacus (2024)

Unlike Alice in Alice in Wonderland , volcanologists cannot fall down a deep rabbit hole to discover what goes on in the bowels of the Earth. Instead, they scour the surface and examine the chemistry of emitted gases, lava and rocks ejected during eruptions. Only by combining many clues can researchers learn where and how molten rock (magma) forms, how it ascends from the mantle below Earth’s crust and what triggers volcanic eruptions.

In Adventures in Volcanoland , volcanologist Tamsin Mather takes readers on a journey to some of the world’s most notorious and active volcanoes — from Mount Vesuvius in Italy to Masaya in Nicaragua. Her eloquent and enchanting book, which is rich in analogies and anecdotes, weaves together geological, historical and personal stories to explain how volcanoes work, how they have shaped our planet and how they have been understood through history.

Santorini’s volcanic past: underwater clues reveal giant prehistoric eruption

Volcanoes’ captivating power clearly entrances Mather, as it does me. And volcanoes make volcanologists work hard to uncover their secrets. Mather explains how researchers, equipped with the geochemical equivalent of a stethoscope, listen to the beating pulses of volcanoes. Scientists can also capture volcanoes’ ‘breath’ — toxic gases that often enshroud Mather as she works and that eat away at her clothes. Mather describes navigating through thick jungle in Guatemala to collect samples of lava while volcanic blasts hurled plumes of ash into the sky. Repairs to broken equipment had to be improvised using duct tape and superglue. Mather once resorted to using an inverted children’s paddling pool to collect gases fizzing up inside the caldera of Santorini volcano in Greece . The effort is worth it, Mather explains, to help volcanologists to answer big questions, such as how eruptions alter the climate and our environment, and how they affect life on Earth.

Volcanologists must exploit a vast array of knowledge, from planetary-scale shifts in Earth’s carbon cycle to the analysis of trapped gases in microscopic beads of glass. They must put eruptions in geological context, on timescales from Earth’s formation more than four billion years ago to the rapid radioactive decay of gases emitted by magma (such as radon-222, with a half-life of just under four days).

Each rock tells a story

Mather describes human experiences of volcanic eruptions, including her own time spent staring into churning lakes of molten rock, a “roiling, red and restless” fiery sea. She first encountered volcanoes and their hazards as a child, when she visited Vesuvius and the former Roman towns of Pompeii and Herculaneum. In ad 79, several scorching (350–550 ºC), fast-moving clouds of ash, pumice and gases surged down the flanks of Vesuvius, with devastating consequences for the people below, including hundreds who had taken refuge at the waterfront in Herculaneum, waiting to flee by boat.

In pictures: lava flows into Icelandic town during volcanic eruption

Today, tourists standing at the excavated pre-eruption shoreline are presented with an intimidating wall of volcanic deposits. After the eruption, the land surface gained up to 20 metres of elevation, and the coastline moved seawards by one kilometre. And all this happened in a geological blink of an eye.

Looking down from the crater rim of Mount Vesuvius towards the urban sprawl of metropolitan Naples, now home to around three million people, it’s sobering to consider just how the city will respond to the next large eruption of the slumbering volcano. It’s hard to know when that will be, but managing a future evacuation will be a colossal task for the authorities.

To prepare and plan, it is essential to better understand the hazards of volcanic regions. By ‘reading the rocks’ deposited by volcanoes, layer upon layer over thousands or millions of years, volcanologists can unravel the frequency, style and magnitudes of past eruptions. For example, rock stripes exposed in the walls of the Santorini caldera reveal how the catastrophic 1600 bc Minoan eruption unfolded; underwater studies of rocks point to other events that were much larger than previously thought. The consequences of another large eruption in the Eastern Mediterranean would be grave.

The Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai volcano in the South Pacific. Credit: Maxar via Getty

Volcanic and sedimentary rocks, along with signals from deposited sulphate in ice cores, hold clues about how eruptions have altered conditions across our planet. The impacts can be temporary or permanent. Plumes of sulphur dioxide gas can trigger short periods of global cooling called volcanic winters, such as the one following the 1815 eruption of Tambora in Indonesia. Lengthy outpourings of lava can form large igneous provinces — huge accumulations of volcanic rocks, such as the Siberian Traps. In the past, such events might have led to significant changes in planetary conditions that affected the course of life on Earth. As Mather points out, four out of the five largest mass extinctions overlapped approximately in time with volcanic activity that formed large igneous provinces, which would have pumped out vast amounts of carbon dioxide over millions of years.

