Quote:Active volcano discovered beneath Antarctic ice sheet could be contributing to rapidly melting glacier.
'Wild card' volcanic activity may add to climate change-induced sea level rise.
'An active volcano has been unexpectedly discovered beneath a rapidly vanishing glacier in Antarctica
by a team of scientists studying the melting ice shelf.
While rising temperatures in the polar oceans are still by far the biggest contributor to Antarctic melting,
volcanoes buried deep beneath the ice are a “wild card” that are likely also playing a role.
Scientists have warned this hidden source of heat must be taken into consideration when predicting
future sea level rise...'
Ring Gore, this is problematic. A natural inconvenience of a narrative.
Quote:'...West Antarctica is thought to contain well over 100 volcanoes, but finding them and understanding their
contribution to ice melting has proved difficult. During a survey conducted in 2014, a team of British and
American scientists stumbled across one of them while exploring the effect of warming ocean waters on
the ice shelf.
Chemical data from water samples revealed an active source of volcanic heat beneath the Pine Island
glacier, which is the fastest-melting glacier in the entire region. Though there have been no eruptions in
Antarctica for more than 2,000 years, the heat from this hidden volcano could be contributing to this rapid
decline.
“The west Antarctic ice sheet has existed for tens of thousands of years and it has happily coexisted with
volcanic activity happening within and underneath it,” Dr Rob Larter, a marine geophysicist at the British
Antarctic Survey told The Independent.
“Because of the episodic nature of volcanic activity it’s something that’s very difficult to factor into future
projections –it’s a wild card.” Measuring volcanism in Antarctica is problematic as the traditional means
of assessing volcanoes –heat and smoke –are difficult to assess in sources buried deep below the ice...'
See...? I told yer'! I'm waiting for a comment about Trump.
Quote:'...In their current study, published in the journal Nature Communications, a team led by Professor BriceThe Independent:
Loose of the University of Rhode Island measured a form of helium in the water they described as
“a fingerprint for volcanism”.
Recent analysis revealed that ice melting in Antarctica –particularly west Antarctica –is taking place
faster than ever before. The Pine Island glacier is particularly unstable, and made headlines in 2017
when it lost a chunk of ice four times the size of Manhattan.
“The discovery of volcanoes beneath the Antarctic ice sheet means that there is an additional source of
heat to melt the ice, lubricate its passage toward the sea, and add to the melting from warm ocean waters,”
said Professor Karen Heywood of the University of East Anglia, who was the expedition’s chief scientist.
“It will be important to include this in our efforts to estimate whether the Antarctic ice sheet might become
unstable and further increase sea level rise.” Dr Robert Bingham, a glaciologist at the University of Edinburgh
who has discovered dozens of Antarctic volcanoes, said the melting was probably not a major contributor.
“I don’t think people should look at volcanoes underneath west Antarctica as a serious concern for causing
instability,” he said. However, Dr Bingham, who was not involved in the new study, suggested that as climate
change-induced melting increases, volcanic activity could also increase.
“If you have got thinning ice cover over a volcanic region there is every reason to suggest it will increase
the volcanism,” he said. As the pressure exerted on the mantle by the glacier decreases and allows more
heat to escape, this could cause a feedback loop in which the melt rate continues to increase.
The researchers behind the new study said understanding the rate of sea level rise due to a melting Antarctica
will be crucial in the coming years, and monitoring the region’s volcanoes will be a key part in this process...'
Edith Head Gives Good Wardrobe.
