Volcano Wakes Up After 700,000 Years

Late last year, satellite instruments recorded a series of subtle changes in a mountainous region near the Iran-Pakistan border. The movements were not dramatic or even visible to the eye, but they piqued the interest of geophysicists.

The location is far from urban centers and there are no instruments on the ground. Yet a pattern had formed over several months that point to a shift originating within a long-quiet volcano known as Taftan. Located in southeastern Iran, Taftan had shown no signs of activity for hundreds of thousands of years.

Between July 2023 and May 2024, Taftan’s summit rose by 3.5 inches and remained stable over that period, with no sign of reversal. A study modelled the source of the uplift at a depth of 490 to 630 meters. The deformation implies that pressure is accumulating in the form of hot fluids and gases circulating beneath the surface.

The uplift is not due to rainfall, seismic activity, or other external events. The cause is probably driven by either gas accumulation in rock fractures or a pulse of magma releasing volatiles into subsurface layers.

Taftan is one of Iran’s tallest volcanoes. Its summit vents have emitted sulfur-rich gas for decades. However, no eruptive activity has occurred in recent geological time.

In 1902, reports refer to intense gas emissions with a night-time glow visible from surrounding areas. A lava flow was reported in 1993, but it may have been molten sulfur rather than lava.

Rock samples indicate the last magma-related activity occurred 700,000 to 800,000 years ago. Volcanologists stress that long periods of dormancy are not unusual. Many volcanoes have been inactive for millennia before showing surface changes. Taftan is now considered a dormant but dynamic system. Ground changes may precede more activity, even without a visible eruption.

Taftan sits in a remote province that is arid, sparsely inhabited, and has no permanent scientific monitoring infrastructure. There’s no seismometers, GPS stations or gas analyzers. That leaves only satellites to fill in the gaps. The creation of a local monitoring network to measure sulfur dioxide, carbon dioxide, and water vapor emissions would help determine if the pressure is stabilizing or increasing.

The current uplift alone is not an indicator of imminent eruption. However, the movement indicates the type of pressure build-up that can lead to steam-driven events triggered when superheated water rapidly expands near the surface. Such events don’t typically involve lava but can eject ash and gasses. They are unpredictable, occurring with little or no warning.

Taftan’s summit vents are active. Sometimes, residents of Khash, located 50 kilometers away, report sulfur odors. The possibly not-dormant-anymore volcano is being watched.

 

https://www.msn.com/en-us/weather/topstories/remote-volcano-wakes-up-after-700-000-years-of-complete-silence/ar-AA1ThQEL?ocid=hpmsn&cvid=695447e377f4450e9d6f669804a4258d&ei=45

New Forms of Life

Late last year, it was reported that scientists had discovered new forms of life inside human bodies. They don’t match anything biology has classified.

A new class of RNA molecules was discovered inside bacteria that lives in the human body. They are circular genetic structures called obelisks. They differ from known viruses and bacteria. They appear to represent an unclassified category of RNA.

The discovery came from an analysis of genetic material obtained from microbial communities inside humans. Obelisks may be present across global populations. But their exact function is unclear.

These RNA entities are simple. They don’t encode proteins. They don’t form protective protein shells. They consist of short loops of RNA that replicate, although how remains a mystery.

More than 3,000 types of obelisks have been identified using computational tools designed to detect circular RNA structures in large genomic libraries. Researchers detected closed-loop RNA structures that lack protein-coding regions. As such, the molecules resemble viroids, which are also non-coding, circular RNAs. However, viroids infect plants, but obelisks are only found in human-associated bacteria.

Many of the obelisks are embedded in bacterial genomes, which suggests they may have adapted to specific bacterial hosts. No immediate health effects have been linked to obelisks, but their residence in bacteria that support digestion, immunity, and other function point to future research on the matter.

Obelisks don’t conform to definitions of viruses, plasmids, or other mobile genetic elements. They fall outside microbial categories.

The implications extend into evolutionary biology, particularly in the origins of RNA-based life. Some theories suggest early life may have relied solely on self-replicating RNA. Obelisks could offer insight into these early evolutionary stages.

Obelisks do exhibit genetic diversity. Different variants appear in specific regions of the body. This may reflect host-specific adaptations. It is unknown if they have any regulatory or ecological function in the microbiome.

There is scientific interest in non-coding and circular RNAs, which play roles in gene regulation and cellular function in plants and animals. Obelisks are different in that they seem to operate independently, with no participation in protein synthesis or cellular regulation.

The discovery shows that modern metagenomic-sequencing can detect molecular entities that don’t fit into established classifications.

Scientists expect further discoveries of novel RNA forms with unknown roles. It is not known if obelisks are ancient relics or modern molecular parasites. Research continues.

 

https://www.msn.com/en-us/health/medical/scientists-discover-new-forms-of-life-inside-human-bodies-that-don-t-match-anything-biology-has-classified/ar-AA1T7ARd?ocid=hpmsn&cvid=695189ccf8ea491b9920af677646366e&ei=56