Why Are So Many Volcanoes Erupting?

[seeder]

The Earth seems to have been smoking a lot recently. Volcanoes are currently erupting in Iceland, Hawaii, Indonesia and Mexico. Others, in the Philippines and Papua New Guinea, erupted recently but seem to have calmed down. Many of these have threatened homes and forced evacuations. But among their less-endangered spectators, these eruptions may have raised a question: Is there such a thing as a season for volcanic eruptions?

Surprisingly, this may be a possibility. While volcanoes may not have “seasons” as we know them, scientists have started to discern intriguing patterns in their activity.

http://www.livescience.com/48072-why-are-so-many-volcanoes-erupting.html

[Ashotep]

They have been having more earthquakes in California maybe they are going to have an eruption also. Even Yellowstone had roads melt. The scientists say there is nothing to worry about. Hope they are right and our turn isn't coming.

[taniwha]

Dont worry i'm sure theres a perfectly rational explaination.

[back to earth]

Yep ... the Earth has indigestion .

[Ogbin]

The scientists say there is nothing to worry about.

Famous last words.

Edited October 3, 2014 by Ogbin

[seeder]

Famous last words.

Exactly.. while Im sure the scientists and the seismic sensors etc can make useful measurements and forecasts, at the end of the day its down to mother nature to decide

[Capt Amerika]

Because the oil we keep removing from the earth to use as gas is no longer there to provide the earth with a lubricant for the continental shelves to smoothly slide against.

Therefore, the rock slides against rock and heats up, this results in earthquakes for the immediate area and of course the rock heats up and eventually comes to the surface through a volcano.

Bottom Line..... Volcanoes erupt because you drive a car.

[Doug1029]

Because the oil we keep removing from the earth to use as gas is no longer there to provide the earth with a lubricant for the continental shelves to smoothly slide against.

Therefore, the rock slides against rock and heats up, this results in earthquakes for the immediate area and of course the rock heats up and eventually comes to the surface through a volcano.

Bottom Line..... Volcanoes erupt because you drive a car.

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Doug

[Doug1029]

They have been having more earthquakes in California maybe they are going to have an eruption also. Even Yellowstone had roads melt. The scientists say there is nothing to worry about. Hope they are right and our turn isn't coming.

I know of nothing to indicate that these eruptions are anything other coincident. There have been swarms of eruptions before.

Ice melting off roads in Yellowstone is nothing exciting. That is routine. Mimama Butte near Burley, Idaho is snow-free year-round due to heat still leaking out from an eruption 1.3 million years ago; it's where the hot spot that created Yellowstone used to be. Only 10% of the magma mass beneath Yellowstone is eruptible. The rest has too little water in it. If Yellowstone were getting ready to erupt, we'd probably have about a thousand-year warning.

Volcanic eruptions may be good news for global warming. Eruptions cool the planet with their large amounts of ash and sulphides. On the other hand, they also release CO2, and sulphides oxidize to sulphates and rain out, leaving the CO2 behind.

Shortterm: if you don't get hit by a volcanic bomb or a fiery cloud, you'll probably be better off for a few years. Longterm: increased warming of the planet.

Doug

[Frank Merton]

Doug -- good summary. That the spurt of eruptions might have some deep connection seems unlikely but it is being explored by the seismological community. I haven't seen any statistical study of how likely such a coincidence might be.

[sean6]

seems to be right there are alot of earthquakes like everyday

[Thorvir]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volcanism

[Raptor Witness]

The earth radiates heat. It's a heat source, not just a heat recipient.

Given this, the amount of heat that is released, varies.

The warmer the planet becomes, the hotter the core of the earth is.

The hotter the core and mantel become, the more the earth's crust expands.

Expansion of the earth's crust results in volcanism and earthquakes.

The melting of glaciers also results in crustal expansion.

If the heat cannot radiate, that core energy must be converted into mechanical vectors.

Rising seas are just one side effect of global warming.

Edited October 8, 2014 by Raptor Witness

[Thorvir]

Well I'm out of this discussion. Just realized that the "global warming" crap was brought up--would be an interesting discussion without it but I guess some people just can't help it. Time to skip the crazy train for saner lands.

Edited October 8, 2014 by Thorvir Hrothgaard

[trancelikestate]

They do agree that the number of active volcanoes over the last few centuries “shows a dramatic increase.” However, they also note that that increase “is closely related to increases in the world’s human population and communication.”

“We believe,” they say, “that this represents an increased reporting of eruptions, rather than increased frequency of global volcanism: more observers, in wider geographic distribution, with better communication, and broader publication.”

In other words, they think the increase in global volcanism is more apparent than real.

The full article here

Edited October 8, 2014 by trancelikestate

[switchopens]

Because the oil we keep removing from the earth to use as gas is no longer there to provide the earth with a lubricant for the continental shelves to smoothly slide against.

