Photos from open sources

Scientists at the University of Edinburgh, having done a great research work, have recently published a series of materials on behalf of the Geological Society of London, from which a disappointing conclusion for our planet follows: the most dangerous region of the Earth in terms of dormant volcanoes is Antarctica. (website)

Under a huge thickness of ice on this continent, 47 dormant volcanoes were discovered in the last century, but at the moment, researchers have added 91 more to them - and this is at least, since a huge ice shell can hide other volcanic formations. Thus, Antarctica, to the surprise of scientists, pushed even the East African volcanic ridge, which is still considered the most formidable volcanic formation on the planet, from the first place.

One of the authors of the Antarctic volcanic research Robert Bingham (Robert Bingham) considers this discovery very disturbing for our world with its troubled ecological situation due to global warming. It is enough for even one of the volcanoes of Antarctica to wake up, as the unstable ice sheet of its western part will begin a massive discharge into the ocean, which can lead to a sharp increase in its water level and flooding of vast coastal areas around the world. And what if all of a sudden all the volcanoes start working?..

Photos from open sources

To conduct a new survey of Antarctica to identify volcanoes, especially in that part of it that was not counted in the last century (under the thicker ice of this continent), belongs to the youngest member of the geological team of the University of Edinburgh, Max Van Wyck de Vries, who today is still a student at an educational institution. However, it was he who practically began to carry out this project.

The re-analysis of the ice continent was carried out using radars mounted on tracked vehicles and aircraft, after which the data obtained were compared with geological information from other aerial surveys and satellites. When the extensive data were collected into a single picture and processed into computers, it turned out that there are more than ninety dormant volcanoes in Antarctica, all of them (both old and new) have a height of 100 to 3800 meters and are now covered with ice, reaching 4 kilometers of thickness. . Moreover, all the peaks are concentrated in the western reef system of the mainland, stretching for 3,500 kilometers from the ice shelf of Antarctica to the Antarctic Peninsula itself.

Photos from open sources

Here is what Robert Bingham says about it:

We are simply amazed, because we expected rather the opposite, that there will be even fewer volcanoes in this icy world, and there are three times as many of them here. And they are all concentrated in almost one place - in the western part of Antarctica. Unfortunately, today we have a fear that there may be even more volcanoes at the bottom of the sea lying under the huge Ross Ice Shelf. Therefore, without exaggeration, Antarctica can be called the most dangerous volcanic region of the Earth. There are much more fire-breathing monsters here, albeit still sleeping and invisible, than in East Africa with the famous volcanoes Kilimanjaro, Nyiragongo, Longonot and so on. Moreover, the eruption of the Antarctic volcanoes, if it happens, will bring the world not just some kind of trouble, but a real disaster - a new Flood.

Volcanoes of Antarctica

There are many volcanoes in Antarctica. Some of them (in particular, those located on the Antarctic islands) have erupted in the last 200 years. Due to the specificity of the climate and the low population of the southern mainland, most eruptions occurred without human witnesses and were recorded when volcanic activity came to an end, and sometimes retroactively. Only on Desension Island are research stations located in the area of ​​one of the volcanoes.

At the top of Mount Melbourne, located opposite Ross Island, on the other side of McMurdo Bay, there are active fumaroles - cracks in the earth's crust that emit gas. The combination of steam and sub-zero temperatures created many brittle ice columns; in addition, despite the height, a unique bacterial flora has developed around the fumaroles.

In 1893, the Norwegian K. A. Larsen, traveling south on a rare route across the Weddell Sea, recorded seeing volcanic activity off Seal Nunatex. For many years, this observation was skeptical of geologists, who said that Larsen probably saw the cloud, but recent work has found traces of active fumaroles in the region. A volcanic eruption is always spectacular, but the stark contrast of molten lava and icy snow makes Antarctic eruptions especially spectacular.

James Clark Ross and Francis Crozier on their ships Erebus and Terror on January 9, 1841, overcame the pack ice and found themselves in the open water of the Ross Sea. Three days later they saw a rocky ridge, the peaks of which rose to 2500 m; it was subsequently named Admiralty Ridge by Ross. The ships continued to sail south, following the line of the mountains. On January 28, 1841, travelers were struck by the sight of - in the words of Robert McCormick, the ship's doctor on the Erebus - "a stunning volcano in an extremely active state." Located north of Ross Island, deep in the Ross Sea, the volcano was named "Mount Erebus" and the smaller, dormant cone to the east was named "Mount Terror". Erebus is considered the southernmost known active volcano.

