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)
Posted on 11/20/2013 6:03:18 PM PST by SunkenCiv
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... 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 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... 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.
(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...
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)
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Volcanoes are the zits of the world. Is this an arc chain or subduction job?
Who knew?
Like what Arthur Gordon Pym ran into.
Mt. Erebus puffs...So what’s the big deal?
Am I missing something?
SPA-WO ‘83-’84
...I guess this is just the start of summer research reports.
There’s likely some seriously amazing stuff way down under those miles of ice. Volcanic activity... A warm spot... Couldn’t it melt out a gargantuan cathedral type cavity deep below the surface? Or a whole series of them? They’d have strange and ugly concentrations of gases, and liquid water with lord-knows-what chemistry happening in there. Life? Maybe?
I’m also curious to see what sorts of critters might be living in that huge lake that’s been cut off from the rest of the world for millions of years, covered by miles of ice.
The hot springs on Antarctic's Deception Island is a tourist destination.
Back in 2008, wattsupwiththat.com had a big article on it.
Map of Antarctic volcanoes:
Is there not a law or requirement - I mean, can we get every gorebal warmer to get down there stat to investigate this thing?
Discovery.com had an article in 2012 on the odd critters inhabiting the antarctic hot springs, with pics.
Cousteau went to Deception Bay, what, 40 years ago, I think one of his sons died shooting some underwater footage there. Regardless, they filmed the cemetery left by (I think it was) the Chileans, who’d claimed the area despite the UN agreement about Antarctica, started to colonize it, then there was a little volcanic gas episode, a bunch of the colonists died, and they just packed up and got out, leaving the structures behind, the only real ghost town on the continent.
I hear Pat Benatar was playing a concert in Antarctica there.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OzKin-uiBwY
It’s interesting stuff. Now take those curious species, and imagine what might happen if they had been isolated from the rest of the world for a couple hundred million years. The possibilities are fantastic.
Lake Vostok? The Russians contaminated it while trying to get a pristine sample, brilliant freakin’ work.
That “cathedral” idea is highly intriguing btw.
Wow, he’s a genius, eh? ;’)
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