Can ‘extinct’ volcanoes still erupt? A Greek peak holds surprising clues

Tiny crystals suggest magma can build underground for thousands of years

A photo of the Methana volcano

Researchers pieced together the eruption history of the Methana volcano. Here, brown igneous rocks from its last eruption, which was about 2,250 years ago, pile over limestone and extend into the sea.

Răzvan-Gabriel Popa/ETH Zurich

For more than 100,000 years, a Greek volcano lay silent. But deep underground, it was still growing.