In those early days, when the science of geology was in its infancy, an active volcano in the midst of the ice and snow of a frozen continent seemed extremely mysterious. Today, geologists are no longer surprised by such phenomena and can easily explain the presence of volcanoes, wherever they appear - climatic conditions in this case are not fundamental. Volcanic rocks are often found in Antarctica, although from a geological point of view they are very ancient and represent the product of volcanic activity of those times when the continent did not yet occupy its modern polar position.

Volcanic rocks are an important indicator of the movement of continents, useful in determining the routes of ancient movements of continents across the surface of the globe. The geologically young McMurdo Volcanic Region in the Ross Sea region and the associated Mary Byrd Land Volcanoes simply point to recent continental shifts in Antarctica.

Mount Erebus - guarding the path to the South Pole - serves as a beacon for all travelers. Climbing the mountain inevitably became one of the goals of early explorers and climbers. During the expedition of Ernest Shackleton on the Nimrod in 1907-1909. a group of six people, led by 50-year-old Professor Edgeworth David, climbed the legendary mountain. On March 10, 1908, they reached the summit, 3794 m high, and discovered there a crater 805 m in diameter and 274 m deep, at the bottom of which there was a lake of molten lava. This lake still exists today, and Erebus is one of three volcanoes showing long-term lava lakes.

During the 1974–1975 season a geological party from New Zealand descended into the main crater and camped there, but volcanic activity prevented them from descending into the inner crater. On September 17, 1984, the volcano began to erupt again, throwing out liquefied fire "bombs". Currently, Erebus is still the subject of intensive geological research, but it attracts not only geologists. Transport ships and planes heading to US McMurdo Station and ships heading to the historic Scott and Shackleton lodges offer great views in fine weather. Naturalists, travelers and just risk-takers can't resist the desire to photograph a volcano mountain, and in the old days, romantic conquerors of the South Pole felt the need to capture what they saw in the picture. Some of the best work was by Edward Wilson, a doctor and naturalist who participated in both of Scott's expeditions. Botanists are particularly interested in the Tramway Ridge, high on the slopes of the mountain, where rich vegetation has developed in the area of ​​fumaroles on warm soil.

This text is an introductory piece. From the book In the mountains and on the glaciers of Antarctica author Bardin Vladimir Igorevich

Map of Antarctica Gradually, the contours of the maps created by our detachment begin to appear more and more clearly. But not all parts of the mountainous country can be reached by plane. Where the surface of the ice is covered with cracks, littered with boulders, the plane cannot land. Rescues position

From the book The Future of Capitalism by Turow Lester

CHAPTER 12 SOCIAL VOLCANOES: RELIGIOUS FUNDAMENTALISM AND ETHNIC SEPARATISM RELIGIOUS FUNDAMENTALISM The rise of religious fundamentalism is the eruption of a social volcano. Its connection with the economy is simple. People who lose in economic life or fall into

From the book Results No. 32 (2012) author Results Magazine

Resorts of Antarctica / Society and Science / Telegraph Resorts of Antarctica / Society and Science / Telegraph If people lived on Earth 50-55 million years ago, they could well spend their holidays on the shores of Antarctica. During the early Eocene, the continent was

From the book 100 famous mysteries of nature author Syadro Vladimir Vladimirovich

VOLCANOES ARE OUR TERRIBLE AND UNPREDICTABLE NEIGHBORS There are tens of thousands of volcanoes around the globe, both on continents and in the oceans. However, there are, fortunately, few active among them - less than 1000. "Fire-breathing mountains" are located in seismically active zones where

From the book 1000 wonders from around the world author Gurnakova Elena Nikolaevna

The most famous volcanoes in the world

From the book 200 mysterious and mysterious places on the planet author Kostina-Cassanelli Natalia Nikolaevna

Volcanoes of the Hawaiian Islands The Hawaiian Islands are known not so much for their tropical nature as for their volcanic activity. They are located in the northern part of the Pacific Ocean, stretching for almost 2500 km between 19° and 29° north latitude from Kure and the Midway Islands on

From the author's book

Volcanoes of Japan Japan is said to be sitting "in the cradle of Mother Earth", and more than 500 volcanoes located on large islands confirm this. Ancient Precambrian rocks and strata of sedimentary rocks above them, having formed folds during mountain building processes,

From the author's book

Mud Volcanoes of the Kerch Peninsula The vast expanses of the Kerch Hills are replete with original landforms associated with volcanic activity. Some of the active mud hills are curious natural phenomena, as if

From the author's book

Dry valleys of Antarctica Without water for millions of years, many people think of Antarctica as eternal cold, snow, frost and huge ice caps, that is, in fact, reserves of life-giving moisture. However, not everyone knows that Antarctica has its own deserts, and it is these

The ice sheet of Antarctica hides a large system of volcanoes comparable to those in eastern Africa and North America. Over the years of studying Antarctica, scientists have discovered 47 volcanoes. Now, experts from the University of Edinburgh have discovered a cluster of 91 more volcanoes 2 km below the level of the West Antarctica ice sheet. They talked about the discovery in a publication on site Geological Society of London.

