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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ftunivrhodeislan:oai:digitalcommons.uri.edu:gsofacpubs-1451 2024-09-15T17:44:01+00:00 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. 2018-06-22T07:00:00Z application/pdf https://digitalcommons.uri.edu/gsofacpubs/466 https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-018-04421-3 https://digitalcommons.uri.edu/context/gsofacpubs/article/1451/viewcontent/s41467_018_04421_3.pdf unknown DigitalCommons@URI https://digitalcommons.uri.edu/gsofacpubs/466 doi:10.1038/s41467-018-04421-3 https://digitalcommons.uri.edu/context/gsofacpubs/article/1451/viewcontent/s41467_018_04421_3.pdf http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Graduate School of Oceanography Faculty Publications text 2018 ftunivrhodeislan https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-018-04421-3 2024-08-21T00:09:33Z 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. Text Antarc* Antarctic glacier Ice Sheet Ice Shelf Iceland Pine Island Glacier University of Rhode Island: DigitalCommons@URI Nature Communications 9 1 |
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University of Rhode Island: DigitalCommons@URI |
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ftunivrhodeislan |
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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 |
Text |
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 |
DigitalCommons@URI |
publishDate |
2018 |
url |
https://digitalcommons.uri.edu/gsofacpubs/466 https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-018-04421-3 https://digitalcommons.uri.edu/context/gsofacpubs/article/1451/viewcontent/s41467_018_04421_3.pdf |
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_source |
Graduate School of Oceanography Faculty Publications |
op_relation |
https://digitalcommons.uri.edu/gsofacpubs/466 doi:10.1038/s41467-018-04421-3 https://digitalcommons.uri.edu/context/gsofacpubs/article/1451/viewcontent/s41467_018_04421_3.pdf |
op_rights |
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-018-04421-3 |
container_title |
Nature Communications |
container_volume |
9 |
container_issue |
1 |
_version_ |
1810491307092606976 |