Dr. Rosamond Kinzler from the American Museum of Natural History explores lava flows on Kilauea with scientists from the Hawaii Volcano Observatory, Dr. James Kauahikhaua and Dr. Christina Heliker. Kilauea is the most active volcano on Earth, which has been erupting almost continuously for 200 years. The lavas of Kilauea, one of five volcanoes that form the island of Hawaii, are building the loftiest mountain on Earth.

Some volcanoes slowly ooze magma while others explode with immense power. Yet all volcanic eruptions begin in the magma chamber. Meet  Jim Webster, an Earth scientist at the Museum who studies volcanoes and has re-created the conditions for a magma chamber in his own lab. 

How do scientists zero in on deep sea vents within the world's vast oceans—especially when they are located a mile or more below the surface? Think like a scientist, and you'll find out. Along the way, you'll gain an appreciation for the difficulties deep sea researchers must face in order to find hydrothermal vents.

Volcanoes look different from each other depending on the magma that erupts from them. This interactive shows how the composition of magma -- whether it's high- or low-silica--forms different kinds of volcanoes.

The longest volcano chain in the world is the 80,000-kilometer-long mid-ocean ridge system, where new ocean crust is formed and the tectonic plates - the Earth's moving outer shell - separate from each other. Unlike the great Hawaiian shield volcanoes, the volcanoes making up the ocean ridges are long and narrow. Basaltic lavas erupt mostly from fissures, or cracks, in the seafloor. Ninety percent of the Earth's eruptive activity and heat loss from the interior takes place along the mid-ocean ridge system.

Three of the most catastrophic volcanic eruptions in geologic history occurred at a place now visited by nearly four million people a year: Yellowstone National Park. The magma chamber responsible still lies beneath, and continues to steam, heat, and shift the park landscape. Science Bulletins talks with the geologists regularly monitoring these disquieting signals to understand where this active region lies in its volcanic life span.

The magma chamber responsible for Yellowstone’s volcanic activity is invisible and inaccessible, buried about 8 km beneath the surface. Therefore, its geologic moves must be analyzed indirectly. A hundred or so researchers from universities, the USGS, and other institutions check satellite data, seismometers, Global Positioning System (GPS) stations, temperature gauges, infrared cameras, gas sampling apparatus, and other equipment to monitor Yellowstone’s every geologic move. 

When molten, silicate-rich fluids erupt onto the Earth’s surface, minerals often form in the numerous pockets and holes that develop in the cooling lava. This case, in the Harry Frank Guggenheim Hall of Minerals, show minerals that are formed through the activity of volcanic lava flows. the activity of volcanic lava flows. One of these cases 

Beneath the glacier-clad summit of Mt. Rainier lies an active volcano, which has more than once produced enough molten rock to bury an area the size of Tacoma and Seattle combined almost 10 feet under. For six years, geologists Tom Sisson has been studying the geological history of Mt. Rainier, a volcano in the Cascade Range of Washington State. When the project is completed he will have pieced together a three-dimensional map of Mt. Rainier and a detailed understanding of its complex and tumultuous past.

A volcanic eruption that could be felt across an ocean, an earthquake that sparked landslides, massive tsunamis, and a volcanic eruption ... Examine the world-changing results of plates on the move. At 12 locations, explore a map that shows how the plates are moving, an animation about plate interaction, stats, and a story about that particular formation or event.

Volcanoes provide an efficient way for solid planets and moons to shed their internal heat. Much of this heat arises from radioactivity in their interiors. Some moons are also heated by internal friction due to gravitational forces from their host planet. Volcanism has occurred on all the terrestrial planets and on the larger moons, causing extensive resurfacing on some of them. Jupiter’s moon Io is the most volcanically active world in the solar system.

In 1669, the fastest and largest lava flow documented for Mount Etna on the island of Sicily killed most of Catania's 20,000 residents and destroyed much of the city. Why are scientists now watching Etna more than any other volcano in Europe? Find out.

Some volcanoes explode with the force of an atomic bomb. Others spill rivers of gently flowing lava. What causes volcanoes to erupt? How do scientists study them? Explore one of the most powerful, destructive volcanic eruptions in history.

Volcanoes are one of Earth’s most terrifying—and exhilarating—spectacles. These vents in the ground issue lava, ash, and noxious gases at temperatures as high as 2,100°F (1,150°C) and are the closest we’ve ever gotten to the churning engine that keeps our planet running. What causes them to erupt?

Magma, or molten rock, collects in chambers beneath Earth’s surface. As magma accumulates, pressure in the magma chamber increases. If the pressure gets high enough, overlying rocks break, allowing the magma to escape as lava.

To gain a better understanding of volcanoes, this eighth-grader from Arizona decided to go spelunking. Take her tour of the Lava River Cave, formed by a volcanic eruption 675,000 years ago. This student received a Young Naturalist Award in 2002 for this essay.

Scientists in Sicily are collecting an enormous amount of data to monitor moving magma inside Mount Etna, one of the most active volcanoes in the world. Nearly a million people live on the volcano's flanks, so being able to predict an eruption could be a matter of life and death. In this Earth Bulletin, visit the volcano's snowy slopes and learn how scientists from the Italian National Institute for Geophysics and Volcanology record seismic activity, measure gases seeping up through the ground, sense the volcano's temperature changes, and assess disturbances in gravitational and magnetic fields to predict eruptions weeks ahead of time. 

Early in their course work, some of the Earth science students in the Museum’s Master of Arts in Teaching program get an explosive object lesson in the petrology lab of geologist James Webster. They recreate a volcano.

In May 1902, Museum geologist Edmund Otis Hovey traveled to the Caribbean to investigate volcanic eruptions that had killed nearly 30,000 people in less than 24 hours. The once-bustling hub of trade in rum, sugar, cocoa, and coffee became a smoldering ruin, with barely a brick left standing.