Giant volcanoes lurk beneath Antarctic ice

[rangerrebew]

Giant volcanoes lurk beneath Antarctic ice
The expanse of buried volcanoes raises questions about the future of the ice sheet
Beth Geiger
Jan 5, 2018 — 6:45 am EST
 
Lurking beneath Antarctica’s ice are 91 volcanoes that until now no one knew existed. This may be one of the most extensive volcanic regions on Earth. The discovery isn’t, however, just a fun factoid about the planet’s southernmost continent. It’s got scientists wondering just how active these volcanoes are. For instance, their volcanic heat might speed the shrinking of Antarctica’s already endangered ice.

https://www.sciencenewsforstudents.org/article/giant-volcanoes-lurk-beneath-antarctic-ice
Max Van Wyk de Vries is an undergraduate geology student at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland. He was curious about what Antarctica looked like under all its ice. He found data on the internet that described the underlying land. “I wasn’t really looking for anything in particular when I first started,” he recalls. “I was just interested in seeing what the land looked like under the ice.”

[rangerrebew]

I'm sure warming alarmists would consider volcanoes part of "global warming."

[Joe Wooten]

their volcanic heat might speed the shrinking of Antarctica’s already endangered ice.

 

As NASA photos show the ice growing, not shrinking....

A warm world is much better than a cool one. We still have not even come close to the warm period right after the last ice age when temperatures were >5F higher than now.

[truth_seeker]

I am just curious. With known oil on the Alaskan North Slope, has anybody searched for oil in Greenland?

[Joe Wooten]

I am just curious. With known oil on the Alaskan North Slope, has anybody searched for oil in Greenland?

Now that would be a real test of drilling technology. In most of the island you'd have to drill down through 2 miles of ice before you hit the soil and started drilling through rock. The pad for the rig would have to be well insulated to keep the whole rig from sinking through the ice and keeping it supplied would be an interesting exercise in arctic logistics.

But I bet there's oil and gas there.

[thackney]

Now that would be a real test of drilling technology. In most of the island you'd have to drill down through 2 miles of ice before you hit the soil and started drilling through rock. The pad for the rig would have to be well insulated to keep the whole rig from sinking through the ice and keeping it supplied would be an interesting exercise in arctic logistics.

But I bet there's oil and gas there.

Not to mention the glacier is moving relative to the rock.

On the Alaskan North Slope, 5~10' of gravel separate the modules from the permafrost.  Permanent structures (not drill rigs) are either then elevated to let wind blow underneath, or large heat sinks are piped underneath buildings with slab foundations to keep the heat from sinking in deep.  Lessons learned the hard way from the 1980s.

[thackney]

I am just curious. With known oil on the Alaskan North Slope, has anybody searched for oil in Greenland?

Greenland Will Offer Oil, Gas Concessions Next Year {Offshore}
https://www.epmag.com/greenland-will-offer-oil-gas-concessions-next-year-1666346
October 31, 2017

Greenland will offer oil and gas concessions off its west coast next year, its mineral resources minister said in an interview Oct. 31, as the self-ruled region of Denmark tries to get a flagging exploration program back on track.

The concessions will be in Davis Strait and Baffin Bay, said Mute Bourup Egede, speaking to Reuters during an annual Greenland Day event at the Danish embassy in Beijing. Both bodies of water are between Greenland and Canada.

Egede put the estimated resources off Greenland's west coast at about 17 billion barrels of oil equivalent (Bboe), with another 32 Bboe on the east coast. It is unclear whether the resources are mostly oil or gas, he said....