Planet Earth, features and articles | Educational Science

Feb 23, 2022

Tonga underwater volcano eruption shattered two records

An underwater volcano in the South Pacific erupted last month and shattered two records simultaneously: The volcanic plume reached greater heights than any eruption ever captured in the satellite record, and the eruption generated an unparalleled number of lightning strikes — almost 590,000 over the course of three days, Reuters...

Mar 3, 2022

Volcano facts and types of volcanoes

A volcano on Earth is a vent or fissure in the planet's crust through which lava, ash, rock and gases erupt. A volcano is also a mountain formed by the accumulation of these eruptive products. Volcanoes have existed for a long time on Earth, likely causing disasters such as the...

May 16, 2022

Record-shattering Tonga volcanic eruption sent atmospheric waves zipping around the Earth

An underwater volcano erupted in January near the Pacific nation of Tonga and sent massive pressure waves racing through Earth's atmosphere, where they lapped the planet several times. The last volcano to generate such large ripples in the atmosphere was Krakatau in 1883, during one of the most destructive volcanic...

Jun 30, 2022

Record-breaking Tonga volcano generated the fastest atmospheric waves ever seen

The massive eruption from the underwater Tonga volcano in the Pacific earlier this year generated a blast so powerful, it sent massive pressure waves rippling through the atmosphere and around the globe. These waves were the fastest ever observed within our atmosphere, reaching speeds of 720 miles (1,158 kilometers) per...

Jul 28, 2022

Where are most of Earth's volcanoes?

There are around 1,350 potentially active volcanoes worldwide, according to the U.S. Department of the Interior, and just over one-third of them are known to have erupted at some point during recorded history. But where are most volcanoes located? If you wanted to see an active volcano, where would you...

Aug 1, 2022

Tonga's eruption injected so much water into Earth’s atmosphere that it could weaken the ozone layer

When an underwater volcano in Tonga erupted in January, it belched out more than ash and volcanic gases; it also spewed 58,000 Olympic-size swimming pools' worth of water vapor into Earth's atmosphere, a new study finds. This water vapor could end up being the most destructive part of the volcano's...

Sep 29, 2022

Massive ancient lava flow seen from space looks like a giant black scar on the New Mexico desert

An astronaut on board the International Space Station (ISS) has snapped a stunning photo of an ancient lava flow stretching across the desert in New Mexico. From above, the frozen river of volcanic rock looks like a dark scar carved into the surrounding desert. The basaltic lava flow, known as...

Jan 16, 2023

Never-before-seen volcanic magma chamber discovered deep under Mediterranean, near Santorini

A submarine volcano whose deadly eruption shattered the picturesque Greek island of Santorini nearly 400 years ago has a growing, never-before-seen magma chamber that could fuel another massive eruption within the next 150 years, a new study finds. About 4 miles (7 kilometers) from Santorini, 1,640 feet (500 meters) under...

Jan 21, 2023

Is the Yellowstone supervolcano really 'due' for an eruption?

Beneath Yellowstone National Park, a vast region of spectacular wilderness visited by around 3 million people annually, lurks one of the largest volcanoes in the world. The Yellowstone Caldera — the cauldron-like basin at the summit of the volcano — is so colossal that it is often called a supervolcano,...

Jan 30, 2023

Tonga's massive volcanic eruption wiped out unique, never-before-seen life-forms

An island near Tonga that emerged from the ocean in 2015 was teeming with unique life-forms, but the 21st century's largest volcanic eruption completely obliterated it, a new study has revealed. The Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai island emerged from the Pacific Ocean due to volcanic activity in 2014 and 2015. Its...

Feb 2, 2023

Massive, volcano-like eruption may explain dead star's mysterious slowdown

The fast-rotating husk of a dead star mysteriously slowed down, and astronomers think it's because of an anti-glitch that caused a gigantic volcano-like explosion from its surface. The dead star, a magnetar classified as SGR 1935+2154 and located 30,000 light-years from Earth, suddenly decelerated in October 2020 before releasing a...

May 16, 2023

Scientists discover giant crater from ice age explosion that has methane-spewing mud volcano inside it

Ocean explorers in the Arctic have discovered an underwater volcano spewing mud and methane from inside another, larger crater that probably formed after a catastrophic blowout at the end of the last ice age. Researchers spotted the unusual feature about 80 miles (130 kilometers) south of Norway's Bear Island, or...

May 17, 2023

Yellowstone volcano super-eruptions appear to involve multiple explosive events

The last super-eruption at Yellowstone volcano, which occurred 631,000 years ago, was not one huge explosion. Instead, new research suggests it was a series of eruptions or multiple vents spewing volcanic material in rapid succession. According to the U.S. Geological Survey's (USGS) Yellowstone Volcano Observatory 2022 Annual Report, published May...

Jun 9, 2023

Europe's most dangerous 'supervolcano' could be creeping toward eruption, scientists warn

A long-slumbering supervolcano in Italy is getting closer to a potential eruption for the first time since 1538, a new study warns — and the consequences could be catastrophic. The Campi Flegrei volcano, near Naples in southern Italy, has crust that is becoming weaker and more prone to rupturing, making...

Jun 10, 2023

The 12 biggest volcanic eruptions in recorded history

History has seen some monstrous volcanic eruptions, from Mount Pinatubo's weather-cooling burp to the explosion of Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai on the island nation of Tonga. The power of such eruptions is measured using the Volcanic Explosivity Index (VEI), a classification system developed in the 1980 that's similar to the magnitude...