• Question: Do tides affect volcanoes?

    Asked by megansaurus to Davie, Gemma, James P, James V, Nuala on 28 Jun 2012.
    • Photo: James Verdon

      James Verdon answered on 28 Jun 2012:

      Hi megan,
      On the whole, not really, but they do a tiny bit. The motion of the tides around the planet do have a very small effect on the stresses in the earth’s crust. These are called earth tides:
      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earth_tide
      Stress can be important in controlling an eruption, so I guess in theory the small changes in stress could have a slight effect on volcanic eruption, but not a very important one I don’t think. Good question though!

    • Photo: James Pope

      James Pope answered on 28 Jun 2012:

      Hi megansaurus,

      I can’t add to James V’s answer, but what I would say is just wow, I’d just never thought of this at all, ever!

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