Eruptions Blog
eklemetti | February 23, 2010Posts might be a little sparse for the next few days - I'm recovering from a rather nasty bout with a flu-type thing, so I'm fallen behind in pretty much everything. I'll try to get back up to speed here in a few days, but if you run across any fascinating volcano news, feel free to post it here.
eklemetti | February 2, 2010
I've been seeing a lot of questions popping up in the comments - and for me, I find it difficult to answer them in the confines of post comments. Many of them are quite good and would probably be of interest to lots of Eruptions readers, so I thought maybe it is time for another Eruptions mailbag post.
So, without further ado, email me your burning volcano-related questions! Send them to by February 15, and I'll try to answer as many as I can in a mailbag post.
Looking forward to your questions!
eklemetti | January 14, 2010Sometimes it is easy to feel overwhelmed by a disaster like the earthquake in Haiti - I mean, how much can someone sitting in their office thousands of miles away do? It isn't really feasible for most people to pull up stakes and go to give first-hand assistance during the recovery - but you feel like you need to do something. The first step is just trying to offer whatever assistance you can in whatever limited way you can. Many of us might not have a lot of money to spare - but that is the key word, "spare". That means "leftover". That means you have money to begin with - so some sacrifice…
eklemetti | December 31, 2009Here it is, my attempt to recap a year's worth of volcanic events. By no means is this supposed to capture every event, but rather the highlight/lowlights and what most captivated me during 2009. I'll be announcing the winner of the 2009 Pliny for Volcanic Event of the Year tomorrow.
Waimangu Geothermal Valley in New Zealand, taken in January 2009 by Erik Klemetti.
January
The year started out with a trip to New Zealand (well, for me at least) and vistas of the Waimangu Valley, formed in the 1886 eruption of Tarawera on the North Island. We were also still thinking about the late 2008…
eklemetti | December 28, 2009I've gotten a lot of emails over the last few weeks and have done a terrible job at replying. No fear - I will get to them, most likely this week or next. Feel free to send me questions/comments/stories whenever you find them -
!
eklemetti | December 24, 2009Here is your Christmas Day MVP ... points for identifying both of the volcanoes in the photo and why is this a good Christmas Day shot.
Current MVP Standings:
The Bobs - 3
Don Crain - 2
gijs - 2
Boris Behncke - 2
volcanista - 1
Lockwood - 1
Elizabeth - 1
Ralph - 1
Anne - 1
Cam - 1
gg - 1
Damon Hynes - 1
Marco - 1
Doug C. - 1
Good luck!
eklemetti | December 21, 2009
Chaiten in Chile erupting in May 2008 - likely the Volcanic Event of 2008.
2009 is almost over and it has been quite a busy year, volcanically speaking. This is not to say that is was anomalously volcanic - more that many of the volcanic events captured the media's attention. I'll be putting together a "Volcanic Year in Review" for 2009 and at the end I'll award the 2009 "Volcanic Event of the Year" (a Pliny?) ... but now its your turn to nominate events for the award. The event could be an eruptions, signs of an eruption, a big research article, a media debacle/success when it comes to…
eklemetti | December 20, 2009Hard to believe that the 2009 holidays are upon us and 2010 is around the corner. Eruptions will be going on a short break until the 28th of December - you likjley won't see any new posts here until then unless something big happens. However, there will be a special Christmas-themed MVP coming out on Christmas Day and the nominations for the "Volcanic Event of the Year". What is that, you ask? Well, for 2009, Eruptions will have a 2009 volcanic summary coming out sometime around New Years and at the end I'll name the 2009 Volcanic Event of the Year - some eruption or events leading to an…
eklemetti | December 7, 2009First snow of the season here in Granville. Huzzah!
And another reader-submitted photo for MVP. The last was submitted by VolcanoMan and was of the Ecuadorian volcano Chimborazo - the Bobs got yet another photo!
The current standings:
The Bobs - 3
Don Crain - 2
gijs - 2
Boris Behncke - 2
volcanista - 1
Lockwood - 1
Elizabeth - 1
Ralph - 1
Anne - 1
Cam - 1
gg - 1
Damon Hynes - 1
Marco - 1
Here's the new one. Good luck!
eklemetti | December 4, 2009Its already Friday!
News!
Print of the Temple of Jupiter at Pompeii with a steaming Vesuvius in the background.
You can now wander down the streets of ancient Pompeii from the comfort of your own home or office. Google Streetview now cover the streets of the city wiped out by the 79 A.D. eruption of Vesuvius in Italy. Now, some of the articles on the Pompeii streetview give lipservice to the current threat of Vesuvius to the modern city of Naples, my favorite being:
The authorities continually monitor Vesuvius these days, and estimate they'll be able to give adequate warning if it's ever in…
eklemetti | December 3, 2009Thank you to all the Eruptions readers who have submitted photos for the Mystery Volcano Photo column! I'll start using them, well, now, so keep them coming. Remember, you can't guess on your own photo!
