August as an academic

#hotdesking My latest cartoon for @newscientist.com

New paper! What kind of impacts does volcanic ashfall have on airport operations? We compiled as many events as possible over the past ~80 years to look at the relationship between ashfall thickness at an airport during an eruption and what kind of impacts it causes. doi.org/10.1186/s136...

Impacts-based analysis of disruption to airport operations by volcanic ashfall - Journal of Applied Volcanology

Volcanic ash is a significant hazard to aviation due to its potential to cause physical impacts and disrupt aviation networks through airspace and airport closures. Until now, ashfall impacts on airport operations have received much less attention than airborne ash impacts on aircraft and aviation. The time and resources taken to remove ashfall from runways and airport infrastructure can cause extended disruption to the aviation network beyond the presence of ash in the atmosphere. Using publicly available information, we have compiled a global dataset of 334 volcano-related airport impact events between 1944 and 2024. The dataset includes events at 141 unique airports in 44 different countries and territories, caused by eruptions from 73 different volcanoes. The countries with the most events are Indonesia (52), Mexico (27), and New Zealand (27), and the most impacted airports are Catania-Fontanarossa International Airport (20), Puebla International Airport (15), and La Nubia Airport (12). The volcanoes responsible for the most airport impact events (besides Eyjafjallajökull) are Etna (24), Soufriere Hills (22), and Popocatépetl (22). We used 74 data-rich, ashfall-induced events from this dataset to categorise ashfall impacts into five states of closure: <1 day, 1–2 days, > 2–7 days, > 1 week (finite), and permanent, and present fragility curves for each state. Data points are concentrated between 0.1- and 100-mm thickness such that fragility curve uncertainties are greatest at the smaller (< 0.1 mm) and larger (> 100 mm) thicknesses. The curves show that there is an > 80% probability of airport closure of any duration even for trace (defined here as 0.1 mm) amounts of ashfall. Closures of more than one day under trace ashfall are much more probable than closures lasting more than two days (30% vs. 6%, respectively), and once ashfall of 10 mm thickness is reached closures of more than two days are highly probable (> 85%). The development of continuous fragility curves from empirical airport closure data represents an advance that will prove useful for hazard management and long-term forecasting closure at airports. To illustrate the potential impacts of varying closure durations on flights and passengers, we provide a case study of the simulated closure of Ninoy Aquino International Airport in the Philippines. In addition to ashfall thickness, closure duration is affected by airport or national emergency management policies, resources available (personnel and equipment), and environmental conditions. This dataset and the derived curves provide a starting point and global evidence base for better understanding the impact of volcanic ashfall on airport operations.

doi.org

there is no folly of the beasts of the earth which is not infinitely outdone by the madness of men

The firste parte of *Beowulf* ys prettye grippinge but the secounde parte doth dragon a bit

The scientific case is won, the Paris Agreement means all the countries of the world agreed to action, yet it still remains a challenge to shift the dial. Some good news here but depressing that climate change action remains political. 🧪 www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Communicating the need for climate action - Nature Climate Change

It is essential to understand the best way to frame a persuasive message aimed at increasing concern about climate change and support for pro-environmental action. Now a Registered Report presents a l...

nature.com

Please spread this far and wide, as stories don't get much bigger than this. When the government blocks even the intelligence services from telling us we're heading for environmental catastrophe, you know we have a problem. A very big problem. Thank you. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

The UK government didn't want you to see this report on ecosystem collapse. I'm not surprised | George Monbiot

It took an FOI request to bring this national security assessment to light. For ‘doomsayers’ like us, it is the ultimate vindication, says Guardian columnist George Monbiot

theguardian.com

Once upon a time, the platform formerly known as Twitter was a vibrant meeting-place where scientists, the public, official orgs and more besides could exchange knowledge. I set out to find out how effective it could be for disseminating geoscience info Skip to the paper ☛ doi.org/10.1038/s432...

Academic authors, here's a peek into the black box of journal publishing from an journal editor if you can bear it:

Are you a volcanologist or working in an adjacent field? Consider signing up for Niigata University’s 1st international symposium on “Volcanology in Practice”: www.thevolcano.world which will run from 7th–10th of October 2025 in Niigata, Japan, endorsed by @iavcei.bsky.social. #volcano #science ⚒️🌋

GVRA are co-organisers for the University of Niigata Symposium on 'volcanology in practice'. We are organising Day 1 on exposure, preparedness and risk reduction &will run a workshop. Registration &abstract submission are open now. www.globalvolcanoriskalliance.com/news/news-po...

