The power of volcanoes | Tamsin Mather

Understanding volcanoes has been woven together with our understanding of the structure of the Earth.

About Tamsin Mather "I am a professor of Volcanology. My work brings together expertise in volcanology/magmatism, atmospheric chemistry and paleoclimatology/stratigraphy. This combination allows me to tackle problems ranging from acute volcanic hazards and air pollution events in the present-day to the role of volcanism in the long-term evolution of our planet’s environment over its geological history and much in between. I am a 2010 Philip Leverhulme Prize Winner. My main research interests centre on the science behind volcanoes and volcanic behaviour. My motivation is to understand volcanoes as (a) a key planetary scale process throughout geological time, vital for maintaining habitability as well as driving environmental change, (b) natural hazards and (c) resources (e.g., geothermal power and the development of ore deposits)."

Key Points

• The word ‘volcano’ derives from Italy’s Vulcano island, near Sicily, whose ancient eruptions branded the word across Europe. • Understanding volcanoes has been woven together with our understanding of the structure of the Earth. There's lots and lots of heat and energy inside our planet, and volcanoes are the manifestation of that. • Volcanoes were thought to be the chimneys through which the Earth's internal fires vented. Plinian eruptions, named after Vesuvius AD 79, shoot ash-gas columns skyward before they mushroom out like umbrellas. • Massive volcanic eruptions have the ability to blast enormous quantities of material up into the stratosphere. Tambora and Krakatoa lofted sulfur that cooled the climate and reddened sunsets, yet humans now emit CO₂ about 60 times faster than all volcanoes combined.