Current Standings:
Don Crain - 2
gijs - 2
The Bobs - 2
Boris Behncke - 2
volcanista - 1
Lockwood - 1
Elizabeth - 1
Ralph - 1
Anne - 1
Cam - 1
gg - 1
Damon Hynes - 1
Marco - 1
Here's the next MVP ... Good luck!
eklemetti | December 1, 2009So I was browsing around for a new MVP and I stumbled across the following image:
It is a stunning image, capturing this stratocone filling in what might be an old caldera. The problem is, well, I have no idea what volcano this is and the page I found it on (some random wallpaper site) had no information on the image whatsoever. I'm guessing it might be somewhere in Alaska or Kamchatka ... but not sure at all?
So, now, all you volcano-image experts can use your powers for good. Any idea where this image was taken and what volcano(es) are in it? Ideally, if you can find a corroborating image…
eklemetti | November 25, 2009Happy Thanksgiving (for my US readers) ... otherwise happy Thursday to the rest of the world. I've got another Mystery Volcano Photo for you all. Good luck!
Current Standings:
Don Crain - 2
gijs - 2
The Bobs - 2
volcanista - 1
Lockwood - 1
Elizabeth - 1
Ralph - 1
Anne - 1
Cam - 1
gg - 1
Boris Behncke - 1
Damon Hynes - 1
eklemetti | November 19, 2009
I'll be busy for a couple days when I'm off at University of Iowa, so I thought I'd leave this thread available for you to talk. Specifically, I'm interested in what you might be interested in seeing (or not seeing) on Eruptions. I've tried a number of features (Mystery Volcano Photo, Q&A, Volcano Profiles) - do you want to see more/see less of these features with the usual volcano news? More/less coverage of volcano research from the literature? Let me know what you think and how things might be better.
See you next week!
eklemetti | November 18, 2009It has been a slow week for volcano news (and a busy week for me), so I apologize for the abundance of MVPs this week. I've tried to find a good one in the many images submitted to me by Eruptions readers, and #15 is just one of those photos. If you have images you'd like to share with me for MVP or other uses, please email them to me at
. (However, I should note that you can't win by identifying your own volcano photo!)
MVP #13 was Lava Butte near Newberry volcano in Oregon. It is a lovely small scoria cone that you can walk/drive to the summit. From there, you get a spectacular view of the…
eklemetti | November 16, 2009Well, now that Lockwood got #13 on the first try, I will have to reach back into my vault to attempt to find a stumper ...
Current Standings:
Don Crain - 2
gijs - 2
volcanista - 1
Lockwood - 1
Elizabeth - 1
Ralph - 1
Anne - 1
Cam - 1
gg - 1
The Bobs - 1
Boris Behncke - 1
Good luck.
eklemetti | November 16, 2009Busy week leading up to Thanksgiving for me, with a talk to give later in the week and quizzes a plenty!
The Mystery Volcano Photo series has a couple clear frontrunners now, with both Don Crain and Gijs with multiple points.
Current Standings:
Don Crain - 2
gijs - 2
volcanista - 1
Elizabeth - 1
Ralph - 1
Anne - 1
Cam - 1
gg - 1
The Bobs - 1
Boris Behncke - 1
Here's #13 ... good luck!
eklemetti | November 13, 2009Just a note to all my readers: I've discovered today that Gmail has been eating (sending to the Spam folder) a significant amount of emails I've received to eruptionsblog gmail.com. This includes some of the questions submitted to Dr. Behncke (and other emails I'm sure) and comments pending on the blog. Sorry about the inconvenience, especially if I haven't replied to your email. I'll try to catch up over the weekend.
eklemetti | November 8, 2009Alright, there has been some complaints that the last few MVPs have been too easy, so I tried to reach back and find one that might be more of a challenge for you all. Maybe this photo will do the trick ...
Current standings:
Don Crain - 2
volcanista - 1
Elizabeth - 1
Ralph - 1
gijs - 1
Anne - 1
Cam - 1
gg - 1
The Bobs - 1
Boris Behncke - 1
Good luck!
eklemetti | November 4, 2009You know, we haven't had an MVP in a couple weeks. Let's remedy that!
Current standings:
volcanista - 1
Elizabeth - 1
Ralph - 1
gijs - 1
Anne - 1
Cam - 1
gg - 1
The Bobs - 1
Boris Behncke - 1
Don Crain - 1
Here's MVP #11 ... good luck!