91 volcanoes are newly discovered from under the Antarctic ice, in the world's largest volcanic area

ByDin Muhammad Sumon

Researchers at the University of Edinburgh of Scotland have revealed that the world's largest volcanic area is 2 km below the ice sheet covering the Antarctic.

A new volcanic province: an inventory of subglacial volcanoes in West Antarctica | Geological Society, London, Special Publications
http://sp.lyellcollection.org/content/early/2017/05/26/SP461.7

Scientists discover 91 volcanoes below Antarctic ice sheet | World news | The Guardian
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/aug/12/scientists-discover-91-volcanos-antarctica

Antarctica is home to considerably more volcanoes than last thought - The Verge
https://www.theverge.com/2017/8/13/16140266/antarctica-volcanoes-science-geology-ice-sheet-study


The ice sheets covering the Antarctic are thick and can not directly confirm the existence of a volcano. Therefore, researchers created the elevation model of the volcano digitally using radar imaging. In order to check whether the confirmed relief is a volcano, we set criteria for the ratio of height to width, and checked the digital model from various angles and made a discrimination.

As a result of the investigation, the research team found 178 conical structures from the area named "West Antarctic Rift System". I concluded that 138 of them are volcanoes. The volcano found was a height of 100 m to 3850 m, and 91 out of 138 were not confirmed so far. In addition, this area is calculated to have one volcano at about 12,400 square kilometers, and it is expected to become one of the largest volcanic areas in the world.

The distribution of the volcano found was as follows.


According to researchers, if one of the volcanoes found erupted, there is a possibility that the whole ice sheet in the western Antarctica will become unstable, although the ejecta will not blow up to the ground. As the volcano erupts, the ice sheet melts and the speed with which the ice flows out into the sea increases, so there is concern that the sea level of the earth will rise. The research team touched on the fact that the glaciers in Iceland are affected by the heat of the volcano and points out the possibility that global warming will activate volcanic activity by losing thick ice in Antarctica doing.


On the other hand, it is unknown whether the discovered volcano is in active state at the time of article creation. Based on this research, it is said that there is a possibility that the volcano may be active in the future, but it is said that these volcanoes are influencing the state of the current ice sheet It is not thought.

Robert Bingham, the one who conducted the survey, said, "I did not expect to find so many volcanoes, there were about three times as many volcanoes as were thought to be in the western part of Antarctica We think that there will be more volcanoes under the Ross shelf ice.This region is from East Africa where numerous active volcanoes are concentrated like Mount Nieleagongo, Kilimanjaro, Rongonotto etc. It is also big, it is likely to be the most dense volcanic area in the world. "