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The Discovery FilesOne-Shot Volcanoes!
Some volcanoes are short-lived, erupting only once over their lifetime. Yet, that eruption can last for days, years or even decades. Called monogenetic or "one birth" volcanoes, scientists believe an active one represents a major environmental threat and see the tortured terrain they leave behind as a beacon of the steps needed to save lives! Learn more at NSF's "The Discovery Files."
Credit: National Science Foundation
One-Shot Volcanoes!
Hi! I'm Mo Barrow with The Discovery Files, from NSF -- the U.S. National Science Foundation.
That is a memorable sound. A volcano!
Some volcanoes are short-lived, erupting only once over their lifetime. Yet, that eruption can last for days, years or even decades.
They are called monogenetic or "one birth," volcanoes and scientists believe an active one represents a potential major environmental threat.
A team of NSF-funded volcanologists at the University at Buffalo and Northern Arizona University are studying the potential danger these one-shot volcanoes pose.
While these researchers are focused on the Southwest U.S., where in the past 2.58 million years more than 1,800 monogenetic volcanoes have erupted, these distinctive volcanoes have occurred in the Northwest U.S. as well.
The scarred landscapes the volcanoes leave behind provide abundant evidence of their eruptions and a fertile field to study future threats.
While researchers are unsure where the next monogenetic eruption will occur, scientists believe the likelihood of one, over the next 100 years, in the Southwest U.S. are fairly low.
Yet, the tortured terrain they've left in their wake makes for a vast laboratory to study how to save lives.
Discover how the U.S. National Science Foundation is advancing research at nsf.gov.
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