Nature Communications · 8 August 2026 · From issue 18
Ash coatings on old lava show volcanoes can quietly spew ash for months during lava flows.
Jingwei Zhang, Hugh Tuffen et al., Sustained ash emission during lava effusion is a hidden volcanic hazard of silicic eruptions, Nature Communications.
Some volcanoes release thick, slow lava. At the same time, they can quietly puff out ash clouds for months. This hidden ash risk has been hard to measure. Scientists found ash coatings stuck to cracks in old lava in Iceland and Italy. This matches a pattern first seen at a Chilean volcano, showing this combined behavior may be common, not rare.
Based on ash traces found on lava rock at three volcano sites, not a global survey.
Only three volcano sites studied; global scale still unknown.
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