Published Mar 16, 2023 by David Bressan

Earth and Venus share many similarities. Both are rocky planets of roughly similar size and likely Venus has an inner core and partially molten mantle. Cone-shaped mountains and solidified basalt flows show that there was also widespread volcanic activity on the planet's surface at some point in the planet's past.

But unlike Earth, with over 1,300 erupting volcanoes, no active volcanic processes have ever been observed on Venus. Until now.

Scientists made the discovery after poring over archival radar images of Venus (the thick Venusian atmosphere makes any direct observation impossible) taken more than 30 years ago, in the 1990s, by NASA’s Magellan mission. The images revealed a volcanic vent changing shape and increasing significantly in size in less than a year.

“NASA’s selection of the VERITAS mission inspired me to look for recent volcanic activity in Magellan data,” said Robert Herrick, a research professor at the University of Alaska Fairbanks and member of the VERITAS science team, who led the search of the archival data. “I didn’t really expect to be successful, but after about 200 hours of manually comparing the images of different Magellan orbits, I saw two images of the same region taken eight months apart exhibiting telltale geological changes caused by an eruption.”

Published Mar 16, 2023 by Daniel Stolte

A detailed "body scan" of Malaspina Glacier, one of Alaska's most iconic glaciers, revealed that its bulk lies below sea level and is undercut by channels that may allow ocean water to gain access, should its coastal barrier erode. This makes the glacier more vulnerable to seawater intrusion than previously thought and may cause it to retreat faster than predicted.

The findings, published by University of Arizona researchers in the Journal of Geophysical Research, underscore the fragility of a very large glacial system that could lead to the loss of a significant volume of ice and National Park Service land and would contribute a measurable volume to global sea level rise.

The observed expanse of lagoons across Malaspina's foreland over the past few decades is largely what alerted a team of researchers including Holt to the fact that the coastal barrier in front of Malaspina Glacier is wasting away, raising questions about the glacier's stability. The team, which consists of researchers from the UArizona, the University of Alaska Fairbanks, the University of Montana and the National Park Service, was awarded a grant by the National Science Foundation to further investigate the potential demise of the world's largest piedmont glacier.

Published Mar 16, 2023

The Pretty Rocks landslide, spurred by greater warmth and rainfall, will force Denali National Park's main access road to close at the halfway point in 2023 for the second full summer.

To help park managers plan for and mitigate such events, UAF scientists assessed future landslide risks along road corridors in Denali and other Alaska parks.

“Park managers were interested in looking at park climate data to figure out how much warming has occurred and what the future might bring,” explained Pam Sousanes, a physical scientist with the agency in Fairbanks.

Sousanes turned to Rick Lader and a team of climate modelers at the UAF International Arctic Research Center. 

“In Denali we had data from sites that were relatively close to the landslide area and we were able to determine that the average annual temperatures were approaching, and in some cases, exceeding the thawing threshold of zero degrees Celsius [32 Fahrenheit],” said Sousanes. “We wanted some way to incorporate those into really good downscaled climate projections, and we didn't have the skills to do that. So we reached out.”

Lader and his team used the data from park weather stations to fine-tune projections from global climate models. The International Arctic Research Center provides this dynamical downscaling service to Alaska’s decision-makers so they can incorporate climate data into local planning. 

“We’re right on the cusp in Denali and Wrangell-St. Elias. These changes are happening now, and they're happening fast,” said Sousanes. “And even though they’re out in the future for Gates of the Arctic, we’re still moving in that direction.” 

Sousanes said the landslide risk assessment will pay off years down the road as Alaska park managers plan for new and existing infrastructure to stand up in a changing climate.