The highest volcano in the world is Cerro Ojos del Salado. It is a stratovolcano in South America’s Central Volcanic Zone, reaching an impressive 6893 meters above sea level (or at least above ...

Prominence It makes sense to look beyond the elevation of a volcano to judge its size. Europe’s largest volcano is not Etna. There are several higher volcanoes in the continent, with Elbrus as the ...

The age of the subducting oceanic crust ranges from 27 million years old in the south to 80 million years old to the north. The East Scotia Ridge spreading centre cuts through the Scotia Plate from ...

We have lost the magnificence of the night sky. From cities we can hardly see the brightest stars, and even in dark places 100 kilometers from any city, their lights reflected of the clouds above them ...

A second way an earthquake can cause an eruption is by unlocking a fault. A locked fault does not give way easily, and will not allow magma to intrude. But unlock it, and the stress reduces ...

Growing up Australia is an ancient continent; it is one of the old cratons of the world. But not all of it is that old. The west is old – the east is accreted. The border between the old craton and ...

That funny valley That funny valley I had been driving along turned out to be the scar of California’s nemesis. Unknowingly, I had followed the line of the San Andreas fault along one of its less ...

The same seismic mapping has also shown that there are two somewhat shallow reservoirs within the caldera. One (‘A’ on the map) is located underneath the bay at some 2.5 km depth, and the other (‘B’) ...

Mount Elbrus, 5,642 m, Russia. Double-peaked Elbrus, located in the Caucasus mountains, is known as the highest mountain in Europe. Less well known, it is also Europe’s highest active volcano. Lava ...

Volcanoes During the time of the Afar plume, 26-28 million years ago, volcanic eruptions badly affected Saudi Arabia. The outpourings of flood basalts left lava fields covering large areas, which can ...

The island was claimed by the Dutch in 1598, abandoned in 1710 and became French in the 1720’s. The Dutch report in 1598 describes dodos as the size of swans with a large head furnished with a kind of ...