The State - News from Nov. 27, 1988

El Nino--the warming of Pacific Ocean waters blamed for droughts, typhoons and storms worldwide--may be caused by undersea volcanic lava flows, according to a study by U.S. Geological Survey researchers Herbert R. Shaw and James G. More in Menlo Park. The study, published in the current issue of EOS, the publication of the American Geophysical Union, said the lava flows erupting through rifts in the earth’s suboceanic crust may transfer much of their intense heat to the waters surrounding them. According to the theory, the warming of the water causes a drop in air pressure at the surface that in turn weakens the normal trade winds. The result is a dramatic shift in normal weather patterns.