Michael Manga

Professor; Gary and Donna Freedman Chair in Undergraduate Education; Garniss H. Curtis Endowed Chair in Earth and Planetary Science

Dept of Earth and Planetary Science

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(510) 643-8532

(510) 643-9980

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Research Bio

Michael Manga is the Gary and Donna Freedman Chair in Undergraduate Education, Gary and Donna Freedman Chair in Undergraduate Education; Garniss H. Curtis Endowed Chair in Earth and Planetary Science and a professor in the Department of Earth and Planetary Science. His current research interests focusses human-induced earthquakes, the behavior of geysers, water on Mars, and volcano science.

He received his B.S. in geophysics from McGill University in 1990, his M.S. in engineering sciences from Harvard University in 1992, and as his Ph.D in Earth and Planetary Science also from Harvard University in 1994.

Research Expertise and Interest

hydrogeology, fluid mechanics, geomorphology, earth & planetary science, geological processes involving fluids, including problems in physical volcanology, geodynamics, dynamics of suspensions, flow & transport in porous materials, percolation theory

In the News

Ancient Beaches Testify to Long-Ago Ocean on Mars

A Chinese rover finds underground evidence of beach sediments likely deposited 4 billion years ago.

the brick-red planet Mars with white caps at poles

Scientists Find Oceans of Water on Mars. It’s Just Too Deep to Tap.

Seismic data from NASA's Insight lander indicate deep, porous rock filled with liquid water.

whitewashed buildings overlook blue sea with mountains in distance

Historic Santorini Eruption Pales in Comparison to Ancient Blowout

UC Berkeley researchers discovers evidence for huge underwater eruption 500,000 years ago, part of a still-active volcanic arc in the Aegean.

Reawakened geyser does not foretell Yellowstone volcanic eruptions

When Yellowstone National Park’s Steamboat Geyser reawakened in 2018 after three and a half years of dormancy, some speculated that it was a harbinger of possible explosive volcanic eruptions within the surrounding geyser basin. A new study by geoscientists who study geysers throws cold water on that idea, finding few indications of underground magma movement that would be a prerequisite to an eruption. The geysers sit just outside the nation’s largest and most dynamic volcanic caldera, but no major eruptions have occurred in the past 70,000 years.

UC Berkeley Professors Named AAAS Fellows

Honorees recognized for achievements in heavy element chemistry, tectonics, microbial photosynthesis, geological processes, particle physics, and biomolecular engineering

Five Berkeley faculty members elected fellows of the AAAS

Five Berkeley faculty members have been named fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), an honor bestowed upon the society’s members by their peers. The five are among 443 members awarded the honor because of their scientifically or socially distinguished efforts to advance science or its applications. Founded in 1848, the AAAS is the world’s largest general scientific society and publisher of Science and five other journals.

National Academy of Sciences Adds Five Berkeley Faculty Members to its Ranks

UC Berkeley has more than 135 faculty members who are members of the National Academy of Sciences

Illustration of early ocean in Mars called Arabia, along with orange land

Mars’ oceans formed early, possibly aided by massive volcanic eruptions

A new scenario seeking to explain how Mars’ putative oceans came and went over the last 4 billion years implies that the oceans formed several hundred million years earlier and were not as deep as once thought.

How X-rays Helped to Solve Mystery of Floating Rocks

It’s true—some rocks can float on water for years at a time. And now scientists know how they do it, and what causes them to eventually sink.

Study links Texas earthquakes to wastewater injection

A new study confirms that earthquakes in America’s oil country are being triggered by significant injections of wastewater below the surface of the Earth.

Did Dinosaur-Killing Asteroid Trigger Largest Lava Flows on Earth?

The asteroid that slammed into the ocean off Mexico 66 million years ago and killed off the dinosaurs probably rang the Earth like a bell, triggering volcanic eruptions around the globe, according to a team of UC Berkeley geophysicists. The impact may have re-ignited the eruptions at the Deccan Traps, initiating the largest lava flows on Earth.

Strongest evidence to date links exploration well to Lusi mud volcano

New data provide the strongest evidence to date that the world's biggest mud volcano, which killed 13 people in 2006 and so far has displaced 30,000 people in East Java, Indonesia, was not caused by an earthquake, according to an international scientific team that includes researchers from Durham University and the UC Berkeley.

Featured in the Media

Please note: The views and opinions expressed in these articles are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or positions of UC Berkeley.

August 12, 2024

Underground reservoir on Mars could fill oceans on the planet’s surface, study finds

CNN Science

Ashley Strickland, CNN

“Establishing that there is a big reservoir of liquid water provides some window into what the climate was like or could be like,” said study co-author Michael Manga, a professor of earth and planetary science. This study was featured on Berkeley News.

FullStory

January 6, 2021

Yellowstone's Reawakened Geyser Won't Spark a Volcanic 'Big One'

LiveScience

Laura Geggel

A geyser hiding under Yellowstone National Park recently reawakened. But don't worry: That doesn't mean the supervolcano beneath the park will erupt soon, a new study finds. "Hydrothermal explosions basically hot water exploding because it comes into contact with hot rock are one of the biggest hazards in Yellowstone," study senior author Michael Manga, a professor of Earth and planetary sciences at the University of California, Berkeley, said in a statement. "The reason that they are problematic is that they are very hard to predict; it is not clear if there are any precursors that would allow you to provide warning." For more on this, see our press release at Berkeley News. Stories on this topic have appeared in several sources, including Forbes,Fox News, the Billings Gazette, the Idaho Statesman, NPR and SciTech Daily.