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Volcano Science Lab
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A lab that explores underground magma and eruption mechanisms through volcanic eruptive products.
AboutAbout the lab
Research on volcanoes and eruptions based on eruptive products.
The Volcano Science Lab studies the movement of magma underground and the dynamics of the volcanic eruptions it causes, through analysis of eruptive products.
Its work includes geological surveys of volcanoes, analysis of the crystal and vesicle textures and chemical compositions of eruptive products, and development of mathematical models and analog experiments.
When an eruption occurs, the lab rapidly analyzes the erupted material and quickly reads the mechanism behind the eruption currently under way.
The lab's website introduces it under the name "Volcano Science Group."
Key terms
- Eruptive products
- Material expelled in a volcanic eruption, such as pumice and scoria. They are clues for reading the history of magma movement
- Vesicle texture
- The shapes and arrangement of bubbles contained in pumice and similar materials. Thought to reflect the flow history during magma ascent
- Analog experiments
- Experiments that use viscous fluids such as starch syrup or silicone oil as substitutes, because reproducing the process with real magma is difficult
NewsLab news
Assistant Professor Ohashi receives the Young Researcher Encouragement Award of the Volcanological Society of Japan
A doctoral student receives an Outstanding Student Presentation Award at the 2025 Volcanological Society of Japan meeting
ResearchResearch themes
The lab's goal is to elucidate the mechanisms that govern volcanic activity from geological and magmatic perspectives, using physical and chemical theory. In addition to observing eruptive products, the lab works on modeling based on experiments and theory, aiming to understand the dynamics of volcanic eruptions.
*Illustrative imageHow magma accumulates, ascends, and erupts
How magma accumulates, ascends, and erupts is determined by buoyancy from vesiculation, changes in physical properties due to crystallization, stress on the surrounding rock, and other factors. The lab reconstructs magma behavior using various methods, from chemical analysis of microscopic areas to geological structure analysis of an entire volcano.
*Illustrative imageHow volcanic activity changes over time
The lab uses geological methods to analyze eruptive products collected in time series during an eruption and past products preserved in strata, and investigates the mechanisms behind temporal changes in volcanic activity. It can also trace large-scale eruptions and long-term changes in activity.
*Illustrative imageVolcanology based on observation, experiments, and computation
The lab carefully observes the vesicle and crystal textures of eruptive products and tries to elucidate eruption dynamics through modeling based on experiments and theory. An eruption is a complex phenomenon involving thermodynamics, fluid dynamics, and the mechanics of elastic bodies.
*Illustrative imageBubble dynamics
The lab obtained bubble shape data from pumice of Taupo volcano in New Zealand and ran numerical calculations to reconstruct the flow history of the magma. Decompression experiments using starch syrup and silicone oil also yielded a newly proposed estimate of the time it takes for bubbles to coalesce.
MembersFaculty
The Volcano Science Lab consists of faculty and doctoral, master's, and undergraduate students.As of 2026
- ProfessorNobuo Geshi
- Assistant ProfessorMasatoshi Ohashi
VoicesStudent voices
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Report an errorAbout the images
The top and research theme images are illustrative and were not taken at the lab. They are cropped from Wikimedia Commons images. Cropped CC BY-SA images are provided under the same CC BY-SA license as the original (version shown on each line).
- Top image: “Volcanic Ash Fall Deposits of Tajogaite Volcanic Eruption on La Palma in 2021” Xavier Bolós / CC BY 4.0 (cropped)
- How magma accumulates, ascends, and erupts: “001 Volcano eruption of Litli-Hrútur in Iceland in 2023 Photo by Giles Laurent” Giles Laurent / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- How volcanic activity changes over time: “Tavurvur volcano edit” Taro Taylor edit by Richard Bartz / CC BY 2.0 (cropped)
- Volcanology based on observation, experiments, and computation: “Sampling lava with hammer and bucket” Hawaii Volcano Observatory, USGS / Public domain (cropped)
- Bubble dynamics: “Pumice 1” James St. John / CC BY 2.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Earth Interior Dynamics Lab): “The Day the Earth Smiled - PIA17172” NASA/JPL-Caltech/SSI / Public domain (cropped)
- Related lab (Observational Seismology and Volcanology Lab (Earthquake and Volcano Observation Research Center)): “Seismometer-iceland” Heidi Soosalu / CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Rock Cycle Science Lab): “Metamorphic rock in the area at Sårjåstjåhkkå in Sulitjelma” Frankemann / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Space and Terrestrial Electromagnetism Lab): “Surlari Geomagnetic Observatory, Three-axis magnetometer Bartington” Victor Blacus / CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped)
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