Scientists at Work: Studying Volcanic Eruptions—When, How Big, and How Fast?

Episode 74

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Scientists at Work: Studying Volcanic Eruptions—When, How Big, and How Fast?
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Stat: 800 million: The number of people in the world who live within the footprint, 62 miles, of a volcano.

Story: In the latest episode in our “Scientists at Work” series, we go behind the scenes at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, where we meet geologist and volcanologist Ben Andrews, who works to answer three key questions about volcanoes around the world: When will an eruption happen, how big could the eruption be, and how fast?

Related resources:

Volcanoes, Explained | National Geographic

Smithsonian Institution’s Global Volcanism Program | Smithsonian Institution

A Guide to Volcanoes | Scientific American

11 Surprising Natural Lessons from Mount. St. Helens | Scientific American

In his lab at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C., volcanologist Ben Andrews, left, explains to host Dan LeDuc and audio editor Devin Gallagher how he experiments with igneous rocks, often heating them to high temperatures to learn more about their natural properties.
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Ben Andrews grew up in Oregon, not far from Mount St. Helens, and its eruption in 1980—which shot 540 million tons of ash over seven states—helped inspire him to become a geologist and volcanologist.
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The small furnaces in Ben Andrew’s lab can reach 1,100 degrees Celsius (2,012 degrees Fahrenheit), reverting igneous rocks back to their molten form and helping him learn more about the effects that temperature and atmospheric pressure have on volcanic eruptions.
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Most igneous rocks form underground when magma hardens, but they can reach Earth’s surface when volcanoes erupt and spew lava.
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While discussing his work as director of the Smithsonian’s Global Volcanism Program, Ben Andrews, left, tells host Dan LeDuc that “volcanoes are amazing. They clearly have big societal importance and societal impacts. And studying them and how they work and trying to understand why an eruption happens or when … are basic questions that are scientifically interesting and have a lot of relevance to society.”
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