Probing the underbelly of a supervolcano.

The article looks at the factors responsible for the behavior of different volcanoes. It discusses research by seismologist Hsin-Hua Huang and colleagues, reported in the current issue, on the use of seismic tomography to image the Yellowstone supervolcano in order to assess the volume of magma beneath it and thereby understand its high volume of escaping gases. Topics include the role of magma reservoirs in the Earth's crust in leading to volcanic supereruptions.