Evidence of an active volcanic heat source beneath the Pine Island Glacier
Tectonic landforms reveal that the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) lies atop a major volcanic rift system. However, identifying subglacial volcanism is challenging. Here we show geochemical evidence of a volcanic heat source upstream of the fast-melting Pine Island Ice Shelf, documented by seawater...
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Online Access: | http://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/520450/ https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/520450/1/Loose.pdf https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-018-04421-3 |
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ftnerc:oai:nora.nerc.ac.uk:520450 2023-05-15T13:49:35+02:00 Evidence of an active volcanic heat source beneath the Pine Island Glacier Loose, Brice Naveira Garabato, Alberto C. Schlosser, Peter Jenkins, William J. Vaughan, David Heywood, Karen J. 2018-06 text http://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/520450/ https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/520450/1/Loose.pdf https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-018-04421-3 en eng Springer Nature https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/520450/1/Loose.pdf Loose, Brice; Naveira Garabato, Alberto C.; Schlosser, Peter; Jenkins, William J.; Vaughan, David orcid:0000-0002-9065-0570 Heywood, Karen J. 2018 Evidence of an active volcanic heat source beneath the Pine Island Glacier. Nature Communications, 9 (1), 2431. 9, pp. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-018-04421-3 <https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-018-04421-3> cc_by_4 CC-BY Publication - Article PeerReviewed 2018 ftnerc https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-018-04421-3 2023-02-04T19:46:47Z Tectonic landforms reveal that the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) lies atop a major volcanic rift system. However, identifying subglacial volcanism is challenging. Here we show geochemical evidence of a volcanic heat source upstream of the fast-melting Pine Island Ice Shelf, documented by seawater helium isotope ratios at the front of the Ice Shelf cavity. The localization of mantle helium to glacial meltwater reveals that volcanic heat induces melt beneath the grounded glacier and feeds the subglacial hydrological network crossing the grounding line. The observed transport of mantle helium out of the Ice Shelf cavity indicates that volcanic heat is supplied to the grounded glacier at a rate of ~ 2500 ± 1700 MW, which is ca. half as large as the active Grimsvötn volcano on Iceland. Our finding of a substantial volcanic heat source beneath a major WAIS glacier highlights the need to understand subglacial volcanism, its hydrologic interaction with the marine margins, and its potential role in the future stability of the WAIS. Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctic glacier Ice Sheet Ice Shelf Iceland Pine Island Glacier Natural Environment Research Council: NERC Open Research Archive Antarctic Pine Island Glacier ENVELOPE(-101.000,-101.000,-75.000,-75.000) West Antarctic Ice Sheet Nature Communications 9 1 |
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Open Polar |
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Natural Environment Research Council: NERC Open Research Archive |
op_collection_id |
ftnerc |
language |
English |
description |
Tectonic landforms reveal that the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) lies atop a major volcanic rift system. However, identifying subglacial volcanism is challenging. Here we show geochemical evidence of a volcanic heat source upstream of the fast-melting Pine Island Ice Shelf, documented by seawater helium isotope ratios at the front of the Ice Shelf cavity. The localization of mantle helium to glacial meltwater reveals that volcanic heat induces melt beneath the grounded glacier and feeds the subglacial hydrological network crossing the grounding line. The observed transport of mantle helium out of the Ice Shelf cavity indicates that volcanic heat is supplied to the grounded glacier at a rate of ~ 2500 ± 1700 MW, which is ca. half as large as the active Grimsvötn volcano on Iceland. Our finding of a substantial volcanic heat source beneath a major WAIS glacier highlights the need to understand subglacial volcanism, its hydrologic interaction with the marine margins, and its potential role in the future stability of the WAIS. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Loose, Brice Naveira Garabato, Alberto C. Schlosser, Peter Jenkins, William J. Vaughan, David Heywood, Karen J. |
spellingShingle |
Loose, Brice Naveira Garabato, Alberto C. Schlosser, Peter Jenkins, William J. Vaughan, David Heywood, Karen J. Evidence of an active volcanic heat source beneath the Pine Island Glacier |
author_facet |
Loose, Brice Naveira Garabato, Alberto C. Schlosser, Peter Jenkins, William J. Vaughan, David Heywood, Karen J. |
author_sort |
Loose, Brice |
title |
Evidence of an active volcanic heat source beneath the Pine Island Glacier |
title_short |
Evidence of an active volcanic heat source beneath the Pine Island Glacier |
title_full |
Evidence of an active volcanic heat source beneath the Pine Island Glacier |
title_fullStr |
Evidence of an active volcanic heat source beneath the Pine Island Glacier |
title_full_unstemmed |
Evidence of an active volcanic heat source beneath the Pine Island Glacier |
title_sort |
evidence of an active volcanic heat source beneath the pine island glacier |
publisher |
Springer Nature |
publishDate |
2018 |
url |
http://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/520450/ https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/520450/1/Loose.pdf https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-018-04421-3 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-101.000,-101.000,-75.000,-75.000) |
geographic |
Antarctic Pine Island Glacier West Antarctic Ice Sheet |
geographic_facet |
Antarctic Pine Island Glacier West Antarctic Ice Sheet |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic glacier Ice Sheet Ice Shelf Iceland Pine Island Glacier |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic glacier Ice Sheet Ice Shelf Iceland Pine Island Glacier |
op_relation |
https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/520450/1/Loose.pdf Loose, Brice; Naveira Garabato, Alberto C.; Schlosser, Peter; Jenkins, William J.; Vaughan, David orcid:0000-0002-9065-0570 Heywood, Karen J. 2018 Evidence of an active volcanic heat source beneath the Pine Island Glacier. Nature Communications, 9 (1), 2431. 9, pp. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-018-04421-3 <https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-018-04421-3> |
op_rights |
cc_by_4 |
op_rightsnorm |
CC-BY |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-018-04421-3 |
container_title |
Nature Communications |
container_volume |
9 |
container_issue |
1 |
_version_ |
1766251792914448384 |