Fire and ice

VOLCANO, a word that strikes fear in the hearts of most. They even pose a sense of impending doom to those of us who don't live within dangerous distances from a smouldering crater. Ash clouds coupled with atmospheric cooling put our yearly summer holidays at risk as evidenced by the 2010 'icelandgate'.

Now we are at risk from volcanoes in another, less obvious fireball way. A volcano has recently been discovered through seismic profiling under a deep layer of antarctic ice which could cause a speed up the melting of antarctic ice and raise global sea level when it erupts.

Photograph of Mount Erubus, the most active volcano found on Antarctica
Source: National Geographic, by George Steinmetz

This volcano is covered by more than half a mile of ice, it is therefore doubtful that an eruption would breach the surface. The heat produced however is likely to increase melting at the base of  the glacier, causing millions of gallons of water to flow beneath the ice and affect stream flow (Lough, A, et.al., 2013). This water would act as a lubricant, increasing the speed with which the overlying ice flows into the sea. Whilst the subsequent sea level rise would be far from catastrophic, this is just yet another variable to be taken into account when thinking about future sea levels and our need for protection.


References
Lough, A, Et.al.. (2013). Seismic detection of an active subglacial magmatic complex in Marie Byrd Land, Antarctica. Nature Geoscience, doi:10.1038/ngeo1992.