Plan for big eruptions

All this raises the question of how prepared we are for the next large-scale volcanic eruption. Not very, I would argue. Humans have short memories — the COVID-19 pandemic showed us that, only 100 years after the severe influenza pandemic that began in 1918, we were still not ready.

Monitoring of volcanoes has advanced tremendously, with support from satellites in space , but they can still catch us off guard. For example, the powerful 2022 eruption of Hunga Tonga–Hunga Ha‘apai in Tonga was unexpected and had global ramifications. A shockwave and tsunamis reached the coasts of North and South America, resulting in an oil spill and two drownings in Peru. Tsunami warnings and evacuation orders were issued in Japan, and beaches closed in Australia. Water vapour launched into the stratosphere by the blast could temporarily boost global temperatures.

Tonga volcano eruption triggered ‘mega-tsunami’

Population growth, technology dependency and the increased complexity of global systems have put the world at catastrophic risk from volcanic eruptions. Today, more than 800 million people in more than 85 countries live within 100 kilometres of an active volcano. An eruption near densely populated areas would have disastrous immediate impacts. Pyroclastic flows — fast-moving mixtures of hot gas, ash and rock fragments — could wipe out entire cities. Metres-thick ash falls would devastate crops and overwhelm power lines, water-treatment facilities, ventilation and heating systems, machinery and more. Farther away, flights might be grounded, power grids and undersea cables could be damaged and food security and supply chains could be affected, spreading economic losses.

With little regard for international borders, large eruptions’ far-reaching impacts would require a rapid and coordinated national and international response. Yet, global preparedness for the impacts of volcanic eruptions is lacking. There is no international United Nations treaty organization for ‘operational volcanology’ (systematic monitoring of volcanoes and assessment of risk). There’s no global coordination on issuing cross-border volcanic hazard warnings that address the full range of threats: pyroclastic flow, tephra fall (deposits of lofted rock fragments), lava flow, lahar (volcanic mudflow), volcanic gases, rafting pumice, drifting ash, tsunami and lightning.

Tambora-size eruptions occur somewhere in the world once or twice every millennium on average, and every 400 years in the Asia Pacific region. It’s not a matter of if, but when.

Adventures in Volcanoland reminds us that we should all keep careful watch on the world’s volcanoes. They are more than alluring natural landmarks. They are powerful drivers of processes on our planet that are crucial to understand. Volcano enthusiasts, those interested in the history of this adventurous science and those questioning our place in the world will find much to enjoy in this absorbing book.

Nature 628 , 713-715 (2024)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-024-01179-1

Competing Interests

The author declares no competing interests.

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HISTORIC ARTICLE

Dec 16, 1707 ce: most recent eruption of mount fuji.

On December 16, 1707, Mount Fuji, Japan, erupted for the last time to date. It is still an active volcano!

Earth Science, Geology

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On December 16, 1707, scientists recorded the last  confirmed   eruption  of Mount Fuji, Japan’s highest point. Fuji is composed of several overlapping  volcanoes . The top two are known as “Old Fuji” (Ko Fuji) and “Young Fuji” (Shin Fuji). Fuji has erupted at various times starting around 100,000 years ago—and is still an active  volcano  today. Fuji’s last eruption   ejected tons of  tephra  into the  atmosphere . Tephra includes all solid volcanic material—not  lava  or  volcanic gas . Tephra released by the 1707 eruption of Fuji (called the Hoei eruption ) included  volcanic ash  and volcanic rock, such as  pumice  and  scoria . Tephra blanketed the city of Edo (now the central part of Tokyo, more than 100 kilometers (62 miles) away). Japan is located on the most geologically active part of the planet, the Ring of Fire. The roughly horseshoe-shaped Ring of Fire circles the South Pacific, the eastern rim of Asia, and the western edge of the Americas. This region is known for its volcanic eruptions and earthquakes. Japan is no exception. Fuji’s Hoei eruption was preceded by a massive earthquake. The estimated-8.6-magnitude earthquake likely triggered a primed Fuji to erupt. The damage —especially the deaths—from these disasters, plus a tsunami, is hard to untangle. But what can be attributed to the Hoei eruption is the damage  to homes near Fuji. The tephra fallout also reduced agricultural productivity in the  region , causing many people to  starve to death.

