Magma is a high-temperature, silicate-dominated molten or partially molten substance generated within Earth’s crust and mantle by decompression melting, flux melting, or heat transfer. It consists of a continuous liquid phase containing dissolved volatiles (e.g., H₂O, CO₂, SO₂), suspended crystals, and sometimes entrained xenoliths. Its physicochemical properties—temperature, viscosity, density, and volatile content—are governed by bulk composition (mafic to felsic), pressure, and crystallinity. Magma behaves as a complex multiphase fluid, undergoing differentiation by fractional crystallization, assimilation, and mixing, and on ascent can evolve into eruptible magma that degasses and solidifies to form igneous rocks.
Researchers from the University of Oxford have uncovered evidence that Mars once hosted enormous, Earth-like magmatic systems deep beneath its surface—despite the planet lacking the plate tectonics long thought necessary ...
Astrobiology
Jun 26, 2026
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New research led by Curtin University and QUT (Queensland University of Technology) has revealed that repeated asteroid impacts may have been the dominant force shaping early Earth, delivering vast amounts of heat into the ...
Earth Sciences
Jun 25, 2026
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It's 2158, and you're chugging away on your Ph.D. in planetary volcanology from the University of Utopia Planitia on Mars. Graduate students still get paid a sub-living wage, so you've been stuck eating freeze-dried ramen ...
Astrobiology
Jun 17, 2026
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115
In rocky planets such as Earth and Mars, the oxidation state of the mantle is thought to strongly influence the melting temperature of mantle materials (i.e., magma generation), the composition of volcanic gases, and ultimately ...
Planetary Sciences
Jun 16, 2026
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The Ontong Java Plateau in the western Pacific Ocean is the largest oceanic plateau on Earth, and its formation mechanism has not been well understood.
Earth Sciences
Jun 15, 2026
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Scientists have shed light on a thermal process in magma that may help explain why similar volcanic systems can produce very different eruptive behaviors.
Earth Sciences
Jun 8, 2026
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The plumbing systems of volcanoes are vast and complex. But they aren't consistent, even in the same volcano. A Cornell-led collaboration found very different mechanisms behind two historic eruptions of Mount Etna in Italy. ...
Earth Sciences
Jun 6, 2026
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785
4.5 billion years ago was an interesting time for Earth. The atmosphere was thick and what we would now think of as toxic. The moon, which was freshly formed, looks much more massive than it does today and faintly glows with ...
Astrobiology
Jun 1, 2026
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30
Some 350,000 years ago, the center of New Zealand's North Island appeared much different than the mountainous, scrub-covered landscape it is today. Amid a glacial period, temperatures were colder and conditions harsher. Vast ...
Earth Sciences
May 30, 2026
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196
A new atlas charts the global distribution of unusual, critical-metal-bearing igneous rocks, finding that they often form near the thick and ancient cores of the world's major continents. Researchers from Cambridge's Department ...
Earth Sciences
May 22, 2026
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