New understanding of how magma moves underground
An international team of geoscientists have demonstrated how magma-filled cracks form and spread underneath volcanic systems, such as the one extending from Iceland's Bįršarbunga volcano to an eruptive site which has now been active for more than 100 days. This is probably the best-documented eruption ever - Bob White Using the most extensive dataset ever gathered from a volcanic eruption, an international team of researchers have developed a model of how huge magma-filled cracks form underneath volcanic systems and how they spread. The researchers, including scientists from the University of Cambridge, will use the results to help predict how molten rock moves underground, and whether or not it erupts. A volcanic eruption in the Holuhraun area of central Iceland has now lasted over 100 days, with no end in sight. The eruption has received widespread attention and scientists have followed the activity closely since its onset at the Bįršarbunga central volcano. Using GPS geodetic measurements and interferometric analysis of satellite synthetic aperture radar images, and earthquake observations, a team of scientists, including researchers from the University of Cambridge, has constructed a model for the formation of a huge magma-filled crack, or dyke, in late August 2014. Details are published today (15 December) in the journal Nature .
