igneouspetrology

  • Photos Show Eruption at Mauna Loa, World’s Largest Volcano

    Photos Show Eruption at Mauna Loa, World’s Largest Volcano

    Mauna Loa, the world’s largest active volcano, began erupting earlier this week after nearly 40 years of no activity — the longest quiet period for the volcano in recorded history. I’ve been fascinated by the eruption since it began on Sunday and realised I had a lot of questions, including some that seemed pretty elementary,…


  • Humanity Is ‘Woefully Unprepared’ for a Major Volcanic Eruption

    Humanity Is ‘Woefully Unprepared’ for a Major Volcanic Eruption

    When the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai volcano erupted in Tonga on January 15, the result was devastation. The eruption literally blew up an island, caused mass flooding in the surrounding areas, coated whole communities in a thick layer of ash, and took out telecommunications for weeks. Yet in that eruption, we got lucky, according to a…