![]() “This is the first great image of one,” said geophysicist Phil Wannamaker at the University of Utah, who participated in the work. “If we can also get an idea of where the magmatic system is, you can better understand the monitoring data when these systems enter periods of unrest,” said lead scientist and geophysicist Graham Hill at the Institute of Geophysics at the Czech Academy of Sciences. This dryness allows magma to travel much closer to the surface than water (H 2O)-rich volcanoes that stall out at about 5 kilometers below the surface.ĬO 2-rich volcanic systems are less well understood than the more common H 2O-rich arc volcanoes. Instead, it’s rich in carbon dioxide (CO 2). Unlike arc volcanoes such as the Cascades in western North America, Erebus has very little water in its magma. Now, research has revealed the plumbing underneath Mount Erebus that keeps the lake full.ĭata taken by measuring natural electromagnetic waves traveling through Earth revealed the volcano’s magmatic system brings lava much closer to the surface than subduction arc volcanoes. The lake occasionally blasts out lava bombs from the summit crater of Mount Erebus, 3,794 meters high. Story by Kathryn Hansen.One of Antarctica’s only active volcanoes is home to one of the few long-lasting lava lakes on Earth. NASA Earth Observatory image by Joshua Stevens, using data from NASA/METI/AIST/Japan Space Systems, and U.S./Japan ASTER Science Team. The flat expanse is disrupted by the Erebus Ice Tongue-fast-flowing glacial ice that cuts into the sound like a knife. Nearby areas that appear smooth are the snow- and ice-topped waters of McMurdo Sound. These areas are clear of surface snow, exposing glacial ice. This eruption type can eject masses of molten rock up to 250 meters from the lake.īeyond the volcano and its shadow, sunlight illuminates vivid blue patches amid the white. On occasion, a large bubble of gas, or “gas slug,” rises up from within the volcano and triggers a Strombolian eruption. McMurdo Station just 35 kilometers (22 miles) away-means the volcano has been accessible to and well-studied by researchers.Īlthough not visible in this image, gases regularly rise from the lava lake on the volcano’s summit. ![]() Nearby research facilities-including the U.S. ![]() That’s not hard to do, given that the volcano stands 3,794 meters (12,450 feet) above sea level-the second-tallest of more than 100 known Antarctic volcanoes.Įrebus is the dominant feature of Ross Island, which juts out of the Ross Sea and the Ross Ice Shelf. The Sun angle was still low enough that morning to illuminate the volcano’s eastern slopes, while the volcano cast a mighty shadow to the west. The area was just days away from constant 24-hour sunlight when this image was acquired. The image is false-color but looks natural, which is a result of visible and near-infrared wavelengths of light (ASTER bands 3, 2, 1). Mount Erebus is Earth’s southernmost active volcano.Įrebus is featured in this image acquired on October 19, 2019, by the Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) on NASA’s Terra satellite. But there are a few landmarks that stand out from the endless white, including a volcano that continuously emits gases and occasionally erupts. Most of the Antarctic continent is buried under the planet’s largest single mass of ice.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |