Ben Black
@magmatist.bsky.social
Petrologist, volcanologist, and Earth historian. Associate Professor at Rutgers. rutgersvolcano.weebly.com
Cowboy and sidekick herding cattle off the road and into the frenchglen corral. Mooo
October 11, 2025 at 4:44 AM
Cowboy and sidekick herding cattle off the road and into the frenchglen corral. Mooo
Pre-Steens rhyolites with the Alvord Desert in the background
Just for your eyes to feel better
Just for your eyes to feel better
October 10, 2025 at 4:22 AM
Pre-Steens rhyolites with the Alvord Desert in the background
Just for your eyes to feel better
Just for your eyes to feel better
What is better than pet photos?
You know the answer is a praying mantis on a rock hammer
Columbia River Basalts in the background
You know the answer is a praying mantis on a rock hammer
Columbia River Basalts in the background
October 9, 2025 at 5:18 AM
What is better than pet photos?
You know the answer is a praying mantis on a rock hammer
Columbia River Basalts in the background
You know the answer is a praying mantis on a rock hammer
Columbia River Basalts in the background
Highly recommend this essay, which underscores the risks posed by under-the-radar volcanoes
🌋 Excited to share my new essay in Aeon: one of the most underappreciated global risks isn’t an asteroid or supervolcano—it’s the eruptions we don’t see coming:
The science of volcanoes and their relationship with the climate is hard to keep up with. Why do some volcanoes give us little warning before they blow? Are we ignoring the next big eruption?
September 16, 2025 at 3:56 PM
Highly recommend this essay, which underscores the risks posed by under-the-radar volcanoes
The world has so much to learn from Norwegians about the critical importance of saunas.
(did you guess that I would end the sentence with that word?)
Here is a nice sauna overlooking the harbor in Storekorsnes. Spotted while waiting for a ferry transfer back to Alta.
(did you guess that I would end the sentence with that word?)
Here is a nice sauna overlooking the harbor in Storekorsnes. Spotted while waiting for a ferry transfer back to Alta.
July 28, 2025 at 1:57 AM
The world has so much to learn from Norwegians about the critical importance of saunas.
(did you guess that I would end the sentence with that word?)
Here is a nice sauna overlooking the harbor in Storekorsnes. Spotted while waiting for a ferry transfer back to Alta.
(did you guess that I would end the sentence with that word?)
Here is a nice sauna overlooking the harbor in Storekorsnes. Spotted while waiting for a ferry transfer back to Alta.
These are cloudberries (with a gabbro intrusion cutting metasedimentary rocks in the background).
Cloudberries have a short Arctic growing season and have twice as much vitamin C as an orange by weight.
Cloudberries have a short Arctic growing season and have twice as much vitamin C as an orange by weight.
July 23, 2025 at 9:00 AM
These are cloudberries (with a gabbro intrusion cutting metasedimentary rocks in the background).
Cloudberries have a short Arctic growing season and have twice as much vitamin C as an orange by weight.
Cloudberries have a short Arctic growing season and have twice as much vitamin C as an orange by weight.
I will just put these photos here without much comment beyond wow this is a nice place
July 22, 2025 at 7:47 PM
I will just put these photos here without much comment beyond wow this is a nice place
One way to judge how fresh a rock is: the sound it makes when the 4.5 kilo sledge lands on it
(Wielding the hammer: Ben Klein)
(Wielding the hammer: Ben Klein)
July 22, 2025 at 7:42 PM
One way to judge how fresh a rock is: the sound it makes when the 4.5 kilo sledge lands on it
(Wielding the hammer: Ben Klein)
(Wielding the hammer: Ben Klein)
There were a lot of mosquitoes and biting flies in Siberia. But Norway may have Siberia beat for the sheer diversity of biters… a very heterogeneous mix of small biting flies, giant biting flies, and mosquitoes.
All living their best lives
All living their best lives
July 22, 2025 at 5:35 PM
There were a lot of mosquitoes and biting flies in Siberia. But Norway may have Siberia beat for the sheer diversity of biters… a very heterogeneous mix of small biting flies, giant biting flies, and mosquitoes.
All living their best lives
All living their best lives
We climbed through a remote Norwegian valley on a reindeer path, and you’ll never guess what we saw next…
It was a cliff of hornblendite and carbonatite!
It was a cliff of hornblendite and carbonatite!
July 21, 2025 at 7:37 PM
We climbed through a remote Norwegian valley on a reindeer path, and you’ll never guess what we saw next…
It was a cliff of hornblendite and carbonatite!
It was a cliff of hornblendite and carbonatite!
Yesterday we were working near a mine. We thought maybe mining the carbonatites because they are one of the major sources of rare earth elements.
But actually they were mining the nephrite syenite to make porcelain! Just a reminder that we use rocks for all kinds of things. Rocks->teacups
But actually they were mining the nephrite syenite to make porcelain! Just a reminder that we use rocks for all kinds of things. Rocks->teacups
July 20, 2025 at 5:49 AM
Yesterday we were working near a mine. We thought maybe mining the carbonatites because they are one of the major sources of rare earth elements.
But actually they were mining the nephrite syenite to make porcelain! Just a reminder that we use rocks for all kinds of things. Rocks->teacups
But actually they were mining the nephrite syenite to make porcelain! Just a reminder that we use rocks for all kinds of things. Rocks->teacups
Tomorrow we will try a new way to reach the interior of the island and then meet the boat on the other side. There are some bugs… but the geology is very exciting!
July 19, 2025 at 10:24 PM
Tomorrow we will try a new way to reach the interior of the island and then meet the boat on the other side. There are some bugs… but the geology is very exciting!
First cell reception after two great field days! We are looking at an enormous magmatic system at 5-10 kbar pressure (mid to lower crust). Very volatile rich, including carbonatites (inaccesible today due to snow). Big thank you to @fredrhog.bsky.social for sharing some nice NGU maps of the area.
July 19, 2025 at 10:20 PM
First cell reception after two great field days! We are looking at an enormous magmatic system at 5-10 kbar pressure (mid to lower crust). Very volatile rich, including carbonatites (inaccesible today due to snow). Big thank you to @fredrhog.bsky.social for sharing some nice NGU maps of the area.
Quick run around Alta in the morning. Tons of wildflowers on the streets. Some old classic wooden houses…. Plus lots of buildings that feel like bunkers against the winter months
July 18, 2025 at 7:19 AM
Quick run around Alta in the morning. Tons of wildflowers on the streets. Some old classic wooden houses…. Plus lots of buildings that feel like bunkers against the winter months
Made it to Alta! Some photos from the flight in. It is 11 PM and the sunlight is golden.
Tomorrow we meet up with colleagues from Uni of Lausanne to take a boat out to the rocks
Tomorrow we meet up with colleagues from Uni of Lausanne to take a boat out to the rocks
July 17, 2025 at 9:04 PM
Made it to Alta! Some photos from the flight in. It is 11 PM and the sunlight is golden.
Tomorrow we meet up with colleagues from Uni of Lausanne to take a boat out to the rocks
Tomorrow we meet up with colleagues from Uni of Lausanne to take a boat out to the rocks
The compare/contrast between Denmark and Norway—photos taken just a few minutes apart across the Skagerrak strait—is stark. Sand vs rock. Next: the journey 1500 km north, to the Arctic
July 17, 2025 at 3:16 PM
The compare/contrast between Denmark and Norway—photos taken just a few minutes apart across the Skagerrak strait—is stark. Sand vs rock. Next: the journey 1500 km north, to the Arctic
How do others feel about packing for field work? I don’t especially enjoy normal packing, but there is a pleasure in trying to imagine a future moment on an unknown mountain, and what you might wish for in that moment—and then later, with luck, being on the mountain and having just what you need
July 16, 2025 at 7:07 PM
How do others feel about packing for field work? I don’t especially enjoy normal packing, but there is a pleasure in trying to imagine a future moment on an unknown mountain, and what you might wish for in that moment—and then later, with luck, being on the mountain and having just what you need
Leaving for field work tomorrow with a team heading to northern Norway to explore the exhumed remnants of a very large mafic magmatic system—possibly the lower crustal roots of an Ediacaran large igneous province! I don’t know if I will have any internet, but if so I will try to tweet along the way…
July 16, 2025 at 1:45 AM
Leaving for field work tomorrow with a team heading to northern Norway to explore the exhumed remnants of a very large mafic magmatic system—possibly the lower crustal roots of an Ediacaran large igneous province! I don’t know if I will have any internet, but if so I will try to tweet along the way…
I see we are talking about ROSES-2025 and Mike Wong’s analysis (which implies a dismal 5% funding rate for solar system science).
I will say, as depressing as the NASA funding outlook is, I appreciate these nice visualizations of that depressing funding.
research.ssl.berkeley.edu/~mikewong/bl...
I will say, as depressing as the NASA funding outlook is, I appreciate these nice visualizations of that depressing funding.
research.ssl.berkeley.edu/~mikewong/bl...
mikewong's astroblog
research.ssl.berkeley.edu
July 11, 2025 at 11:07 PM
I see we are talking about ROSES-2025 and Mike Wong’s analysis (which implies a dismal 5% funding rate for solar system science).
I will say, as depressing as the NASA funding outlook is, I appreciate these nice visualizations of that depressing funding.
research.ssl.berkeley.edu/~mikewong/bl...
I will say, as depressing as the NASA funding outlook is, I appreciate these nice visualizations of that depressing funding.
research.ssl.berkeley.edu/~mikewong/bl...
Reposted by Ben Black
Hi Goldschmidt! Catch my Berner Lecture at 2.30 today!
July 8, 2025 at 11:53 AM
Hi Goldschmidt! Catch my Berner Lecture at 2.30 today!
Some nice fresh looking tephra from Laki. Imagine these fragments quenching in fire fountains a kilometer high
Iridescent Strombolian fall, reticulite, and the crew.
July 5, 2025 at 9:22 PM
Some nice fresh looking tephra from Laki. Imagine these fragments quenching in fire fountains a kilometer high
Reposted by Ben Black
Great to see this finally out today! We show that the collapse of tropical vegetation during the Permo-Triassic extinction is a key driver of the long-term super-greenhouse climate that followed it.
Read more at www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Read more at www.nature.com/articles/s41...
July 2, 2025 at 12:11 PM
Great to see this finally out today! We show that the collapse of tropical vegetation during the Permo-Triassic extinction is a key driver of the long-term super-greenhouse climate that followed it.
Read more at www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Read more at www.nature.com/articles/s41...
If you are in Eastern Oregon today, stop by the C2C project’s booth at the Watershed Festival, where we explore how ancient volcanic eruptions have shaped climate and life.
Volcanoes, Lava, and Life—words to live by!
Featuring Leif Karlstrom, Lauren Adamo, &
@pedromonarrez.bsky.social
Volcanoes, Lava, and Life—words to live by!
Featuring Leif Karlstrom, Lauren Adamo, &
@pedromonarrez.bsky.social
June 27, 2025 at 6:50 PM
If you are in Eastern Oregon today, stop by the C2C project’s booth at the Watershed Festival, where we explore how ancient volcanic eruptions have shaped climate and life.
Volcanoes, Lava, and Life—words to live by!
Featuring Leif Karlstrom, Lauren Adamo, &
@pedromonarrez.bsky.social
Volcanoes, Lava, and Life—words to live by!
Featuring Leif Karlstrom, Lauren Adamo, &
@pedromonarrez.bsky.social
Reposted by Ben Black
Shocked to learn this incredibly tragic news - we have lost one of the most influential volcano scientists of our times.
RIP volcanologist Wes Hildreth, dead in a Nevada car crash south of Mina. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wes_Hil...
June 26, 2025 at 1:10 AM
Shocked to learn this incredibly tragic news - we have lost one of the most influential volcano scientists of our times.
Super valuable live posting of today’s NSF Earth Sciences informational session…
(Thanks for this @brandontbishop.bsky.social)
(Thanks for this @brandontbishop.bsky.social)
NSF Division of Earth Sciences Informational Webinar starting in less than a minute....
Will live post as things come up....
Will live post as things come up....
June 17, 2025 at 6:16 PM
Super valuable live posting of today’s NSF Earth Sciences informational session…
(Thanks for this @brandontbishop.bsky.social)
(Thanks for this @brandontbishop.bsky.social)