14 DAY TRIAL // Based on two new studies of the plumbing systems beneath several volcanoes, researchers from the University of Leeds are currently working towards developing a method for the prediction of volcanic eruptions long before they occur.
These plumbing systems are in fact made up of magma chambers, cavernous structures filled with magma that are inter-connected through vast networks of underground pipes. The way pressure acts on these chambers is essential towards determining what volcanoes will do next, PsychCentral reports.
Both new studies appear in the latest issue of the top journal Nature Geoscience. The team reveals the discovery of a magma chamber located just one kilometers below the surface, in the Afar rift of Northern Ethiopia.
“It was a complete surprise to see that a magma chamber could exist so close to the Earth's surface in an area where the tectonic plates move apart so slowly. The results have changed the way we think about volcanoes,” expert Dr. Carolina Pagli explains.