EIGHTY-THREE years ago, the Alaskan wilderness was rocked by an enormous volcanic eruption - perhaps the most violent that the world has experienced this century. Today, shock waves still ripple from Katmai National Park and Preserve on the Alaskan Peninsula in southwest Alaska - not from the eruption itself but from a decision by the US government last year that effectively barred scientists from studying the geophysical aftermath of the eruption.
The decision left scientists deeply puzzled. Environmentalists had fought the geophysicists' proposal for research drilling at the Novarupta volcano in the pristine Alaskan wilderness. Would scientists now be faced with similar opposition to research in other untouched settings, such as Antarctica and the deep oceans?
By all accounts, Novarupta is a truly wondrous natural phenomenon. The volcano, previously unknown, formed without warning on June 6, 1912. It erupted for 60 long hours, spewing 12 cubic kilometres of magma. The ...
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