(Press-News.org) The Soufriere Hills Volcano on Montserrat erupted in 1995, and an international team of researchers has studied this volcano from land and sea since then to understand the workings of andesite volcanos more completely.
"To the extent that the Soufriere Hills Volcano is typical of andesitic dome building volcanoes, results from this research can be expected to apply more generally," said Barry Voight, professor emeritus of geosciences, Penn State.
Voight and R. S. J. Sparks, the Channing Wills professor of geology, Bristol University, guest edited and introduced a special issue of Geophysical Research Letters that covers the past ten years of research in the CALIPSO (Caribbean Andesite Lava Island Precision Seismo-geodetic Observatory) and SEA-CALIPSO (Seismic Experiment with Airgun) projects. The U. S. National Science Foundation, U. K. Natural Environmental Research Council, British Geological Survey and Discovery Channel funded these projects.
CALIPSO is a volcano monitoring system installed in late 2002 and early 2003 to monitor magma activity of the volcano. It consists of an array of specialized instruments located in four strategically placed, 650-foot-deep bore holes along with surface and shallow-hole instrumentation. Reports on research from this project look at surface deformation, magma activity, explosive dynamics of the volcano and the magma system. The papers cover four different explosive episodes and volcano mechanics.
SEA-CALIPSO obtained three-dimensional images of the structure of the island of Montserrat and of the volcano's center. It was an active-source seismic experiment to study the Earth's crust beneath the island and the volcano and was under the umbrella of the CALIPSO project.
"This multinational experiment with participation from the U.S., UK, New Zealand, Trinidad and Montserrat generated high resolution images of the island, its volcanic edifices and adjacent crust," said Voight. "This project should advance our understanding of how crust evolves in arc systems, magma is stored and transported and how volcanic processes proceed."
SEA-CALIPSO used seismic tomography, seismic reflection/refraction imaging and offshore seismic profiling to view the deep structure of the volcano. Evaluation of the speed at which seismic waves pass beneath and through the island can provide information on the structure of the crust and the magma chambers beneath the volcano.
The research on both projects was also supported by the Government of Montserrat, Seismic Research Center of the University of West Indies.
INFORMATION:
10 years of Soufriere Hills Volcano research published
2010-11-19
[Attachments] See images for this press release:
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
E. coli infection linked to long-term health problems
2010-11-19
People who contract gastroenteritis from drinking water contaminated with E. coli are at an increased risk of developing high blood pressure, kidney problems and heart disease in later life, finds a study published on bmj.com today.
The findings underline the importance of ensuring a safe food and water supply and the need for regular monitoring for those affected.
It is estimated that E. coli O157:H7 infections cause up to 120,000 gastro-enteric illnesses annually in the US alone, resulting in over 2,000 hospitalisations and 60 deaths. However, the long term health ...
Researchers learn that genetics determine winter vitamin D status
2010-11-19
Vitamin D is somewhat of an unusual "vitamin," because it can be made in the body from sunlight and most foods do not contain vitamin D unless added by fortification. Synthesis of vitamin D in the body requires exposure to ultraviolet light and can be influenced by genetics, skin color, and sun exposure. Reports of greater than expected vitamin D insufficiency coupled with emerging evidence that higher circulating concentrations of this nutrient may protect against cardiovascular disease have prompted a renewed interest in teasing out how environment, genetics, and behavior ...
Why so many antibodies fail to protect against HIV infection
2010-11-19
DURHAM, NC – Researchers have been stymied for years over the fact that people infected with the AIDS virus do indeed produce antibodies in response to the pathogen – antibodies that turn out to be ineffective in blocking infection.
Now, scientists at Duke University Medical Center can explain why: Some of the earliest and most abundant antibodies available to fight HIV can't actually "see" the virus until after it's already invaded a healthy cell.
The scientists based their conclusion on the results of a series of crystallography and biochemical experiments that revealed ...
Economic downturn takes toll on health of Americans with heart disease, diabetes or cancer
2010-11-19
Boston, MA – A new poll from researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) and Knowledge Networks (KN) shows that many people with heart disease, diabetes or cancer believe the economic downturn is hurting their health and will have further negative impacts in the future. Many Americans with these illnesses face financial problems paying for medical bills in this economy. Most of these people do not believe the new national health care reform law (Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act 2010) will help them. This national poll is the first in a collaborative ...
Reduce the VAT on alcohol sold in pubs, says expert
2010-11-19
Alcoholic drinks served in pubs should be taxed at a lower level than drinks bought from shops, says an expert in this week's BMJ.
This action would deliver the health benefits associated with introducing a minimum price on alcohol, increase tax revenue for the Treasury and save pubs says Dr Nick Sheron.
The author is head of clinical hepatology at the University of Southampton, a member of the Alcohol Health Alliance and an advisor for the 2010 House of Commons Select Committee Report on Alcohol.
Sheron says lowering VAT for alcohol sold in pubs would solve the plight ...
LSUHSC reports first successful salivary stone removal with robotics
2010-11-19
New Orleans, LA – Dr. Rohan Walvekar, Assistant Professor of Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery, Director of Clinical Research and the Salivary Endoscopy Service at LSU Health Sciences Center New Orleans, has reported the first use of a surgical robot guided by a miniature salivary endoscope to remove a 20mm salivary stone and repair the salivary duct of a 31-year-old patient. Giant stones have traditionally required complete removal of the salivary gland. Building upon their success with the combination of salivary endoscopic guidance with surgery, Dr. Walvekar and his ...
Teenage girls face greater violence threat from poverty
2010-11-19
Living in a deprived area increases the risk of violence more sharply for girls than boys, according to a Cardiff University study of former industrial areas.
The new results suggest violence prevention strategies need to focus more on local inequalities, especially to protect vulnerable adolescent girls.
The survey was conducted by the Violence and Society Research Group at Cardiff University. The team studied nearly 700 young people, aged 11 to 17, who attended casualty departments in South Wales with injuries from violence. The researchers matched the patients against ...
Gene therapy for metastatic melanoma in mice produces complete remission
2010-11-19
INDIANAPOLIS – A potent anti-tumor gene introduced into mice with metastatic melanoma has resulted in permanent immune reconfiguration and produced a complete remission of their cancer, according to an article to be published in the December 2010 issue of the Journal of Clinical Investigation. The online version is now available.
Indiana University School of Medicine researchers used a modified lentivirus to introduce a potent anti-melanoma T cell receptor gene into the hematopoietic stem cells of mice. Hematopoietic stem cells are the bone marrow cells that produce all ...
Well-known molecule may be behind alcohol's benefits to heart health
2010-11-19
Many studies support the assertion that moderate drinking is beneficial when it comes to cardiovascular health, and for the first time scientists have discovered that a well-known molecule, called Notch, may be behind alcohol's protective effects. Down the road, this finding could help scientists create a new treatment for heart disease that mimics the beneficial influence of modest alcohol consumption.
"Any understanding of a socially acceptable, modifiable activity that many people engage in, like drinking, is useful as we continue to search for new ways to improve ...
Pushing black-hole mergers to the extreme: RIT scientists achieve 100:1 mass ratio
2010-11-19
Scientists have simulated, for the first time, the merger of two black holes of vastly different sizes, with one mass 100 times larger than the other. This extreme mass ratio of 100:1 breaks a barrier in the fields of numerical relativity and gravitational wave astronomy.
Until now, the problem of simulating the merger of binary black holes with extreme size differences had remained an unexplored region of black-hole physics.
"Nature doesn't collide black holes of equal masses," says Carlos Lousto, associate professor of mathematical sciences at Rochester Institute ...