Volcanic lava reveals clues about earth's evolution

Researchers from the University of British Columbia and University of Massachusetts, Amherst have found that the composition of volcanic lava reveals new clues about the Earth’s evolution. The team, which included CIFAR Scholar Mark Jellinek, found that Hawaii's two main volcanic chains have unique connections to the Earth’s mantle, 2,800 km below the Earth’s surface. By identifying the geochemical differences in lava samples generated from these volcanos over the last five million years, researchers now have a better understanding of the Earth's mantle which comprises 80 per cent of the Earth’s volume. This is the first study to use this novel approach to studying the Earth’s core and will lead to new ways of understanding how volcanos work, and how the Earth evolved.

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