Antarctic Tectonics post #104
Scientists discover 91 volcanoes below Antarctic ice sheet
This is in addition to 47 already known about and eruption would melt more ice in region affected by climate change
We should also remember (see Reply #315) that abrupt ice mass loss from the gateway of the Thwaites Glacier circa 2040 might possibly trigger an eruption of Mt Takahe in the Byrd Subglacial Basin, BSB (see the attached image), which could accelerate ice mass loss in Antarctica just as happen about 17.7 kya as the linked article entitled: "Massive Antarctic volcanic eruptions linked to abrupt Southern hemisphere climate changes", cites that abrupt climate change was associated with a series of halogen rich eruptions from Mt Takahe in the BSB. Who knows what lies in mankind's future if a potential collapse of the WAIS this century should trigger similar volcanic eruptions in West Antarctica:
https://phys.org/news/2017-09-massive-antarctic-volcanic-eruptions-linked.htmlExtract: ""Detailed chemical measurements in Antarctic ice cores show that massive, halogen-rich eruptions from the West Antarctic Mt. Takahe volcano coincided exactly with the onset of the most rapid, widespread climate change in the Southern Hemisphere during the end of the last ice age and the start of increasing global greenhouse gas concentrations," according to McConnell, who leads DRI's ultra-trace chemical ice core analytical laboratory.
Climate changes that began ~17,700 years ago included a sudden poleward shift in westerly winds encircling Antarctica with corresponding changes in sea ice extent, ocean circulation, and ventilation of the deep ocean. Evidence of these changes is found in many parts of the Southern Hemisphere and in different paleoclimate archives, but what prompted these changes has remained largely unexplained.
"We know that rapid climate change at this time was primed by changes in solar insolation and the Northern Hemisphere ice sheets," explained McConnell. "Glacial and interglacial cycles are driven by the sun and Earth orbital parameters that impact solar insolation (intensity of the sun's rays) as well as by changes in the continental ice sheets and greenhouse gas concentrations."
"We postulate that these halogen-rich eruptions created a stratospheric ozone hole over Antarctica that, analogous to the modern ozone hole, led to large-scale changes in atmospheric circulation and hydroclimate throughout the Southern Hemisphere," he added. "Although the climate system already was primed for the switch, we argue that these changes initiated the shift from a largely glacial to a largely interglacial climate state. The probability that this was just a coincidence is negligible."
See also the subject reference:
Joseph R. McConnell el al., "Synchronous volcanic eruptions and abrupt climate change ∼17.7 ka plausibly linked by stratospheric ozone depletion," PNAS (2017).
https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1705595114 www.pnas.org/cgi/doi/10.1073/pnas.1705595114 Extract: "Glacial-state greenhouse gas concentrations and Southern Hemisphere climate conditions persisted until ∼17.7 ka, when a nearly synchronous acceleration in deglaciation was recorded in paleoclimate proxies in large parts of the Southern Hemisphere, with many changes ascribed to a sudden poleward shift in the Southern Hemisphere westerlies and subsequent climate impacts. We used high-resolution chemical measurements in the West Antarctic Ice Sheet Divide, Byrd, and other ice cores to document a unique, ∼192-y series of halogen-rich volcanic eruptions exactly at the start of accelerated deglaciation, with tephra identifying the nearby Mount Takahe volcano as the source. Extensive fallout from these massive eruptions has been found >2,800 km from Mount Takahe. Sulfur isotope anomalies and marked decreases in ice core bromine consistent with increased surface UV radiation indicate that the eruptions led to stratospheric ozone depletion. Rather than a highly improbable coincidence, circulation and climate changes extending from the Antarctic Peninsula to the subtropics—similar to those associated with modern stratospheric ozone depletion over Antarctica—plausibly link the Mount Takahe eruptions to the onset of accelerated Southern Hemisphere deglaciation ∼17.7 ka."
