Volcanoes on Earth and in Space with Dr. Samantha Tramontano

The LIUniverse with Dr. Charles Liu

Volcanoes in space...supervolcanoes here on Earth... and lava lakes everywhere! To get an expert opinion on eruptions, Dr. Charles Liu and co-host Allen Liu welcome Dr. Sam Tramontano, a Post-Doctoral researcher in geology and Earth sciences at The American Museum of Natural History.

As always, though, we start off with the day’s joyfully cool cosmic thing, the Juno spacecraft’s two recent close passes (under 1000 miles) of Jupiter’s moon Io and the amazing images of volcanic activity and Io’s lava lake “Loki Patera” with an island in its center!

Allen and Samantha dive into the fascinating and little-understood mechanics of lava lakes, which continue to remain liquid at their surface and persist for years at a time despite tidal fluctuations. You’ll hear about the Erta Ale lava lake in Ethiopia and the Kilauea lava lake in Hawaii.

For our first audience question, Ellis asks, “Are there volcanoes on Venus?” Sam explains how studying volcanism on Venus is a promising avenue but that we don’t yet have a clear answer to that question. She talks about how scientists are only now untangling the Magellan mission data that suggests geologic activity on Venus.

You’ll find out how Sam, a sax player who went to Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts (the school in Fame), ended up falling in love with geology and never looking back. And you’ll hear all about the interesting geology – including billion-year-old rocks and “mica book crystals” – that you can find in and around New York City.

Our next audience question is from Bianca, who asks, “How did global warming begin?” Samantha explains the difference between normal climate cycles and the climate crisis we’re in now as a result of human activity. We discuss the impact of volcanic super-eruptions on atmospheric CO2, including prehistoric eruptions like the three Yellowstone eruptions and the rifting of the Atlantic ocean and splitting of Pangaea. Dr. Tramontano, a self-described “Ash Lady” who is currently studying active volcanoes on Iceland’s Reykanes Peninsula, explains how we would have at least a year’s notice if something that large were to happen in the future. We end the episode with Sam describing what eruptions and cooling lava flows sound like.

If you’d like to know more about Sam, you can follow her on Instagram @samtramrox and X @samtramrox. And if you’re a young undergraduate in Earth Sciences, you should check out her YouTube channel @EarthOpticsVideos to see what rocks look like under the microscope.

We hope you enjoy this episode of The LIUniverse, and, if you do, please support us on Patreon.

Credits for Images Used in this Episode:

– Columnar basalts in the Palisades – Mark Wyman, CC BY 2.0

– The Staten Island Ferry – Estormiz, Public domain

– Jupiter and Io seen by the Juno spacecraft – Andrea Luck, CC BY 2.0

– Io’s lava lake “Loki Patera” and its island – Cropped from NASA/JPL/SwRI/MSSS/Simeon Schmauß, CC BY 3.0

– Erta Ale lava lake in Ethiopia – Alton Chang, CC BY 3.0

– Magellan Spacecraft leaving the Space Shuttle – NASA, Public Domain

– Rocks near Orchard Beach – Peter Romano, Public Domain

– Ash fall from the “Lava Creek” Yellowstone eruption – Metrodyne, Public Domain

– Volcanic calderas in Yellowstone – National Park Service, Public Domain

– January Eruption on Iceland’s Reykjanes Peninsula – Veðurstofa Íslands, Attribution

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