Buried Volcanic Vent Heats Up Antarctica's Fastest-Melting Glacier
By Mindy Weisberger, Senior Writer | June 27, 2018 06:19am ET
What lurks beneath western Antarctica's frozen surface? Volcanic heat, according to a new study. And that extra warmth might be speeding up the disappearance of the Pine Island Glacier, the continent's fastest-melting glacier.
Chilly Antarctica hides much under thick layers of ice, which extend for miles over its bedrock. Scientists previously found a volcanic rift system stretching under West Antarctica and into the Ross Sea, with as many as 138 volcanoes identified. However, those volcanoes have been dormant for 2,200 years, and evidence that turned up near the Pine Island Glacier pointed to recent magma activity deep underground, the researchers reported.
https://www.livescience.com/62924-volcanic-heat-under-antarctica-glacier.html
