Detecting active volcanoes in the Antarctic

The radar survey showed that a rare eruption of volcanic eruptions about 2,000 years ago penetrated the Antarctic ice sheet and volcanic ash that spread throughout the icy land.

According to scientists, this is the biggest eruption in Antarctica in the recent 10,000 rounds. The continuous heat of the volcano may be melting the ice sheet's base and is partly responsible for the increased velocity of a nearby iceberg.

David Vaughan and Hugh Corr of the Antarctic Terrain Survey located in Cambridge - He noticed the signs of volcanic eruption with a cross-ice radar. This method helped to detect a layer of volcanic rock in the ice. Vaughan said: 'There must be a huge explosion because ash and steam can break the ice. Then the ash might have poured down on the ice surface. '

Over the centuries, the snow covered the ash and made it attach to the ice. Other studies have found indirect evidence that there are volcanoes on the surface of Antarctica and many scientists have discovered volcanic eruptions under Iceland's ice. But this study shows for the first time the direct evidence of a fairly recent eruption from under the ice that still affects today's ice sheets.

The study was published in the journal Nature Geoscience released January 20.

The impact of volcanoes

The separate ash layer in the ice is described as ' overwhelming '. Vaughan said scientists have never discovered anything like that. This layer of ash is buried in volcanic ice sheets deep in the ice, about 300 meters from the ice.

The depth and thin acid layer that appears in the ice core in isolated parts of the west of Antarctica indicate that the volcano was active around 300 BC. The heat from the volcano may have melted a large amount of ice around, the amount of water probably escaped to the sea in the bottom of the ice.

This volcano can still melt ice and melt ice to weaken the base of the ice sheet, accelerating nearby nearby Ice Island, making it one of the fastest icebergs in Antarctica. now on.

Vaughan said: 'The existence of volcanoes makes the problem we are studying become more complicated while we think it has been investigated in detail.'

The Southern Antarctic ice is drifting out to the ocean and this volcano can also contribute to that impact. But it is only a small part of the change because volcanoes only affect Pine Island. Global warming remains the main cause of ice loss in the west of Antarctica.

High resolution images sent from Landsat satellites provide a wide view of some Antarctic icebergs.New technology that allows penetration of Antarctic ice has provided evidence of a volcanic activity under this polar ice sheet 2,000 years ago.Scientists believe that the heat from the volcano is melting the base of the iceberg and contributing to a nearby iceberg floating faster.(Photo: LiveScience)

Hot area under ice

Magnús Guðmundsson, of the University of Iceland in Reykjavik, said the study was " quite convincing ".

In Iceland, volcanic activity often does not cause much damage to the ice. But the situation may be different for large ice sheets like Antarctica.'Finding a recent active volcano in Antarctica will help to understand whether volcanic activity affects the flow of ice and if so, how?'

Robin Bell, of the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory in Palisades, New York (not involved in the work), said: ' We don't really understand the impact of such a hot zone operating under the ice. 'But Robin believes scientists should be mindful of these effects. 'What is important now is that what happens under the ice is increasingly being studied.'