The secrets of climate change and
the formation of giant lava deposits
on Mars may soon be revealed to a
team investigating lava
flows from Mount Etna,
using sensing technology
developed for industrial
use.

Harry Pinkerton,
Professor of Physical
Volcanology and Head of
Environmental Science at the
University of Lancaster analyses the
rheological properties of molten lava
using equipment he has developed
based on a torque sensor from by
Sensor Technology.

Sensing and data capture is done
through a robust Torqsense unit, so
sensitive that it detects any
slight change in dynamics.

The non-contact transducer
uses Surface Acoustic
Waves to create frequency
dependent strain gauges to
measure the change in
resonant frequency.