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Jupiter's moon Io is a volcanic hellscape—and has been since the solar system began

Io is the most volcanic body known to science, and researchers have puzzled over its history for years. A new report suggests it was born this way.

Earth’s silvery moon is impressive in many ways, but it doesn’t hold a candle to those of the solar system’s gas giant planets. These moons are worlds unto themselves. Some, like Europa or Enceladus, have spectacular and perhaps even habitable liquid water oceans. And then there’s Jupiter’s moon, Io .

Io is the most volcanic object known to science. A rust-hued orb, its rocky seas of lava are larger than cities and its eruption plumes arc across the sky like infernal umbrellas. Yet until now, scientists have had little idea of Io’s history, including for how long it has been so eruptive. Io’s volcanism means that the moon resurfaces itself every million years.

All worlds are dynamic, and those with beating geologic hearts change—sometimes in extreme ways. Earth’s past self, for example, was very different from its present form. What about Io? Was it always a fiery hellscape?

To find out, astronomers studied its atmospheric chemistry to work out how long it might have taken for countless eruptions to shift its composition from an ancient starting point. Yet as they reported today in the journal Science , Io looks to have more-or-less been continuously erupting for billions of years—perhaps even 4.5 billion years, or for as long as the solar system itself has existed. In other words, Io has been volcanically hyperactive for as long as the sun itself has been shining.

“We are seeing Io just as it’s been all along!” says Jani Radebaugh , a planetary geologist at Brigham Young University and who wasn’t involved with the new work. That makes Io a time machine of sorts, whose unyielding heat engine—one powered by gravitational tides—can tell us about worlds both near and far.

“That process is going on throughout the solar system, as well as in exoplanets,” Katherine de Kleer , a planetary astronomer at Caltech and the study’s lead author. “We study Io to better understand this universal process.”

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A volcanic paradise.

The solar system may not look that changeable from a human perspective. But it most certainly is on astronomic timescales. For example, in recent years, scientists have found that Saturn’s iconic rings were not permanent fixtures, but recent decorations: they formed a few hundred million years ago, and they will fade away in a similar amount of time.

Io, then, may not have always been the volcanic maestro it is today. But to find out, we must understand how its volcanism works —and why it’s so dramatic.

In 1979, two major science moments laid the ground work: NASA’s Voyager 1 spacecraft flew through the Jovian system and photographed ginormous plumes of volcanic matter rising above Io’s surface, and an independent team of scientists calculated that Io may possess a potent, but unusual, source of heat.

That mathematical prediction came from the strange voyages of Europa and Ganymede, a pair of moons close to Io. Every time Ganymede makes a complete orbit of Jupiter, Europa makes two, and Io makes four. This rhythm, known as a resonance , alters Io’s own orbit, shaping it into something more elliptical than circular.

When Io is closer to Jupiter on its wonky orbit, it experiences a stronger gravitational pull; when it’s more distant, the gravitational pull of Jupiter is a little weaker. That causes tides on Io not dissimilar from the way Earth’s moon makes tides in our own world’s seas and oceans. But in this case, the tides are so strong that Io’s surface trampolines up and down 330 feet—comparable to a small skyscraper.

All that movement creates a lot of friction, which generates an astonishing amount of heat. Within Io, that heat melts a considerable amount of rock, perhaps creating an ocean of magma . And that powers some truly fierce eruptions at its surface, often taking the form of serpent-like rivers of lava longer than most of Earth’s watery versions, towering columns of sulfur-rich lava confetti, and cauldrons of liquid rock that act like portals into Io’s underworld.

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“It’s awesome,” says de Kleer. “It has these volcanoes that give us a window into what’s happening inside the moon, which is something we don’t usually have.”

The extreme nature of its volcanism doesn’t stop with its eruptions. As well as sulfur-containing compounds, it coughs out gases made of sodium and potassium chloride. On Earth, we use these to season our food. “It’s like table salt gas that’s coming out of the volcanoes,” says de Kleer.

Much of its erupted material can also be jettisoned through Io’s thin atmospheric bubble and into space. There, it mingles with sunlight, gets electrically excited, before falling into Jupiter’s magnetized skies and exploding as powerful aurorae —the gas giant’s version of Earth’s northern and southern lights.

