CORDIScovery Podcast | Number 13 (February 2022)

#13 Volcanoes - Nature's architects

Abstract:

What can the latest research into what have been called ‘Earth’s architects’ tell us about the lead-up to an eruption? Are we close to being able to track the evolution of an eruption in real time? Can we trace the mechanisms by mapping the crystals that appear in lava? And how can the organisms living in some of the most inhospitable parts of our planet help improve climate models?  To answer these questions and more are the following guests:-

• Stephan Kolzenburg took part in the DYNAVOLC project. When not monitoring volcanic activity in the field, Stephan is recreating lava flow in his lab, to model and predict how lava and magma will behave during an eruption.
• Jane Scarrow is also working on ways to predict eruptions and how they will evolve. Her VESPER project looked at processes in magmatic reservoirs beneath active volcanoes and she has also been involved in the response to the La Palma eruption.
• Huub Op den Camp explored how bacteria live in acidic volcanic ecosystems during the VOLCANO project, and how they use atmospheric methane. His work can help us understand how microbes mediate the flow of methane between the atmosphere and sources such as wetlands, which could improve climate models.

Official

European Commission: ERC 2020 Projects: Microbiology of extremely acidic terrestrial volcanic ecosystems https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/669371

EU CORDIS: Horizon 2020 Projects: Transitions in Rheology and Volatile Dynamics of Magmas: Mapping the Window to Explosive Volcanism https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/795044

EU CORDIS: Horizon 2020 Projects: Volcanoes: eruptive style, pre-eruptive evolution and risk https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/749611

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