Tag Archives: VOLCANo

Scientists stunned as Volcano cleans up after itself by removing methane from the air

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When the submarine volcano Hunga Tonga–Hunga Ha’apai in the South Pacific erupted in January 2022, it was not only one of the most violent volcanic eruptions in modern times. The volcano also did something completely unexpected: it helped clean up some of the methane pollution it released. This phenomenon could potentially be key to how humans can slow global warming.

Using advanced satellite measurements, researchers observed unusually high concentrations of formaldehyde in the massive volcanic plume following the eruption. This was crucial evidence: when methane is destroyed in the atmosphere, formaldehyde forms as a short-lived intermediate.

“When we analysed the satellite images, we were surprised to see a cloud with a record-high concentration of formaldehyde. We were able to track the cloud for 10 days, all the way to South America. Because formaldehyde only exists for a few hours, this showed that the cloud must have been destroying methane continuously for more than a week,” explains Dr. Maarten van Herpen from Acacia Impact Innovation BV, first author of the study, which has just been published in Nature Communications.

“It is known that volcanoes emit methane during eruptions, but until now it was not known that volcanic ash is also capable of partially cleaning up this pollution,” he adds.

Satellite image using the VIIRS satellite on 16 January 2022, 13:30 UTC, showing in blue the cloud of formaldehyde measured by TROPOMI. To the left is the Australian coast of Queensland. Source: van Herpen et al. (2026)  Credit: van Herpen et al. (2026)

Salt, sunlight and new chemistry

According to the researchers, everything points to a very special process taking place—one they first discovered in 2023, but in a completely different part of the world.

They found that when dust from the Sahara is blown over the Atlantic Ocean, it mixes with sea salt from sea spray, forming small particles known as iron salt aerosols. When sunlight hits these aerosols, chlorine atoms are produced. These chlorine atoms react with methane and help break it down in the atmosphere. This discovery changed scientific understanding of tropospheric chemistry.

“What is new—and completely surprising—is that the same mechanism appears to occur in a volcanic plume high up in the stratosphere, where the physical conditions are entirely different,” says Professor Matthew Johnson from the Department of Chemistry at the University of Copenhagen, one of the researchers behind both discoveries.

The 2022 eruption hurled enormous amounts of salty seawater into the stratosphere along with volcanic ash. The theory is that when sunlight hit this mixture, highly reactive chlorine was formed, helping to break down the methane released during the eruption. The visible evidence of this methane breakdown was the large amounts of formaldehyde detected in satellite images.

Methane is currently responsible for one third of global warming. Over a 20-year period, methane is about 80 times as potent as CO2. However, methane breaks down relatively quickly in the atmosphere — typically within about 10 years.

This means that if we reduce methane emissions now it could have a noticeable impact on the climate within a decade. For this reason, researchers sometimes refer to methane reduction as an “emergency brake” on climate change—one that may help prevent climate tipping points in the coming decades. However, reducing CO₂ emissions remains essential to stabilise temperatures in the long term.

Inspiration for future solutions

The researchers behind the new study believe their findings could inform a growing field working on solutions to reduce methane emissions by artificially accelerating its breakdown in the atmosphere – similar to how the volcano effectively cleaned up after itself. Various methods are currently under investigation, but a key challenge is measuring and verifying how much methane is actually removed.

“How do you prove that methane has been removed from the atmosphere? How do you know your method works? It’s very difficult. But here we address that problem by showing that methane breakdown can in fact be observed using satellites,” says Dr Jos de Laat from the Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute, senior author of the study.

The research was conducted with the advanced TROPOMI instrument aboard the European Space Agency’s Sentinel-5P satellite, which monitors air pollution and greenhouse gases worldwide on a daily basis.

“Retrieving formaldehyde from TROPOMI in a stratospheric volcanic plume is far outside the instrument’s standard operating conditions — we had to carefully correct the satellite’s sensitivity for the unusual altitude of the signal and account for interference from the high sulfur dioxide concentrations. Getting these corrections right was essential to confirm that what we were seeing was real.”, said Dr. Isabelle De Smedt, Royal Belgian Institute for Space Aeronomy.