Io’s source of heat—a mechanism known as tidal heating—is ultimately responsible for all this planetary sorcery. Scientists wanted to know if that tidal heating always existed within the moon. But as it’s so volcanically active, its lava flows have quickly and repeatedly covered its surface, burying any evidence of ancient geologic processes.

“It’s not possible to look at Io’s surface and say something about what happened more than a million years ago,” says de Kleer. That’s why she and her team took a different approach and looked to its skies instead.

Io loses as much as three tons of material every single second to space through its volcanic outgassing and atmospheric erosion. “One could argue that Io’s losing its mass like a comet,” says Apurva Oza , a planetary astrophysicist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory who wasn’t involved with the new work.

Over time, that would mean that Io’s modern-day eruptions will be relatively enriched in heavier versions (isotopes) of various chemical elements than lighter ones, because lighter isotopes in the upper atmosphere can more easily escape into space. If the team could measure the present-day ratios of the atmosphere’s heavy isotopes to lighter isotopes, they could calculate how long it would have taken for Io to get to that state from an original reservoir of subterranean, but eruptible, compounds within Io.

Using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) in Chile to observe gases in Io’s atmosphere—most notably, sulfur—de Kleer’s team did just that. They also estimated the moon’s "original" reservoir of heavier and lighter isotopes by using (among other things) ancient meteorites, which preserve a record of the average chemistry of the primeval era of the solar system.

They found that the high proportion of heavier sulfur isotopes in today’s Ionian atmosphere suggests that Io has lost 94 to 99 percent of its original sulfur reservoir. And the only way that makes sense, and fits with preexisting models of the evolution of Jupiter and its inner moons, is that Io has been erupting for perhaps as long as 4.5 billion years.

Orbital dance  

“The orbital dynamics of planetary satellites can get very chaotic,” says James Tuttle Keane , a planetary scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory who was not involved with the new work. Moons can drift in and out of stable orbits, sometimes colliding or potentially being ejected from the solar system entirely.

But it seems that Io, Ganymede, and Europa have been dancing about in a similar way for billions of years, and “the Io we see today is somewhat representative of Io over its long history,” says Keane.

That’s extraordinary in itself—but it also has implications for Io’s neighbor, Europa. This icy orb not only has a liquid water ocean beneath its frozen shell, but it is thought to be kept warm and liquid by tidal heating too. That means that if Io has been volcanically active for billions of years, then Europa’s ocean may be similarly primeval.

“Maybe this has some implications for the long-term history of Europa’s habitability,” says de Kleer. We don’t yet know if this ocean contains life. But if it does, it owes its existence to the same eternal force that makes Io blaze with volcanic fire.

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Case Study: Koobi Fora Research Project

A case study that illustrates the Koobi Fora Research Project’s amazing finds in the field of paleontology.

Geology, Geography, Earth Science, Biology

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National Geographic Explorer-in-Residence and paleontologist Meave Leakey works in the remote Lake Turkana region of Kenya and Ethiopia. She, her husband, Richard, her daughter Louise, and a team of scientists have been researching fossils in the Koobi Fora area of the Lake Turkana Basin for more than 30 years. Koobi Fora is a ridge of sedimentary rock on the eastern shore of Lake Turkana, Kenya. The Koobi Fora Research Project (KFRP), initiated in 1968, forms the backbone of the Turkana Basin Institute (TBI). Almost 10,000 fossils have been discovered in Koobi Fora, more than 350 from ancient hominin species. The investigation of the evolution of human beings and hominin relatives is the primary—although not the only—scientific goal of the KFRP. “The continued research in the Turkana Basin will further the global understanding of human origins and the context in which it occurred through the recovery and investigation of new fossil material from deposits in northern Kenya,” according to the project’s mission statement. Geography Located in northern Kenya, the Turkana Basin is a 70,000-square-kilometer (27,027-square-mile) region that is home to Lake Turkana, the most saline lake in East Africa and the largest desert lake in the world. The area includes three national parks : Sibiloi National Park , South Island National Park , and Central Island National Park . Lake Turkana, nicknamed the “Jade Sea” due to its striking color, is a major stopover for migrating waterfowl . The surrounding area is a major breeding ground for Nile crocodiles, hippopotamuses, and a range of venomous snakes. The basin surrounding Lake Turkana is arid and receives little rainfall outside the “long rain” season of March, April, and May. Due to the extreme climate conditions around Lake Turkana, there is a low human population in the basin . The people who live in the area are mostly small-scale farmers and pastoralists . The Turkana Basin has become known around the world for its amazing fossil deposits. In particular, the area has a wealth of hominin fossils that have contributed greatly to our understanding of human evolution .

