A new study provides our best-yet prediction of what a metallic volcano might look like If you like volcanoes, Earth isn’t a bad place to live on. After all, our planet is quite geologically active, and that also translates into a respectable level of volcanism. But when it comes to having a variety of flavors, the Earth can be a bit lacking.
a) Metallic flow (yellow) emerging from underneath the silicate flow (orange-black) before cooling and b) metallic flow appears gray/silver, with the silicate flow black, after cooling. Image credits A. Soldati et al., (2021), Nature. A new paper, however, comes to estimate what one type of not-yet-seen volcanic activity might look like. Called ‘ferrovolcanism’, it is likely a hallmark of geologically active worlds whose composition is mainly metallic. The study, although still purely theoretical, could help us better understand some of the more peculiar alien landscapes out there. And even though ‘metal volcanoes’ sounds like something pretty jagged and oppressive-looking, the team’s findings suggest that they’re actually quite mellow.