Targeting some of the most dramatic geologic phenomena, SESE researchers, led by Amanda Clarke, Jon Fink, Ron Greeley, Rick Hervig, Stan Williams, and many others, explore the physics and chemistry of volcanoes on Earth and other planets. SESE scientists aim to better understand the dynamics of volcanic eruptions on Earth and other planets by studying subsurface transport of magma, emplacement of lava flows and pyroclastic deposits, the basic distribution of chemically distinctive lava flows in volcanic complexes (using remote sensing data), eruption precursors, and the rheology and chemistry of silicate melts.