Assessment Even before the Koobi Fora Research Project began, the Turkana Basin was known for its fossils . A French expedition in 1902 and 1903 first discovered vertebrate fossils in the lower Omo Valley. (The Omo River flows south from Ethiopia into Lake Turkana.) During World War II , Allied troops stationed in southern Ethiopia collected fossils from the lake and its nearby hills . But it was a 1968 investigation of Lake Turkana—then known by its colonial name, Lake Rudolf—by paleontologist Richard Leakey that uncovered a cache of fossils that would lead to the start of the Koobi Fora Research Project. Flying over the region in a helicopter, Leakey noticed unusual rock formations on the eastern side of Lake Turkana. The features were thought to be igneous rock —hardened lava . To Leakey, however, the features appeared to be sedimentary rock , which is slow to accumulate and often preserves fossils . The 1968 expedition showed Leakey was right; the rocks turned out to be fossil -rich sediments. In addition to plant and animal fossils , Koobi Fora has yielded an array of hominin species: Homo habilis , Homo rudolfensis , Homo erectus , Paranthropus boisei , Paranthropus aethiopicus , Australopithecus anamensis , and Kenyanthropus platyops . The purpose of the Koobi Fora Research Project is nothing less than to uncover how we became human. “We are trying to find evidence of our ancestors in order to chart the evolutionary history of our species,” says Meave Leakey, who currently runs KFRP with her daughter and fellow Explorer-in-Residence , Louise. To fully understand how our species evolved, KFRP looks for clues to what the habitats of our ancient ancestors were like. “We ourselves have a very good field team who finds fossils , and we are trying to find actual fossil evidence of our ancestors ,” Meave Leakey says. “But we are also interested obviously in the other fossils —the fossils of the fauna and of all the animals that lived alongside our ancestors —because from the evolution of these animals we can learn what may have happened during our own evolution , the evolution of our species.”

Conflict Paleontologists , anthropologists , geologists , and other scientists involved with the Koobi Fora Research Project often have conflicting ideas about how things happened in the past. Following the scientific method , the project’s theories change and evolve as more research is conducted and the theories are tested by field work and new technologies. “Obviously there are many different ways of interpreting some of the evidence , and that’s why we are always looking for more, because we get closer and closer to the truth with the more evidence we find,” Leakey says. “Controversy is the word that is generally used when people come up with alternative theories, but that’s the way science progresses. It’s a normal process. People will interpret one set of evidence one way and other people another way. And then you find more evidence . And then you all come to an agreement, hopefully, in the end.” Two discoveries associated with the Turkana Basin are examples of conflict whose resolutions are being pursued through rigorous scientific inquiry and research. In 1984, TBI paleo anthropologists discovered “ Turkana Boy ,” a nearly complete 1.5 million-year-old skeleton of a hominin with proportions similar to our own. Turkana Boy is the most complete early human skeleton ever found. Despite Turkana Boy being one of the most-studied hominin fossils in history, paleo anthropologists still debate whether the specimen is Homo erectus or Homo ergaster . Other KFRP discoveries include species, such as Kenyanthropus platyops , found nowhere else in the world. There is only one K. platyops specimen, and it remains a source of scientific conflict. Some paleontologists—including Leakey—identify the skull as a unique genus ( Kenyanthropus ). Others say it is related to another branch of hominins , the australopithecines . Still others maintain it is not a unique species at all, but the deformed skull of a familiar hominin , Australopithecus afarensis .

