Receive emails about upcoming NOVA programs and related content, as well as featured reporting about current events through a science lens. There are many different kinds of volcanoes, ranging from ...

Volcanoes are Earth’s geologic architects. They’ve created more than 80 percent of our planet’s surface, laying the foundation that has allowed life to thrive. Their explosive force crafts mountains ...

Some great ideas shake up the world. For centuries, the outermost layer of Earth was thought to be static, rigid, locked in place. But the theory of plate tectonics has rocked this picture of the ...

Some of the world’s volcanic hot spots may be fueled by molten material that originates surprisingly close to Earth’s surface. While some of the hottest spots are fueled by plumes of buoyant material ...

Volcanoes erupt when magma rises through cracks in the Earth’s crust, but the exact processes that lead to the melting of rocks in the Earth’s mantle below are difficult to study. In our paper, ...