{"id":435332,"date":"2026-05-19T17:33:08","date_gmt":"2026-05-19T17:33:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/435332\/"},"modified":"2026-05-19T17:33:08","modified_gmt":"2026-05-19T17:33:08","slug":"32000-olympic-pools-of-magma-nearly-erupted-beneath-atlantic-island","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/435332\/","title":{"rendered":"32,000 Olympic Pools of Magma Nearly Erupted Beneath Atlantic Island"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Hot<\/a>A massive \u201cstealth\u201d magma surge beneath Portugal\u2019s S\u00e3o Jorge Island triggered thousands of earthquakes after rising almost silently from deep underground. Scientists say the molten rock, enough to fill 32,000 Olympic pools, stopped just below the surface in a rare failed eruption. Credit: Shutterstock<\/p>\n

Scientists have uncovered how a huge underground magma surge shook Portugal\u2019s S\u00e3o Jorge Island with thousands of earthquakes.<\/p>\n

In March 2022, S\u00e3o Jorge Island in Portugal\u2019s Azores experienced thousands of earthquakes caused by a huge underground surge of magma (molten rock), according to a new study led by researchers at UCL (University College London). The magma traveled upward from more than 20 kilometers below Earth\u2019s surface before stopping just 1.6 kilometers beneath the island, narrowly avoiding an eruption.<\/p>\n

Researchers found that the magma rose rapidly over only a few days. The amount of molten rock involved was enormous, enough to fill about 32,000 Olympic-sized swimming pools. Surprisingly, much of the magma\u2019s movement produced little seismic activity, with most of the earthquakes occurring only after the magma stopped rising.<\/p>\n

Lead author Dr. Stephen Hicks of UCL Earth Sciences said: \u201cThis was a stealthy intrusion. Magma moved quickly through the crust, but much of its journey was silent, making it difficult to forecast whether an eruption would occur.\u201d<\/p>\n

Scientists Map a Hidden Magma Surge<\/p>\n

The study, published in Nature Communications, brought together researchers from several countries to reconstruct the magma\u2019s underground path in remarkable detail. The team used seismometers placed both on land and across the Atlantic seafloor to identify exactly where earthquakes were happening. They also relied on satellite observations and GPS measurements to track how the island\u2019s surface shifted during the event.<\/p>\n

Data from satellites showed the ground above the volcano rose by about 6 centimeters, confirming that magma had entered the shallow crust beneath S\u00e3o Jorge Island. However, the magma never reached the surface, creating what scientists describe as a \u201cfailed eruption.\u201d<\/p>\n

Researchers say these underground magma intrusions play an important role in shaping and expanding volcanic islands over time. The new earthquake maps produced during the study provide one of the clearest views yet of how this process works beneath the surface.<\/p>\n

Fault Zone Helped Guide the Magma<\/p>\n

Scientists determined that the magma moved upward through one of the island\u2019s major geological fault systems called the Pico do Carv\u00e3o Fault Zone. Previous studies of ancient earthquake traces had already shown that this fault system was capable of generating powerful earthquakes in the past.<\/p>\n

Instead of producing one large earthquake, however, the rising magma triggered thousands of smaller quakes clustered along the fault zone.<\/p>\n

The research team concluded that the fault likely acted as a pathway that directed the magma upward. At the same time, it may also have allowed gases and fluids to escape sideways, reducing pressure within the magma and preventing an eruption from occurring.<\/p>\n

Lead author Dr. Pablo J. Gonz\u00e1lez of the Spanish National Research Council (IPNA-CSIC) in Tenerife said: \u201cThe fault acted like both a highway and a leak. It helped magma rise, but may also have prevented an eruption.\u201d<\/p>\n

New Insights Into Volcano Forecasting<\/p>\n

The findings suggest that large magma intrusions can develop quickly and with little warning. Researchers also found that major fault systems can strongly influence whether magma erupts at the surface or becomes trapped underground. Scientists say the results could improve future volcanic hazard forecasting.<\/p>\n

Dr. Ricardo Ramalho, a co-author from Cardiff University, said: \u201cThis study supported local authorities in assessing a potential volcanic threat, highlighting the value of combining onshore and offshore geophysical data for accurate detection and localization of seismic events and ground deformation.\u201d<\/p>\n

Professor Ana Ferreira, a co-author from UCL Earth Sciences, said: \u201cSecuring urgent NERC funding to access equipment from its Geophysical Equipment Facility (GEF), alongside additional support from Portugal, was a tremendous collective effort and a clear example of transnational cooperation between academic and civil institutions in Portugal, the UK, and Spain.\u201d<\/p>\n

Reference: \u201cFault-mediated magma propagation and triggered seismicity revealed by the 2022 S\u00e3o Jorge Azores unrest\u201d by Stephen P. Hicks, Pablo J. Gonzalez, Anthony Lomax, Ana M. G. Ferreira, Ricardo S. Ramalho, Neil C. Mitchell, Gra\u00e7a Silveira, Nuno Afonso Dias, Jo\u00e3o Fontiela, Rui Fernandes, Susana Cust\u00f3dio, Maria Tsekhmistrenko, Virgilio Mendes, Adriano Pimentel, Rita Silva, Gon\u00e7alo Prates, William Sturgeon, Augustin Marignier, Fernando Carrilho, Rui Marques, Miguel Miranda and Arturo M. Garcia, 23 April 2026, Nature Communications.
DOI: 10.1038\/s41467-026-71668-6<\/a><\/p>\n

The research received funding from the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC; UK), the European Research Council (ERC), Funda\u00e7\u00e3o para a Ci\u00eancia e a Tecnologia (FCT; Portugal), Agencia Estatal de Investigaci\u00f3n (Spain), and the Regional Government of the Azores. Offshore field assistance was provided by the Portuguese Navy (Marinha Portuguesa), while geophysical equipment came from NERC\u2019s Geophysical Equipment Facility (GEF).<\/p>\n

Institutions involved in the project included UCL, Spanish National Research Council (IPNA-CSIC), Cardiff University, University of Manchester, Universidade de Lisboa (Portugal), Instituto Polit\u00e9cnico de Lisboa (Portugal), University of \u00c9vora (Portugal), University of Beira Interior (Portugal), Centro de Informa\u00e7\u00e3o e Vigil\u00e2ncia Sismovulc\u00e2nica dos A\u00e7ores (CIVISA; Portugal), Research Institute for Volcanology and Risk Assessment (IVAR), University of the Azores (UAc), University of Algarve (Portugal), Instituto Portugu\u00eas do Mar e da Atmosfera (IPMA; Portugal), AIR Centre (Portugal), and C4G (Portugal).<\/p>\n

Never miss a breakthrough: Join the SciTechDaily newsletter.<\/a>
Follow us on Google<\/a> and Google News<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A massive \u201cstealth\u201d magma surge beneath Portugal\u2019s S\u00e3o Jorge Island triggered thousands of earthquakes after rising almost silently…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":435333,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[8215,111,139,69,147,26577,8706,35294],"class_list":["post-435332","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-science","tag-earthquakes","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-science","tag-seismology","tag-university-college-london","tag-volcano"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/435332","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=435332"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/435332\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/435333"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=435332"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=435332"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=435332"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}