Stakeholders Since the Koobi Fora Research Project is attempting to understand human evolution, all of humanity could be affected by the project’s findings. Paleontologists and paleoanthropologists : Discovering and documenting the evolution of Homo sapiens sapiens , our own species, is one of the great scientific endeavors of the 20th and 21st centuries. Paleo anthropologists are continually searching for clues in the field, as well as reviewing earlier finds with new technology , to understand how H. sapiens sapiens evolved from earlier species. The project is important because it helps us understand our shared past and may help us realize how our species should proceed into the future. “If you believe as I do that understanding our past is important, then our work is important,” Leakey says. “We have discovered an enormous number of fossil human ancestors that were unknown before,” she continues. “We have demonstrated that the evolutionary past of humans is much like that of other animals. There were radiation and extinction events. Our part is really no different from other animals in that sense.” Archaeologists , geologists , climatologists , and other scientists : How early hominin species interacted with the environment and other species—and each other—is a major focus of the KFRP. Many other projects at the Turkana Basin Institute complement the work of the KFRP in this way. Archaeologists study tools and artifacts , such as fish hooks and pottery. Geologists study how the landmass of Eastern Africa developed, and how it is rifting now. Climatologists study the varied history of the Turkana Basin , following the expanding and receding shores of the ancient lake. Turkana Basin Region Residents : Meave Leakey notes that the Turkana Basin Institute trains the region’s residents about fossil finding, fossil preparation, fossil reconstruction, and even how to curate fossil exhibits. “We are trying very much to involve and educate the local people,” Leakey says. “And we are trying also to have the local people assisted by the work that we are doing.”

Conflict Mitigation Any conflicting ideas or theories that emerge from the work of the Koobi Fora Research Project are resolved by scientists making more discoveries and conducting more research. “The KFRP has discovered and recovered the majority of the fossil collections, hominin and non- hominin , that are known from the lake basin ,” Leakey says. “These are the basis of our knowledge of the fauna and of the evolution of the animals found in East Africa today. We continue to recover, as do others, new fossil discoveries and new information that enable us to test past hypotheses and make new ones. Sometimes we are wrong, but that is the way with science. Answers are built on what we know at any particular time. With new discoveries, past ideas and theories are adjusted and refined.” For instance, paleo climatologists and paleobotanists working with the KFRP have uncovered significant faunal turnover between 5 million and 7 million years ago. The humid jungle habitat slowly gave way to more open environments . Grasslands became more prominent. This environmental change is now posited as one of the primary reasons hominin species became bipedal, or walking upright on two legs. Leakey cites a past controversy that the work of the KFRP helped resolve. In the mid-20th century, paleo anthropologists debated whether H. sapiens sapiens (modern humans) evolved in Africa or elsewhere. “Today,” Leakey says, “I don’t think anyone doubts that Homo sapiens evolved from Homo erectus in Africa, and there is much support for this, in particular the genetic evidence . [The debate ] led to many people trying to find the evidence for the correct answer.” Conservation Leakey sees a distinct conservation focus in the work of the Koobi Fora Research Project. Paleontologists and other scientists studying ancient habitats appreciate that life is fragile . Climate change has impacted life in the Turkana Basin for millions of years. The area has undergone transformations from a large freshwater lake to swampy wetland to grassy savanna to arid desert . These environmental changes have helped shape the niches of new and familiar species.

“I think it is important to understand that climates have changed dramatically over time,” Leakey says. “There have been some very major changes, and what is happening now is a major extinction event caused by humans.” She notes that although the biggest threat to conservation comes from rising temperatures and sea levels due to the emission of carbon dioxide (CO2) into the atmosphere, it is only part of how human activity is changing the planet. There is also deforestation , overfishing , toxic waste disposal, and the use of non- biodegradable plastics. Communication and Education The Turkana Basin Institute (TBI) educates the scientific community, local residents, and formal and informal students of evolution about the important discoveries made by the Koobi Fora Research Project. One of the goals of the organization’s community outreach programs is to “facilitate conservation and awareness on our natural heritage and environment .” The Turkana Basin Field School, sponsored by the TBI and the State University of New York-Stony Brook, offers college students the opportunity to spend a semester in the Turkana Basin . There, they engage with research scientists, participate in field work, and take courses such as “ Vertebrate Paleontology of the Turkana Basin ” and “Paleoanthropological Discoveries of the Turkana Basin .” The National Geographic film Bones of Turkana also illuminates the work of KFRP, and follows the Leakey family on a recent dig site in the Turkana Basin . Broadcast on PBS, Bones of Turkana may reach an audience of millions. The work of the KFRP is instrumental to the Prehistory Club of Kenya, run by paleontologist Dr. Fredrick Manthi. The Prehistory Club of Kenya has a mission of educating young people about Kenya’s spectacular prehistoric heritage. Outcomes The work of the Koobi Fora Research Project and other paleoanthropological studies in the Turkana Basin will continue for decades to come. New fossils, new research, and new technologies will influence the understanding of human evolution. “Is research ever finished?” Meave Leakey asks. “Does research ever get all the conclusions? Does research ever get all the answers? No! There will be finds that make new questions and new things to look at and new ways to discover them.”