The researchers believe the new findings will inspire engineers in industry:

“It’s an obvious idea for industry to try to replicate this natural phenomenon ­— but only if it can be proven to be safe and effective. Our satellite method could offer a way to help figure out how humans might slow global warming,” concludes Matthew Johnson.

 

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How do giant caldera volcanoes refill magma after massive eruptions

Facing music from volcano eruption? Better listen to it before, says study

How do giant caldera volcanoes refill magma after massive eruptions

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Researchers from Kobe University have identified how magma reservoirs beneath giant caldera volcanoes refill, based on a study of the Kikai caldera. The findings, published in Communications Earth & Environment in 2026, show that fresh magma is injected into reservoirs rather than left over from past eruptions. The work draws parallels with massive systems like the Yellowstone caldera and Toba caldera, offering new insight into how such volcanoes evolve after eruptions.

The crater left behind after a supervolcano erupts can stretch for miles, a scar formed when vast volumes of magma are expelled in a single event. What happens next, beneath that quiet surface, has long remained uncertain.

A new study from Kobe University offers a clearer picture. It suggests that the magma chambers of these giant caldera volcanoes do not simply retain leftover material. Instead, they are gradually refilled by new injections of magma rising from deeper within the Earth.

That distinction matters for scientists trying to understand how and when these volcanoes might erupt again.

Kikai caldera magma reservoir mapping using seismic surveys

The research focused on the Kikai caldera, located mostly underwater off southern Japan. Its last major eruption around 7,300 years ago is considered the largest of the Holocene epoch, the current geological period.

The site’s underwater setting provided a rare advantage. It allowed scientists to conduct detailed, large-scale surveys of the subsurface using controlled seismic techniques.

Working with the Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology, researchers deployed airgun arrays to generate seismic waves and ocean-bottom seismometers to track how those waves moved through the Earth’s crust.

These measurements revealed a large reservoir beneath the caldera that is composed largely of magma. Its size and position indicate that it corresponds to the same reservoir involved in the ancient eruption.

“Due to its extent and location it is clear that this is in fact the same magma reservoir as in the previous eruption,” said geophysicist Nobukazu Seama.

New magma injection replaces remnants from past eruptions

While the reservoir occupies the same region, the material inside it appears to be new.

Over the past 3,900 years, a lava dome has been forming at the center of the caldera. Chemical analysis of material from this dome and other recent activity shows a composition different from the magma ejected in the ancient eruption.

That difference led researchers to conclude that the current magma is not simply leftover from the previous event.

“This means that the magma that is now present in the magma reservoir under the lava dome is likely newly injected magma,” Seama said.

The finding supports what researchers describe as a “magma re-injection model,” in which fresh material gradually replenishes emptied reservoirs over thousands of years.

This process changes how scientists interpret signals from volcanoes. Instead of looking for signs of residual magma building pressure, attention shifts to how new magma enters and accumulates.

Implications for Yellowstone and other supervolcano systems

The study’s implications extend beyond Japan. Giant calderas such as Yellowstone in the United States and Toba in Indonesia share similar structural features, including large shallow magma reservoirs.

“This magma re-injection model is consistent with the existence of large shallow magma reservoirs beneath other giant calderas like Yellowstone and Toba,” Seama said.

Understanding how these reservoirs refill is central to predicting volcanic behavior. Supervolcano eruptions are rare but can have global consequences, affecting climate, ecosystems, and human activity.

Despite their scale, the processes leading up to such eruptions remain poorly understood. Scientists know that these volcanoes can erupt again, but the timing and triggers are difficult to determine.

The new model offers a framework for tracking those processes over time, particularly by monitoring how magma is supplied to reservoirs after major eruptions.

Toward improved monitoring of future giant eruptions

Researchers say the next step is refining the tools used in this study to better observe magma movement beneath the Earth’s surface.

“Our ultimate goal is to become better able to monitor the crucial indicators of future giant eruptions,” Seama said.

For now, the findings provide a clearer view of what happens after a supervolcano erupts. The surface may appear quiet, but deep below, new magma is slowly rebuilding the conditions for the next chapter in the volcano’s life cycle.

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Japan’s Tonga volcano eruption nine times taller than 2011 tsunami

Supervolcanoes: A key to America’s electric future?

