New frontiers and technologies in submarine volcanism research

It’s a real challenge to observe volcanic eruptive processes beneath the surface of the ocean directly. Advances in submarine volcanism rely on the concerted efforts of scientists from many disciplines, some of whom observe eruptions in progress and others who search for evidence of past eruptions and create models of volcanic processes.

Earlier this year, an American Geophysical Union (AGU) Chapman Conference sought to encourage this type of multidisciplinary collaboration by bringing together researchers in the fields of experimental, numerical, terrestrial, and marine volcanology. Featured invited and contributed talks spanned four themes: mid-ocean ridges and intraplate environments, volcanic arcs and back arcs, experimental and numerical modeling, and ancient volcanic successions.