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October 19, 2023

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Related Resources

Everything you need to know about volcanoes.

How Volcanoes Form

In 1980 in Washington, after 123 years of hibernation, Mount St. Helens erupted. The blast destroyed and scorched 230 square miles (370 square kilometers) of forest within minutes. The eruption released an avalanche of hot ash, gas, steam, and rocks that mowed down giant trees up to 15 miles (24 kilometers) away.

When magma finds a way to escape from beneath the earth's surface, it creates a volcano.

Volcanoes erupt in different ways. Some, like Mount St. Helens, explode. Explosive eruptions are so powerful, they can shoot particles 20 miles up (32 kilometers), hurl 8-ton boulders more than a half mile (0.8 kilometers) away, and cause massive landslides. Explosive eruptions also create an avalanche of hot volcanic debris, ash, and gas that bulldozes everything in its path. Explosive volcanoes cause most of the volcano-related fatalities.

Volcanoes, like Mauna Loa in Hawaii, are effusive. Rather than a violent explosion, lava pours or flows out. Fatalities from effusive volcanoes are rare because people can usually outrun the lava. However, some people get too close or become trapped with no escape. The flowing lava burns, melts, and destroys everything it touches including farms, houses, and roads.

A volcanic eruption forever changes the landscape. Though volcanoes destroy, they also create mountains, islands, and, eventually, incredibly fertile land.

Carpet of Ash

Volcanic eruptions can cause damage hundreds of miles away. Volcanic ash causes airplane engines to fail, destroys crops, contaminates water, and damages electronics and machinery. The ash carpets the ground, burying everything, sometimes even causing buildings to collapse. Mount St. Helens produced more than 490 tons of ash that fell over a 22,000 square mile (56,980 square kilometer) area and caused problems in cities 370 miles (600 kilometers) away.

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Why was Guatemala‘s Volcanic Eruption More Deadly Than Hawaii’s?

The eruption of two volcanoes within the space of a month led to two very different impacts.

There are significant differences between the eruption of Guatemala’s Fuego volcano and the eruption of Kilauea in Hawaii. Although both eruptions resulted in buildings being destroyed the eruption of Fuego led to the deaths of at least 62 people whereas Kilauea’s recent eruption has not claimed any lives.

This video provides an overview of the differences between the eruptions.

Below we explore in more detail why these eruptions are so different and why they have drastically different death tolls:

Type of volcano and eruption

Kilauea is a shield volcano . Shield volcanoes are low with gently sloping sides and are formed from layers of lava. Eruptions are typically non-explosive. Shield volcanoes produce fast flowing fluid lava that can flow for many miles. Eruptions tend to be frequent but relatively gentle. Although these eruptions destroy property it is rare for death or injury to occur. Kilauea’s main mode of destruction is lava. Although on this occasion a series of fissures or cracks opened to the east of the volcano releasing lava close to built-up areas. Residents were ordered to evacuate including the 1,500 population of Pahoa. The eruption was ongoing for over a month.

Large hot spots associated with active fissures were detected northeast of Leilani Estates. The lava was flowing from fissure 17, one of the most active of the 20 new fissures that have emerged. The U.S. Geological Survey’s Hawaiian Volcano Observatory (HVO) reported that fissure 17 produced lava fountains and spatter explosions that rose more than 30 meters (100 feet) into the air on May 14. Slow-moving lava from that fissure had moved east-southeast and traveled roughly one mile. One of the notable things about this image is what is not visible. Normally, a strong thermal signal stands out at Pu’u ’O’o, a vent located roughly halfway between the summit and Leilani Estates. On April 30, 2018, activity at Pu’u ’O’o subsided as the lake drained, and lava moved eastward toward Leilani Estates. Source – NASA Earth Observatory

Unusually, there was a large amount of ash emitted from one eruption on Hawaii. This did not present as a pyroclastic flow because the material had a low density so rose as an ash column.

