Wider coverage of satellite data better detects magma supply to volcanoes

Using satellite imaging, Penn State researchers for the first time identified a major magma supply into a reservoir extending almost two miles from the crater of a volcano in Nicaragua. This shows that volcanoes can be fed magma through nearby underground channels and could help explain how volcanoes can erupt seemingly without warning because the active center of the volcano exhibits little deformation activity. The findings are published today (March 28) in Geophysical Research Letters.