“If any of these volcanoes erupt, it will destabilize the glaciers in the west of Antarctica.

Anything that can cause ice to melt, and especially a volcanic eruption, will result in an outflow of melted ice into the sea. So the big question is how active these volcanoes are.

We need to find out as soon as possible,” says glaciologist Robert Bingham, one of the authors of the study.

To detect volcanoes, the researchers used radars mounted on aircraft and ground vehicles to study the ice-covered surface of the continent. Next, they compared the obtained data with satellite images and information already available in the databases.

The height of the volcanoes found by specialists is from 100 to 2850 m, the diameter is from 1600 to 5400 m. All of them are covered with a layer of ice, the thickness of which reaches 4 km, and occupy an area of ​​3500 km in the west of Antarctica, from the Ross Ice Shelf to the Antarctic Peninsula .

“We didn’t expect to find something like this,” says Bingum. “Now the number of known volcanoes in Antarctica has nearly tripled.

We also suspect that there are many volcanoes under the Ross Glacier. This region may have the largest concentration of volcanoes in the world.”

Researchers have not yet been able to determine if any of the new volcanoes are active. Nevertheless, they hope that their work will serve as the basis for further research, during which it will be possible to find out.

Nor are they inclined to believe that past volcanic activity could have had any effect on modern glacier retreat. However, she may play a role in their retreat in the future. So, for example, it happened in Iceland - the temperature increased due to volcanic activity contributed to the melting of ice. Other problems are also possible - a decrease in ice thickness per kilometer can trigger volcanic activity, which is also observed in Iceland.

On the other hand, the very presence of volcanic cones can slow down the movement of glaciers. Ice moves down until there are no obstacles in its path, and volcanoes can just become such an obstacle for it.

As the team notes, it was possible to find several volcanoes, which may have already become a significant deterrent in the past and will serve them in the future.

Recall that a month ago, in the west of Antarctica, from the Larsen C glacier, a giant iceberg weighing 1 trillion tons and an area of ​​6 thousand square meters. km, which is comparable to a quarter of the territory of Wales. The breakaway of the iceberg, named A68, has been awaited by scientists since 2011, when the crack was first discovered. The cleavage stretched for almost 200 km, separating the iceberg from the main body of the glacier in 10% of its area. According to, an iceberg can last for decades.

The glacier itself is collapsing. Satellite images show that the cracks on it are increasing. They formed before A68 broke off, and scientists didn't know which line would split.

Now 11 more icebergs have formed near the fault line, the largest of which reaches 10 km in length.

Iceberg A68, meanwhile, has already moved away from the glacier by 5 km. Scientists are concerned that it may break into smaller pieces.

(G) (I)

An excerpt characterizing the List of volcanoes in Antarctica

The next day, early in the morning, the decrepit Kutuzov got up, prayed to God, dressed, and with the unpleasant consciousness that he had to lead the battle, which he did not approve of, got into a carriage and drove out of Letashevka, five versts behind Tarutin, to the place where the advancing columns were to be assembled. Kutuzov rode, falling asleep and waking up and listening to see if there were shots on the right, was it starting to happen? But it was still quiet. The dawn of a damp and cloudy autumn day was just beginning. Approaching Tarutin, Kutuzov noticed cavalrymen leading horses to a watering hole across the road along which the carriage was traveling. Kutuzov took a closer look at them, stopped the carriage and asked which regiment? The cavalrymen were from that column, which should have been already far ahead in the ambush. “A mistake, perhaps,” thought the old commander-in-chief. But, driving even further, Kutuzov saw infantry regiments, guns in the goats, soldiers for porridge and with firewood, in underpants. They called an officer. The officer reported that there was no order to march.
- How not to ... - Kutuzov began, but immediately fell silent and ordered the senior officer to be called to him. Climbing out of the carriage, head down and breathing heavily, silently waiting, he paced back and forth. When the requested officer of the General Staff Eichen appeared, Kutuzov turned purple not because this officer was the fault of the mistake, but because he was a worthy subject for expressing anger. And, shaking, panting, the old man, having come into that state of rage into which he was able to come when he was lying on the ground from anger, he attacked Eichen, threatening with his hands, shouting and cursing in public words. Another who turned up, Captain Brozin, who was not guilty of anything, suffered the same fate.
- What kind of canal is this? Shoot the bastards! he shouted hoarsely, waving his arms and staggering. He experienced physical pain. He, the Commander-in-Chief, His Serene Highness, whom everyone assures that no one has ever had such power in Russia as he, he is put in this position - laughed at in front of the whole army. “In vain did you bother so much to pray for this day, in vain did not sleep the night and thought about everything! he thought to himself. “When I was a boy officer, no one would have dared to make fun of me like that ... And now!” He experienced physical suffering, as from corporal punishment, and could not help but express it with angry and suffering cries; but soon his strength weakened, and, looking around, feeling that he had said a lot of bad things, he got into the carriage and silently drove back.
The anger that poured out did not return anymore, and Kutuzov, blinking his eyes weakly, listened to excuses and words of defense (Yermolov himself did not appear to him until the next day) and the insistence of Benigsen, Konovnitsyn and Tolya to make the same unsuccessful movement the next day. And Kutuzov had to agree again.