Therefore, the rock slides against rock and heats up, this results in earthquakes for the immediate area and of course the rock heats up and eventually comes to the surface through a volcano.

Bottom Line..... Volcanoes erupt because you drive a car.

Although techniques like fracking have been known to cause earthquakes, these layers that you refer to are very far apart and very unlikely that this is the case.

The earth radiates heat. It's a heat source, not just a heat recipient.

Given this, the amount of heat that is released, varies.

The warmer the planet becomes, the hotter the core of the earth is.

The hotter the core and mantel become, the more the earth's crust expands.

Expansion of the earth's crust results in volcanism and earthquakes.

The melting of glaciers also results in crustal expansion.

If the heat cannot radiate, that core energy must be converted into mechanical vectors.

Rising seas are just one side effect of global warming.

The thermal gradient between the surface and the core are at 3 orders of magnitude centigrade, I hardly think a difference of 4 degrees will cause that much of an upset.

Well I'm out of this discussion. Just realized that the "global warming" crap was brought up--would be an interesting discussion without it but I guess some people just can't help it. Time to skip the crazy train for saner lands.

And you are who and your credentials are...? Can you even find one scrap of evidence that global warming isn't happening that hasn't been sponsored by Halliburton or the likes?

The best idea as to why seismic activity has increased has to do with climate change. Just recently, on this site too, it was announced that a small change in the earths' gravitational field has shifted. Ice has mass therefore it has gravity. As the ice melts, this mass is displaced from one tectonic plate to another. A sudden change (relatively speaking) in mass on one plate and the increase of another, especially to a plate that already maintains more subduction zones than its' buoyant neighbour, will press down harder causing more stress on fault lines which gives way to more powerful earthquakes and even volcanoes. The theory goes on to suggest that this might be the actual cycle that starts an ice age since an increase in volcanic activity would block out more sunlight.

This is a theory I can't currently back up since it was hearsay, but it made the most sense to me.

[Raptor Witness]

The thermal gradient between the surface and the core are at 3 orders of magnitude centigrade, I hardly think a difference of 4 degrees will cause that much of an upset.

And you are who and your credentials are...?

I am the boundary of Manifest Destiny, which was announced well before the plague of wind appeared, by My Theme this year.

Referencing the article in the OP:

Due to factors like the gravitational pull of the sun and moon, the speed at which the Earth rotates constantly changes. Accordingly the length of a day actually varies from year to year. The difference is only in the order of milliseconds. But new research suggests that this seemingly small perturbation could bring about significant changes on our planet – or more accurately, within it.

Terra Nova showed that, since the early 19th century, changes in the Earth’s rotation rate tended to be followed by increases in global volcanic activity. It found that, between 1830 and 2013, the longest period for which a reliable record was available, relatively large changes in rotation rate were immediately followed by an increase in the number of large volcanic eruptions. And, more than merely being correlated, the the authors believe that the rotation changes might actually have triggered these large eruptions. Live Science September 30, 2014

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They're seeing a correlation, without considering other causes, such as crustal rebound, due to global warming.

The earth is like a skater, who slows down when she puts her arms out. She even comes apart at the seams, on occasion.

She's like an Ebola patient, undergoing a cytokine storm.

[switchopens]

I see you edited your original post to make sense. The warming of the earths core is not a direct cause of surface warming.

[Raptor Witness]

I see you edited your original post to make sense. The warming of the earths core is not a direct cause of surface warming.

The oceans are warming faster than science predicted, because the oceans and the atmosphere act as a radiator for the earth's core.

What happens to your car when it overheats? What happens if you keep driving it, while ignoring the temperature gauge?

If I spoke in tongues of fire, could you understand me better?

[Hawken]

Maybe the earth is like a living organism. It purges itself of parasites when they become too many.

[Guest]

I would like to see evidence that there are any more eruptions than are typical for the earth. Most volcanoes go unreported because they pose no threat to mankind. The numbers of active volcanoes at any given time is large compared to the ones we hear about.

Br Cornelius

[Frank Merton]

I would like to see evidence that there are any more eruptions than are typical for the earth. Most volcanoes go unreported because they pose no threat to mankind. The numbers of active volcanoes at any given time is large compared to the ones we hear about.

Br Cornelius

I read thru this thread and with one other exception you are the only person who seems to have any sense about him. All the wild-ass speculation about something we don't even know is real, and not just an illusion or statistical fluke.

[Doug1029]

I see you edited your original post to make sense. The warming of the earths core is not a direct cause of surface warming.

On geologic time scales, the shape of ocean basins alters currents and thus affects climate.

Pearson, P.N. and W. R. Palmer. 2000. "Atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations over the past 60 million years." Nature 406:695-699.

Doug

Edited October 13, 2014 by Doug1029