Predicting Volcanic Eruptions through Tides

Guest: Társilo Girona, PhD, NASA Postdoctoral Fellow, Jet Propulsion Laboratory When New Zealand’s Ruapehu volcano erupted in September 2007, scientists weren’t really expecting the eruption, but luckily it came at the tail end of the winter ski season so the mountain’s popular resorts weren’t as packed as they’d usually be. No one died in the eruption. One person was seriously injured. Looking back at the geologic record of Ruapehu, one NASA scientist has found that there were clues that the volcano was about to blow – clues that could help predict future eruptions.