Volcanic Eruptions

Systematic change in global patterns of streamflow following volcanic eruptions

Following large explosive volcanic eruptions precipitation decreases over much of the globe1-6, particularly in climatologically wet regions4,5. Stratospheric volcanic aerosols reflect sunlight, which reduces evaporation, whilst surface cooling stabilises the atmosphere and reduces its water-holding capacity7. Circulation changes modulate this global precipitation reduction on regional scales1,...

The Inaudible Rumble of Volcanic Eruptions

Monitoring super-volcanoes: geophysical and geochemical signals at Yellowstone and other large caldera systems.

Earth's largest calderas form as the ground collapses during immense volcanic eruptions, when hundreds to thousands of cubic kilometres of magma are explosively withdrawn from the Earth's crust over a period of days to weeks. Continuing long after such great eruptions, the resulting calderas often exhibit pronounced unrest, with frequent earthquakes, alternating uplift and subsidence of the gro...

Total Water Contents in Volcanic Eruption Clouds and Implications for Electrification and Lightning*

The fundamental role of ice particle collisions in the separation of electric charge and generation of lightning in thunderclouds is now reasonably well established (Latham, 1981; Williams, 1985; Saunders, 1995). Charge separation and lightning are also prevalent in volcanic eruptions. A recent literature survey by McNutt and Davis (2000), and its recent extension, has shown more than 150 incid...

Global monsoon precipitation responses to large volcanic eruptions

Climate variation of global monsoon (GM) precipitation involves both internal feedback and external forcing. Here, we focus on strong volcanic forcing since large eruptions are known to be a dominant mechanism in natural climate change. It is not known whether large volcanoes erupted at different latitudes have distinctive effects on the monsoon in the Northern Hemisphere (NH) and the Southern ...

Winter Warming from Large Volcanic Eruptions

An examination of the Northern Hemisphere winter surface temperature patterns after the 12 largest volcanic eruptions from 1883-1992 shows warming over Eurasia and North America and cooling over the Middie East which are significant at the 95% level. This pattern is found in the first winter after tropical eruptions, in the first or second winter after midlatitude ruptions, and in the second wi...