 

Japan’s Tonga volcano eruption nine times taller than 2011 tsunami

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New research reveals more about the magnitude of January eruption, as researchers call for better preparedness.

  • The eruption of the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai volcano in January created an initial wave 90 metres high – almost the height of the Statue of Liberty (93m)
  • University of Bath tsunami expert calls for better warning systems to detect volcanic eruptions, saying systems are 30 years behind comparable earthquake detection tools

The initial tsunami wave created by the eruption of the underwater Hunga Tonga Ha’apai volcano in Tonga in January 2022 reached 90 metres in height, around nine times taller than that from the highly destructive 2011 Japan tsunami, new research has found.

An international research team says the eruption should serve as a wake-up call for international groups looking to protect people from similar events in future, claiming that detection and monitoring systems for volcano-based tsunamis are ’30 years behind’ comparable tools used to detect earthquake-based events.

Tsunami/en.wikipedia.org

Dr Mohammad Heidarzadeh, Secretary-General of the International Tsunami Commission and a senior lecturer in the University of Bath’s Department of Architecture & Civil Engineering, authored the research alongside colleagues based in Japan, New Zealand, the UK and Croatia.

By comparison, the largest tsunami waves due to earthquakes before the Tonga event were recorded following the Tōhoku earthquake near Japan in 2011 and the 1960 Chilean earthquake, reached 10 metres in initial height. Those were more destructive as they happened closer to land, with waves that were wider.

Dr Heidarzadeh says the Tonga tsunami should serve as a wake-up call for more preparedness and understanding of the causes and signs of tsunamis cause by volcanic eruptions. He says: “The Tongan tsunami tragically killed five people and caused large scale destruction, but its effects could have been even greater had the volcano been located closer to human communities. The volcano is located approximately 70 km from the Tongan capital Nuku’alofa – this distance significantly minimized its destructive power.

“This was a gigantic, unique event and one that highlights that internationally we must invest in improving systems to detect volcanic tsunamis as these are currently around 30 years behind the systems we used to monitor for earthquakes. We are under-prepared for volcanic tsunamis.”

The research was carried out by analysing ocean observation data recordings of atmospheric pressure changes and sea level oscillations, in combination with computer simulations validated with real-world data.

The research team found that the tsunami was unique as the waves were created not only by the water displaced by the volcano’s eruption, but also by huge atmospheric pressure waves, which circled around the globe multiple times. This ‘dual mechanism’ created a two-part tsunami – where initial ocean waves created by the atmospheric pressure waves were followed more than one hour later by a second surge created by the eruption’s water displacement.

The eruption created an initial wave 90 metres high/University of Bath

This combination meant tsunami warning centres did not detect the initial wave as they are programmed to detect tsunamis based on water displacements rather than atmospheric pressure waves.

The research team also found that the January event was among very few tsunamis powerful enough to travel around the globe – it was recorded in all world’s oceans and large seas from Japan and the United States’ western seaboard in the North Pacific Ocean to the coasts within the Mediterranean Sea.

The paper, co-authored by colleagues from New Zealand’s GNS Science, the Association for the Development of Earthquake Prediction in Japan, the University of Split in Croatia and at London’s Brunel University, was published this week in Ocean Engineering.

Dr Aditya Gusman, Tsunami Modeller at the New Zealand-based geoscience service, says: “The 2018 Anak Krakatau volcano and 2022 Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai volcano eruptions clearly showed us that coastal areas surrounding volcano islands are at risk of being hit by destructive tsunamis. Although it may be preferable to have low-lying coastal areas completely clear from residential buildings, such a policy may not be practical for some places as volcanic tsunamis can be considered infrequent events.”

Co-author Dr Jadranka Šepić, from the University of Split, Croatia, adds: “What is important is to have efficient warning systems, which include both real-time warnings and education on what to do in a case of a tsunami or warning – such systems save lives. In addition, at volcanic areas, monitoring of volcanic activity should be organized, and more high-quality research into volcanic eruptions and areas at hazard is always a good idea.”

Separate research led by the University of Bath atmospheric physicist Dr Corwin Wright published in June found that the Tonga eruption triggered atmospheric gravity waves that reached the edge of space.