Results 1 to 2 of 2
Thread Information
Users Browsing this Thread
There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)
-
11-17-2013, 07:40 PM #1
Volcano discovery hints at fire below ice in Antarctica
Volcano discovery hints at fire below ice in Antarctica
- Mt. Sidley is the youngest of a chain of volcanoes looms over the ice sheet in Marie Byrd Land in western Antarctica.(Douglas Wiens / Washington University, St. Louis / December 11, 2011)
- Ancient undersea volcanoes off Antarctica hold climate secret
- Oldest air in the world may be trapped deep in the Antarctic ice sheet
- Extreme life: Microbes grown from Antarctic lake locked under ice
- An unexpected lesson in Antarctic ice melt
- Antarctica's Lake Vostok holds hidden menagerie of microbial life
By Geoffrey Mohan
November 17, 2013, 12:20 p.m.
A volcano may be stirring more than a half-mile beneath a major ice sheet in Antarctica, raising the possibility of faster base melting that could ultimately affect climate.
Seismologists working in a mountainous area of Marie Byrd Land in western Antarctica detected a swarm of low-magnitude earthquakes in 2010 and 2011 similar to those that can precede volcanic eruptions, according to a study published online Sunday in Nature Geoscience.
The area of activity lies close to the youngest in a chain of volcanoes that formed over several million years, and the characteristics and depth of the seismic events are consistent with those found in volcanic areas of Alaska’s Aleutian Islands, the Pacific Northest, Hawaii and Mt. Pinatubo in the Philippines, the study concludes.
The tight focus of the 1,370 tremors and their deep, long-period waves helped researchers rule out ice quakes, glacial motion or tectonic activity as causes. So, too, did their apparent depth: At 15-25 miles beneath the sub-glacial surface, they are close to the local boundary between Earth’s crust and mantle.
“At first I had no idea it was something volcanic, and then, as I started putting together all the pieces, it started looking more and more like I’d found a volcano,” said study coauthor Amanda Lough, a seismology graduate student at Washington University in St. Louis.
Chances of a massive fire-and-ice catastrophe are slim, however.
Clusters with these wave characteristics have sometimes preceded eruptions, but not always, Lough said. And it would take a staggering release of energy to punch through more a half-mile of ice, she noted.
“Does this mean that something is going to be happening in the next 20 years or so? I have no idea,” she said. “It’s not something that’s going to cause major issues. You’d have to have a huge, huge eruption.”
Still, even a small eruption could increase base melting and lubricate the ice sheet. “If you have a future eruption it’s going to increase the heat flow, so you’re going to have more melting in the surrounding area, which will then lead to more water at the base of the ice sheet and cause the overlying ice flow to increase in velocity because it’s been lubricated.”
How such melting could affect the vast ice sheet remains unknown.
The data came from seismic equipment used to study the interaction of ice with the crust in Antarctica, part of a broader program studying polar ice caps. That data were collected in 2010-2011, but most of the events analyzed occurred in two swarms during the first two months of 2010 and in March 2011.
Radar imaging also revealed a buried ash layer believed to be from an eruption of Mt. Waesche about 8,000 years ago. There also is evidence of small flows of magma on the sub-ice topography, and the surface closest to the swarm appears to be a mound of volcanic material, according to the study.
Lough, who expects to complete her PhD work next year, has been bowled over by reaction to the discovery. “This is my first paper and people keep calling me wanting to know about it,” she said. “This is going to be one of the chapters in my thesis -- probably the most exciting one.”
The study was led by geophysicist and seismologist Douglas Wiens of Washington University, who is supervising Lough's thesis. Other research team members hailed from UC Santa Cruz, Penn State University, New Mexico Tech, Colorado State University, the University of Texas at Austin, Central Washington University and Ohio State.
http://www.latimes.com/science/scien...,6645564.story
Last edited by JohnDoe2; 11-17-2013 at 07:46 PM.
NO AMNESTY
Don't reward the criminal actions of millions of illegal aliens by giving them citizenship.
Sign in and post comments here.
Please support our fight against illegal immigration by joining ALIPAC's email alerts here https://eepurl.com/cktGTn
-
11-17-2013, 07:56 PM #2
Realtime Coverage
Could volcanoes be causing Antarctic ice loss?
AFP - 5 hours ago
Paris — Accelerating ice loss from the Antarctic icesheet could be due in part to active volcanoes under the frozen continent's eastern part, a study said on Sunday. From 2002 to 2011, the average annual rate of Antarctic icesheet loss increased from about 30 ...
Could volcanoes be causing Antarctic ice loss?
Straits Times - 1 hour ago
Volcano discovery hints at fire below ice in Antarctica
Los Angeles Times - 3 hours ago
New volcano discovered under Antarctic ice
Examiner.com - 4 hours ago
Volcano discovered smoldering under a kilometer of ice in West Antarctica
Washington University in St. Louis News - 5 hours ago
Volcanic Rumblings Under Antarctic Ice
Discovery News - 5 hours ago
Your preferred source
Volcano discovery hints at fire below ice in Antarctica
Los Angeles Times - 3 hours ago
A volcano may be stirring more than a half-mile beneath a major ice sheet in Antarctica, raising the possibility of faster base melting that could ultimately affect climate. Seismologists working in a mountainous area of Marie Byrd Land in western Antarctica ...
In Depth
Volcano under Antarctic ice may erupt, accelerate melting
NBCNews.com - 5 hours ago
Members of the research team that discovered the under-ice volcano drags equipment to install remote seismic and GPS stations at Mount Sidley in Antarctica. A newly discovered volcano rumbling beneath nearly a mile of ice in Antarctica will almost certainly ...
See all 12 articles »NO AMNESTY
Don't reward the criminal actions of millions of illegal aliens by giving them citizenship.
Sign in and post comments here.
Please support our fight against illegal immigration by joining ALIPAC's email alerts here https://eepurl.com/cktGTn
Here We Go Again: Hundreds of Illegals Storm Border Fence in El...
04-18-2024, 12:26 PM in illegal immigration News Stories & Reports