Chapter 1.4 Antarctic volcanism: active volcanism overview

• Published in: Geological Society, London, Memoirs
• Main Author: Geyer, Adelina
• Other Authors: Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (España)
• Format: Book Part
• Language: unknown
• Published: Geological Society of London 2021
• Subjects: Volcanology; Antarctic; POLARCSIC; Antarc*; Antarctica
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10261/247206; https://doi.org/10.1144/M55-2020-12; https://doi.org/10.13039/501100003329

In the last two centuries, demographic expansion and extensive urbanization of volcanic areas have increased the exposure of oursociety to volcanic hazards. Antarctica is no exception. During the last decades, the permanent settlement and seasonal presence of scientists,technicians, tourists and logistical personnel close to active volcanoes in the south polar region have increased notably. This has led to an esca-lation in the number of people and the amount of infrastructure exposed to potential eruptions. This requires advancement of our knowledge ofthe volcanic and magmatic history of Antarctic active volcanoes, significant improvement of the monitoring networks, and development of long-term hazard assessments and vulnerability analyses to carry out therequiredmitigation actions,and to elaborateon the most appropriate responseplans to reduce loss of life and infrastructure during a future volcanic crisis. This chapter provides a brief summary of the active volcanic systemsin Antarctica, highlighting their main volcanological features, which monitoring systems are deployed (if any), and recent (i.e. Holocene and/orhistorical) eruptive activity or unrest episodes. To conclude, some notes about the volcanic hazard assessments carried out so far on south polarvolcanoes are also included, along with recommendations for specific actions and ongoing research on active Antarctic volcanism. This research received funding from Ministerio de Economía, Industria y Competitividad, Gobierno de España grants (POS-VOLDEC (CTM2016-79617-P) (AEI/FEDER, UE); PEVOLDEC(CTM2011-13578-E/ANT); and VOLCLIMA (CGL2015-72629-EXP)) and Ramón y Cajal contract (RYC-2012-11024). This researchis part of POLARCSIC activities.