However, Fuego is a stratovolcano.  Eruptions from stratovolcanoes are typically very explosive. This is because of high levels of gas and thick, highly viscous lava. The eruption led to a pyroclastic flow, a superheated avalanche of volcanic gas, ash and rocks, similar to the one that destroyed Pompeii. Pyroclastic flows occur when the material released from the eruption is too dense to rise as an ash column and instead cascades down the volcano’s slopes. The pyroclastic flow was estimated to be around 1000°C and travelled at speeds of over 100mph. The ash cloud from the eruption reached a height of 10km (33,000ft). It could be clearly seen from space, as this image taken by Nasa shows.

A satellite image showing the ash cloud from the eruption of Fuego. Source – NASA Earth Observatory

Size of the eruption

The size of a volcanic eruption is measured on the Volcanic Explosivity Index (VEI). The higher the VEI the more explosive the eruption. The Fuego eruption was a VEI-3. However, the eruption of Kilauea is estimated to be either VEI-0 or VEI-1. From this, it is clear that even a VEI-3 eruption is far more dangerous to human lives than most effusive eruptions (a type of volcanic eruption in which lava steadily flows out of a volcano onto the ground).

Monitoring and Prediction

Mount Kilauea is extensively monitored by the United States Geological Survey (USGS). Data that indicates a potential eruption, such as a reduction in the size of the lava lake or an increase in seismic activity is reported to the Hawaii County Civil Defense Agency.  The CDA are responsible for directing and coordinating the development and administration of the County’s total emergency preparedness and response program to ensure prompt and effective action when disasters occur on Hawaii. However, at Fuego, there is limited equipment around the volcano to accurately forecast an upcoming eruption. Guatemala is just not rich enough to be able to afford such a network. Also, it is always very hard to forecast a stratovolcano that is in a state of constant eruption, like Fuego.

Population density

Population density around the Fuego volcano was much higher than around Kilauea. Although the lava from Kilauea destroyed over 82 properties this is because the lava was so runny it travelled a long distance beyond the boundaries of the Hawaii Volcanoes National Park.  As the lava flows significantly slower than a pyroclastic flow there was plenty of time to evacuate nearby residents. On the other hand, residents close to Fuego were not as lucky. There are a number of villages in the foothills of Fuego where villagers have been attracted by the rich, fertile farmland created by previous eruptions. That meant unsuspecting villagers, such as those in the community of El Rodeo, were suddenly overwhelmed by the fast-moving pyroclastic flow.

The footage below shows people filming the pyroclastic flow as it travelled towards them. Although they are hypnotic to the eye people educated about the risks associated with pyroclastic flows would not put themselves in the path of one. This suggests that further education of people living in and around Fuego of its volcanic hazards would not only be helpful, it would save lives. However, the residents of Hawaii are well versed in the risks associated with Kilauea. Scientists of the U.S. Geological Survey’s Hawaiian Volcano Observatory (HVO) have instruments that monitor the rift zones 24 hours a day. Evacuation orders were issued when lava started to flow from fissures into residential areas. Inhabitants of the island are encouraged to develop an evacuation plan including locations they can stay should their property be at risk from a lava flow.

The long-term

Although the areas around both volcanoes will take years to recover the area around Fuego faces further risks that Kiluea doesn’t. Due to the vast amount of pyroclastic material erupted from Fuego there is a risk of lahars claiming lives in the future. A lahar is a volcanic mudflow caused by rainwater mixing with volcanic debris such as ash.

However, the high levels of toxic gas emissions from the Kilauea eruptions could present health problems in the future for Hawaii’s residents. Volcanic smog, called vog, which contains mostly sulfur dioxide and acid particles, along with ash, is an air quality concern.

As the molten rock travelled to the coast and began pouring into the cool seawater it created clouds of lava haze or “laze”. Officials warned people to stay away since the plumes can travel up to 15 miles downwind, according to the Hawaii Volcano Observatory. The clouds form when hot lava boils seawater, creating tiny shards of volcanic glass and hydrochloric acid that then get carried in steam. The plumes can be deadly. While there has been a moderate increase in the number of people entering Hilo medical centre for treatment of vog-related symptoms since the eruption there have been no deaths. However, inhaling vog or laze could potentially worsen existing health conditions such as asthma or cardiovascular disease.

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