⏳Final week to sign up to the Green Party. 🗳️ Vote for Bold Leadership on August 1st.

Flash-back to a few weeks ago when @claireharnett.bsky.social won the @iavcei.bsky.social George Walker Award! 🥇 Congrats again Claire! @farquharson.bsky.social, @alteringrocks.bsky.social, @magmatroll.bsky.social

🚨 How far are volcanologists from volcanoes? 🌋🚨 Check out our new paper here: link.springer.com/article/10.1.... What started as a conversation about whether we at @exeter.ac.uk (in Cornwall, UK) are further from volcanoes than our global colleagues turned into an exploration of a fruitful data set!

New Open Access paper out in GRL, led by Lucille Carbillet! We found that increasing temperature can close cracks within granite and reduce permeability! @farquharson.bsky.social Check it out 👇 doi.org/10.1029/2024...

A man of many vices

Bluesky is actually an Umberto Eco chamber, as it tends to warn about the signs of impending fascism and its associated dangers, rather than, you know, to debate and encourage them.

A long time ago* in a galaxy far, far away†, I smashed a lot of rocks‡. After 8+ years, a new #OpenAccess Royal Society Open Science paper seeks to make sense of some of my weirdest results. Read on for #volcano science! 🧪🌋🧵 🔓🔗 doi.org/10.1098/rsos... *c. 2015 †France ‡ for science

Post-failure deformation mode switching in volcanic rock | Royal Society Open Science

Beyond a threshold applied compressive stress, porous rocks typically undergo either dilatant or compactant inelastic deformation and the response of their physical properties to deformation mode is k...

doi.org

Paper just published in JVGR! 🥳 Free link 👇 authors.elsevier.com/a/1i7ln1LkU3... DOI 👇 doi.org/10.1016/j.jv... 13/13 @farquharson.bsky.social @claireharnett.bsky.social

Exciting new open access volcanology report! ⚒️🌋

Robin Lacassin@rlacassin.bsky.social · 3y ago

In recent paper in Volcanica DOAJ, Chevrel et al. monitored lava flow emplaced during 19 Sept - 5 Oct 2022 eruption at Piton de la Fournaise #volcano (La Réunion) using a large data set acquired from multiple sensors (UAV and satellite). ⚒️ & 🧪 www.jvolcanica.org/ojs/index.ph...

Some really cool research on the Fagradalsfjall lava fountains! 🌋 ⚒️

Oliver Lamb@olamb245.bsky.social · 3y ago

Happy to see this article finally out in Nature Communications! Sam Scott did some really cool work on an awesome FTIR dataset captured during an amazing lava fountain sequence at Fagradalsfjall, Iceland, in 2021. He came up with a really neat model to explain the activity! 🌋⚒️

we fixed acid rain! we fixed the ozone layer! we beat polio! we’ve rescued scores of species from the brink of extinction! the despair many of us feel about climate change isn’t that it’s too big to fix. it’s that we know it is fixable but we’re being thwarted by greedy ghouls at every turn.

Swapna Krishna@swapnakrishna.com · 3y ago

The other day I was like “you know something we heard a lot about as kids was acid rain, why don’t we hear about it anymore” TURNS OUT we fixed it???

Moving to Japan 🇯🇵 has been a gastronomic treat. One of my favourite discoveries (so far) has been Karashi Renkon, which is lotus root stuffed with miso and karashi mustard, deep fried in turmeric batter*. Had a go making it at home, thoroughly recommend. 🪷 *other versions do exist

Funding alert! A new Royal Society independent postdoc fellowship scheme launches next week. Lots of funding and very prestigious. Only for applicants of black heritage. Good to see the RS putting substantial money behind a plan to diversify research. royalsociety.org/grants-schem...

@akushnir.bsky.social Hello 👋

I had the opportunity to answer some questions from Open Access Scholarly Publishing Association recently regarding Volcanica's inclusion in OASPA. Check out the full interview here: bit.ly/45VqMhS #AcademicSky 🧪⚒️🌋

Volcanic bomb or dragon egg? Only one way to tell.

Love volcaniclastic rocks? What about sedimentary processes regards to volcanism? Andrea di Capua and I have recently taken over the IAVCEI Commission for Volcanogenic Sediments! Follow us, and join in the discussions, on our socials. New website coming soon. 🪨🌍⚒️🧪🌋

Academics on here: what's your favourite paper that you've authored and why? 🌋📝

☕ Coffee is delicious, but it can also help us think about geological processes. Check out this piece from Geoscientist: geoscientist.online/sections/une... The moka pot is a mechanical marvel, and can help us conceptualise a variety of Earth science processes!