Climate effects on volcanism: influence on magmatic systems of loading and unloading from ice mass variations, with examples from Iceland

• Published in: Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences
• Main Authors: Sigmundsson, F., Pinel, V., Lund, B., Albino, F., Pagli, C., Geirsson, H., Sturkell, E.
• Other Authors: Nordic Volcanological Center, Institute of Earth Sciences, Institute of Earth Sciences University of Iceland, University of Iceland Reykjavik -University of Iceland Reykjavik, Laboratoire de Géophysique Interne et Tectonophysique (LGIT), Observatoire des Sciences de l'Univers de Grenoble (OSUG), Université Joseph Fourier - Grenoble 1 (UJF)-Institut polytechnique de Grenoble - Grenoble Institute of Technology (Grenoble INP )-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Institut national de recherche en sciences et technologies pour l'environnement et l'agriculture (IRSTEA)-Université Savoie Mont Blanc (USMB Université de Savoie Université de Chambéry )-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Joseph Fourier - Grenoble 1 (UJF)-Institut polytechnique de Grenoble - Grenoble Institute of Technology (Grenoble INP )-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Institut national de recherche en sciences et technologies pour l'environnement et l'agriculture (IRSTEA)-Université Savoie Mont Blanc (USMB Université de Savoie Université de Chambéry )-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Laboratoire Central des Ponts et Chaussées (LCPC)-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Department of Earth Sciences Uppsala, Uppsala University, Institute of Geophysics and Tectonics, School of Earth and Environment, University of Leeds, Icelandic Meteorological Office, celandic Meteorological Office, Department of Earth Sciences Gothenburg, Göteborgs Universitet = University of Gothenburg (GU)
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2010
• Subjects: global warming; ice retreat; glacial rebound; volcanoes; magma; pressure; [SDU.STU.CL]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Earth Sciences/Climatology; [SDE.MCG]Environmental Sciences/Global Changes; Iceland
• Online Access: https://insu.hal.science/insu-00548991; https://doi.org/10.1098/RSTA.2010.0042

International audience Pressure influences both magma production and the failure of magma chambers. Changes in pressure interact with the local tectonic settings and can affect magmatic activity. Present-day reduction in ice load on subglacial volcanoes due to global warming is modifying pressure conditions in magmatic systems. The large pulse in volcanic production at the end of the last glaciation in Iceland suggests a link between unloading and volcanism, and models of that process can help to evaluate future scenarios. A viscoelastic model of glacio-isostatic adjustment that considers melt generation demonstrates how surface unloading may lead to a pulse in magmatic activity. Iceland's ice caps have been thinning since 1890 and glacial rebound at rates exceeding 20 mm yr−1 is ongoing. Modelling predicts a significant amount of 'additional' magma generation under Iceland due to ice retreat. The unloading also influences stress conditions in shallow magma chambers, modifying their failure conditions in a manner that depends critically on ice retreat, the shape and depth of magma chambers as well as the compressibility of the magma. An annual cycle of land elevation in Iceland, due to seasonal variation of ice mass, indicates an annual modulation of failure conditions in subglacial magma chambers.