INQUIRY | SCHOLARSHIP, RESEARCH, AND CREATIVE WORK | REVIEW 2025 9 WHILE MANY ASSOCIATE volcanology with the dramatic spectacle of erupting lava and rugged fieldwork, geoscientist Meredith Townsend is approaching volcanoes from another perspective. Specializing in the internal processes that govern volcanic activity, Townsend’s research centers not on eruptions as they happen, but on the underlying systems that drive them — the movement of magma beneath the surface and the ways in which these dynamics interact with broader planetary forces. Part of Townsend’s research begins in regions where volcanoes have long gone quiet—extinct giants whose subterranean “plumbing systems” are now visible thanks to erosion. Townsend, an assistant professor of Earth and environmental sciences, studies regions where mountains have been worn down over millennia, revealing the hardened pathways once carved by ascending magma. Central to her research are geological structures known as dikes—fractures in the Earth’s crust filled with once-molten rock. Her work investigates the forces that control the direction of dike propagation and whether dikes ultimately reach the surface or stall underground. These questions are critical not only for understanding how volcanoes form but also for improving the accuracy of eruption forecasting. Combining geological mapping with petrographic analysis, Townsend’s team examines the alignment of crystals within ancient magma flows—microscopic, time-stamped records of how and where the molten rock once moved. This approach enables Townsend’s team to reconstruct the pathways of magmatic ascent and, importantly, to identify the factors that determine whether a magma flow breaches the surface. Many seismic events that signal potential eruptions ultimately result in “failed eruptions,” where magma remains trapped beneath the surface. A better understanding of magma transport processes could help reduce false alarms and more reliably identify genuine eruption threats. “One of the big questions at any potentially active volcano is where will the next eruptive vent form? This is an especially important question for the large stratovolcanoes we have in the western U.S., such as Mount St. Helens and Mount Rainier. We tend to think of eruptions as coming out the top of the volcano, but oftentimes volcanoes erupt at lower elevations, sometimes near the base or even not at the main center of the volcano at all. And a lot more people live at these lower elevations, so it’s definitely of interest to figure out why magma would go to the top versus out the sides.” Although Townsend began her career studying long-extinct volcanoes, her current research spans both deep geological time and urgent contemporary issues. In an ongoing project in southern Chile, she and a multidisciplinary team are investigating a potential feedback loop between volcanic activity and climate change. It is well established that volcanoes can influence climate by emitting gases such as carbon dioxide and sulfur dioxide, which can drive global warming or cooling. But Townsend is exploring the reverse relationship: Can climate change influence volcanic activity? At its heart, Townsend’s work remains focused on one deceptively simple question: what allows some magma to erupt, while the rest cools unseen beneath our feet? The implications of this question reach far beyond geology, touching everything from hazard mitigation to the story of Earth’s evolving atmosphere. ■ The large crater on the northern face of Mount St. Helens in Washington State was a result of the 1980 eruption. Beneath the Surface Prisma Bildagentur / Universal Images Group via Getty Images SPOT LIGHT
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