Extract: "Previous studies (e.g., ref. 42) suggested that rising insolation initiated melting of Northern Hemisphere (NH) ice sheets at 19 ka, which triggered a reduction in the strength of the Atlantic overturning circulation, and, through the bipolar seesaw, resulted in SH warming and CO2 release from the Southern Ocean, although the exact mechanisms driving the CO2 release are still debated. We postulate that the ∼192-y series of halogen-rich eruptions of Mount Takahe and the subsequent ozone hole (26) initiated a series of events analogous to the modern ozone hole that acted to accelerate deglaciation at 17.7 ka. First, stratospheric ozone depletion changed SH atmospheric circulation, resulting in a rapid increase and poleward shift in the westerlies (35) (SI Appendix, Fig. S7). Second, consequent widespread perturbations in SH hydrometeorology, including increased austral summer subtropical precipitation between ∼15°S and ∼35°S (Figs. 1F and 5), led to enhanced CH4 wetland emissions (43)."
Caption for the attached image: "Spatial extent of the glaciochemical anomaly. Evidence of the ∼192-y anomaly has been found >2,800 km from Mount Takahe in ice core (circles) chemical records (SI Appendix, Fig. S3) as well as radar surveys from much of West Antarctica. Also shown are area volcanoes (triangles). September/October horizontal wind vectors at 600 hPa based on 1981–2010 National Centers for Environmental Prediction reanalysis fields show transport patterns consistent with observations."
See also: "Antarctica: What Would Happen if All the Volcanoes Buried Beneath the Ice Erupted?"
http://www.newsweek.com/antarctica-subglacial-volcanoes-eruption-risk-sea-ice-659537Extract: "Less well known is that Antarctica is also host to several active volcanoes, part of a huge “volcanic province” which extends for thousands of miles along the western edge of the continent. Although the volcanic province has been known and studied for decades, about 100 “new” volcanoes were recently discovered beneath the ice by scientists who used satellite data and ice-penetrating radar to search for hidden peaks.
These sub-ice volcanoes may be dormant. But what would happen if Antarctica’s volcanoes awoke?
We can get some idea by looking to the past. One of Antarctica’s volcanoes, Mount Takahe, is found close to the remote centre of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet. In a new study, scientists implicate Takahe in a series of eruptions rich in ozone-consuming halogens that occurred about 18,000 years ago. These eruptions, they claim, triggered an ancient ozone hole, warmed the southern hemisphere which caused glaciers to melt, and helped bring the last ice age to a close.
This sort of environmental impact is unusual. For it to happen again would require a series of eruptions, similarly enriched in halogens, from one or more volcanoes that are currently exposed above the ice. Such a scenario is unlikely although, as the Takahe study shows, not impossible. More likely is that one or more of the many subglacial volcanoes, some of which are known to be active, will erupt at some unknown time in the future.
Because of the enormous thickness of overlying ice, it is unlikely that volcanic gases would make it into the atmosphere. So an eruption wouldn’t have an impact like that postulated for Takahe. However, the volcanoes would melt huge caverns in the base of the ice and create enormous quantities of meltwater. Because the West Antarctic Ice Sheet is wet rather than frozen to its bed—imagine an ice cube on a kitchen work top—the meltwater would act as a lubricant and could cause the overlying ice to slip and move more rapidly.
…
Under-ice volcanoes are probably what triggered rapid flow of ancient ice streams into the vast Ross Ice Shelf, Antarctica’s largest ice shelf. Something similar might have occurred about 2,000 years ago with a small volcano in the Hudson Mountains that lie underneath the West Antarctica Ice Sheet—if it erupted again today it could cause the nearby Pine Island Glacier to speed up.
Most dramatically of all, a large series of eruptions could destabilise many more subglacial volcanoes. As volcanoes cool and crystallise, their magma chambers become pressurised and all that prevents the volcanic gases from escaping violently in an eruption is the weight of overlying rock or, in this case, several miles of ice. As that ice becomes much thinner, the pressure reduction may trigger eruptions. More eruptions and ice melting would mean even more meltwater being channelled under the ice streams.
Potentially a runaway effect may take place, with the thinning ice triggering more and more eruptions. Something similar occurred in Iceland, which saw an increase in volcanic eruptions when glaciers began to recede at the end of the last ice age."