“View at dusk of the young Pu‘u ‘O‘o cinder-and-spatter cone, with fountain approximately 40 m high, during episode 5” by G.E. Ulrich, 6/29/83, GU6830A. courtesy of the U.S. Geological Survey

Volcanoes

Volcanic research within the School covers all major aspects of surface and submarine volcanic systems everywhere they occur on Earth.  Situated over the Hawai‘i hotspot at the center of the Pacific “Ring of Fire”, SOEST staff and students have easy access to active Hawaiian volcanoes and fossil volcanic systems on older islands within the Pacific, and can use SOEST ships and submersible technology to access submarine volcanic systems throughout the region.

By combining laboratory analysis of Apollo lunar samples and meteorites, remote sensing data from landers, rovers, and orbiting spacecraft, numerical modeling, and field studies of terrestrial analog sites, staff and students also explore volcanoes on our Moon, and other planets within our Solar System.