The next day, the troops gathered in the evening at the appointed places and marched out at night. It was an autumn night with black-purple clouds, but no rain. The ground was wet, but there was no mud, and the troops marched without noise, only the strumming of artillery was faintly audible. It was forbidden to speak loudly, smoke pipes, make fire; the horses were kept from neighing. The mystery of the enterprise increased its attractiveness. The people were having fun. Some of the columns halted, put their guns on their racks, and lay down on the cold ground, believing that they had come to the right place; some (most) columns walked all night and, obviously, went in the wrong direction.
Count Orlov Denisov with the Cossacks (the most insignificant detachment of all others) alone got to his place and at his time. This detachment stopped at the extreme edge of the forest, on the path from the village of Stromilova to Dmitrovskoye.
Before dawn, Count Orlov, who had dozed off, was awakened. They brought in a defector from the French camp. It was a Polish non-commissioned officer of Poniatowski's corps. This non-commissioned officer explained in Polish that he defected because he was offended in the service, that it would be time for him to be an officer long ago, that he is the bravest of all and therefore abandoned them and wants to punish them. He said that Murat was spending the night a mile away from them, and that if they gave him a hundred people in an escort, he would take him alive. Count Orlov Denisov consulted with his comrades. The offer was too flattering to refuse. Everyone volunteered to go, everyone advised to try. After many disputes and considerations, Major General Grekov, with two Cossack regiments, decided to go with a non-commissioned officer.

Active volcano found under Antarctic ice

Studies confirm that its eruption will accelerate the melting of ice on the continent and raise the level of the world's seas.

An impressive sight in the Antarctic landscape, the summit of Mount Erebus casts a long shadow over the Ross Sea. Mount Erebus is one of the most active volcanoes in Antarctica and one of the few in the world with a permanent lake of molten lava in its crater.

And here is the opening new powerful volcano under a thick layer of ice continent. Scientists say that its eruption could speed up the process of melting the ice sheet of Antarctica and raising the level of the world's oceans.

The discovery of a new volcano was quite accidental. In January 2010, scientists installed a batch of seismometers (earthquake sensors) on Marie Byrd Land in the mountainous region of West Antarctica. Instruments recorded two series of very weak earthquakes ranging in magnitude from 0.8 to 2.1 magnitude - one in 2010, and the other a year later, in 2011.

The shaking has been observed at depths of approximately 15 to 25 miles (25 to 40 kilometers), close to the boundary between the crust and mantle, and much deeper than normal earthquakes occurring in the earth's crust.

The depth at which the earthquakes occurred, as well as their low frequency, indicates that these could be the so-called deep earthquakes, which, as a rule, are a consequence of the movement of volcanic masses. Most scientists believe that there is a movement of magma that leads to pressure fluctuations in faults within volcanic and hydrothermal systems. In fact, the question is no longer whether a volcanic eruption will occur. Question - when? And what will happen in this case?

The volcano is covered with more than a kilometer of ice, and can even such a strong eruption disturb the surface? There is no direct answer yet. But what is clear is that the extreme heat of an erupting volcano can increase melting at the base of the glacier, and the meltwater can act as a lubricant that will cause the underlying ice to slide into the ocean, which, if not by much, will raise its level. Although, of course, there is no talk yet that this eruption can melt the ice sheet and cause a catastrophic rise in sea levels. However, some scientists, notably Douglas Vance, professor of planetary earth sciences at Washington University in St. Louis, do not rule out a scenario in which millions of gallons of melted water rush into the area below the glacier to the sea and create one of the main streams that drain ice from Antarctica into the Ross Ice Shelf.