Dormant volcano suddenly wakes up after 700,000 years of silence

A volcano in southeastern Iran has nudged upward by about 3.5 inches (9 centimeters) in 10 months. This might sound like a small rise but it has big significance. A new study used satellite data to spot the change and argues that pressure is building near the summit. The volcano is Taftan. It has not erupted in human history, but the fresh signal says the system is stirring and needs eyes on it.

Dormant volcano suddenly wakes up after 700,000 years of silence. A volcano in southeastern Iran has nudged upward by about 3.5 inches (9 centimeters) in 10 months. This might sound like a small rise but it has big significance. A new study used satellite data to spot the change and argues that pressure is building near the summit. The volcano is Taftan. It has not erupted in human history, but the fresh signal says the system is stirring and needs eyes on it. Studying the Taftan volcano Scientists tracked the ground with InSAR, a radar method that measures ground motion from space. They used Sentinel-1 satellites that work day and night and can see through clouds. The Taftan volcano uplift lasted a little over ten months and was centered near the summit. The rise has not fallen back, which suggests the pressure has not yet bled off. Pabl...