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The Kazbek disaster: a cryoclastic debris flow

https://www.volcanocafe.org/the-kazbek-disaster-a-cryoplastic-debris-flow-2/

Published: August 27, 2026 21:29

The terrible disaster in the Nepal and (probably) Tibet has happened, when a debris flow came down one of the river valleys. The toll is still unclear. The images show a wall of mud, tens of meters high, coming at extreme speed, giving no warning. The…

The Gakkel Caldera and the Arctic Ocean

https://www.volcanocafe.org/the-gakkel-caldera-and-the-arctic-ocean/

Published: August 19, 2026 22:33

It was June 1893, and the Fram expedition had just set off. On board the Fram were Otto Sverdrupp as captain, Fridtjof Nansen as science lead, and 11 other crew members. The goal was to reach the North Pole with the least amount of effort and the largest…

Observing volcanoes

https://www.volcanocafe.org/observing-volcanoes/

Published: August 4, 2026 16:19

Volcanology involves a lot of watching. It has that in common with another science: astronomy. Both are sciences where it is not really possible to do experiments. Instead we have to wait until nature decides to do something, and study events as and when…

An exploration of the Aleutian Arc.

https://www.volcanocafe.org/an-exploration-of-the-aleutian-arc/

Published: July 23, 2026 10:00

It’s been a while since my last post in VolcanoCafe. I have been working on multiple ideas and gathering data, but not been able to finish anything. Today, I bring something exciting. I’m using  GIS data (Geographic Information Systems) to explore in depth…

Volcano risk management

https://www.volcanocafe.org/volcano-risk-management/

Published: July 16, 2026 15:30

Imagine. You are being put in charge of planning for a future major volcanic eruption. All you have is an incomplete list of volcanoes in the world, some experience of past eruptions, and a few volcanologists as consultants. The politician who gave you the…

The Kikai eruption

https://www.volcanocafe.org/the-kikai-eruption/

Published: July 7, 2026 20:54

Japan’s largest volcano lies hidden. It can be found, if you know where to look, by starting from the southern island of Kyushu. Find the active volcano Sakurajima. (We will come back to it later. But this is not that volcano.) Sakurajima lies in-between…

The 2026 Venezuela earthquakes

https://www.volcanocafe.org/the-2026-venezuela-earthquakes/

Published: June 26, 2026 20:40

Some fault systems in the world are well known for their destructive potential. Examples are Turkey’s North Anatolian fault and California’s San Andreas. In both cases, large events in the not-too-distant future are widely predicted. In Turkey, the march…

Volcano: volcano in a twist

https://www.volcanocafe.org/volcano-volcano-in-a-twist/

Published: June 20, 2026 20:13

Whirlwinds come in variations. The weaker category is known as dust devils, and the range extends to full-blown tornadoes – and even hurricanes can in some ways be seen as an outsized members. What they have in common is whirls, winds and heat. You can…

The great Hawaii earthquake of 1868

https://www.volcanocafe.org/the-great-hawaii-earthquake-of-1868/

Published: June 8, 2026 21:39

It was perhaps the most destructive event in Hawai’i in memory. And it was raised again in the blog comments recently. It turns out we have published a post on it in the past, written by Hector:…

A tour of Io’s Prometheus lava flow: when Galileo spacecraft captured hot flowing pahoehoe breakouts

https://www.volcanocafe.org/a-tour-of-ios-prometheus-lava-flow-when-galileo-spacecraft-captured-hot-flowing-pahoehoe-breakouts/

Published: May 25, 2026 15:00

Intro After writing two Io articles I return to Io  again my favourite moon, looking at one single lava flow field. But read Alberts and my two other Io posts first. Jupiter’s moon Io is the most volcanically active place in our entire solar system. The…