On June 22, a team of scientists from the University of Rhode Island and University of East Anglia announced in a paper published in Nature Communications that they had discovered a new factor in the rapid melting of Antarctica’s Pine Island Glacier – a previously unknown active volcano buried deep under the ice.. PINE ISLAND BAY HUDSON MOUNTAINS Pine Island Glacier PS75/214-1 A B 110°W 105°W 100°W 95°W 73°S 75°S 0 100 200 km Pine Island Glacier Pine Island Bay Amundsen Sea Embayment B Pine Island Glacier ice shelf Fig. “When you find helium-3, it’s like a fingerprint for volcanism. NASA Earth Observatory (2019, April 9) The Wide View of a Shrinking Glacier: Retreat at Pine Island. ARTICLE Evidence of an active volcanic heat source beneath the Pine Island Glacier Brice Loose1, Alberto C. Naveira Garabato2, Peter Schlosser3,4, William J. Jenkins5, David Vaughan6 & Karen J. Heywood 7 Tectonic landforms reveal that the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) lies atop a major Unlike Pine Island Glacier—which tends to shed large icebergs every few years (now almost annually)—the icebergs that now break from Thwaites are generally not large enough to be named and tracked by the U.S. National Ice Center. While large calving events used to occur at Pine Island Glacier every four to six years, they've now become a near-annual occurrence, according to NASA. NASA Earth Observatory (2019, May 13) Two Decades of Change at Pine Island Glacier. In 2014, the Pine Island Glacier was estimated to account for about 25 percent of the total ice cap loss in Antarctica. Pine Island Glacier, a major outlet of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet, has been undergoing rapid thinning and retreat for the past two decades. This volcanic activity was discovered by some scientists at the University of Rhode Island’s Graduate School of Oceanography. Pine Island is the fastest melting glacier in Antarctica, and is responsible for about 25% of Antarctica’s ice loss. Scientists found an abundance of the noble gas Helium-3, indicating there is a volcanic heat source beneath the Pine Island glacier — the fastest-melting glacier in the South Pole. We demonstrate, using glacial-geological and geochronological data, that Pine Island Glacier (PIG) also experienced rapid thinning during the early Holocene, around 8000 years ago. Of the latter, the longest-lived and most important by far is the James Ross Island Volcanic Group (JRIVG) which is dominated by the Mt Haddington volcano. The International Thwaites Glacier Collaboration is performing some magnificent science, conducting the most ambitious fieldwork ever undertaken at the tip of what is one of the most significant glaciers on Earth. Big chunks of ice have been ‘calving’ off it on regular basis since the 2000s, with an iceberg about the same size as Washington DC breaking away last September. The Pine Island Glacier is known to be the fastest-melting glacier in Antarctica, responsible for around a quarter of the continent's ice loss. According to new research though, a warming planet isn't the only reason the glacier is losing ice. The scientific consensus is that the rapidly melting Pine Island Glacier, the focal point of the study, would be a significant source of global sea level rise should the melting there continue or accelerate. A group of scientists at the University of Rhode Island stumbled on something unexpected when analyzing data brought back from a 2014 expedition to western Antarctica. In situ outcrops in the JRIVG extend back to 6.25 Ma but eruptions probably commenced at least 10 million years ago. Elevated levels of helium-3 gas detected in the waters around Pine Island glacier indicate volcanic activity beneath the ice sheet – exhibiting as much as 25 times more thermal energy than a dormant volcano. A massive chunk of ice has broken off from a key Antarctic glacier, creating an iceberg four and a half times the size of Manhattan. Its melting already contributes 4% of global sea level rise and there are fears that it could become unstable and contribute many metres to global sea level. Further evidence showing that melting of the Pine Island is almost certainly the result of a currently erupting. The volcanic heat source is one more factor to account for when modelling the stability of the West Antarctic Ice Shelf. It is the most rapidly shrinking glacier on the planet and is contributing more to sea level rise than any other ice stream; It is approximately 2km thick, but is thinning by more than 1 metre per year; There is a subglacial volcano underneath Pine Island Glacier which erupted around 2000 years ago; Where is Pine Island Glacier? A group of scientists from the University of Rhode Island discovered the noble gas Helium-3, indicating a volcanic heat source, underneath the Pine Island Glacier, according to The Daily Caller. The Pine Island Glacier has been melting due to a volcano heat source that researchers have found underneath the glacier in Antarctica. Instead, the glacier is … (A) Map of the Amundsen Sea Embayment, showing location of the study area. But while the Pine Island Glacier may be thinning because of the volcano, it’s highly unlikely the thinning of Antarctica’s ice sheet as a whole can be blamed on hidden volcanoes. 1. Why would you say that when the study is about one glacier, Pine Island, and says this: 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. The Pine Island Glacier is located around 1,600 miles from the tip of South America. Pine Island Glacier (Ian Joughin, University of Washington) Pine Island Glacier (also known as PIG) is a large ice stream, a type of glacier that moves faster than the surrounding ice. Pine Island Glacier is nearly two thirds the size of the Uk or the size of Texas Credit: James Smith/ British Antarctic Survey. In mid-October 2011, NASA scientists working in Antarctica discovered a massive crack across the Pine Island Glacier, a major ice stream that drains the West Antarctic Ice Sheet. The volcano’s heat could possibly be melting and thinning the ice and raising the speed of the Pine Island Glacier in West Antarctica. The volcano is situated in the Hudson Mountains, close to Pine Island Glacier. The Pine Island Glacier (PIG) is a large ice stream, and the fastest melting glacier in Antarctica, responsible for about 25% of Antarctica's ice loss. But while in Pine Island Bay earlier this month, one member of the team spotted a large, ice-capped island that appears on no maps. Although it is rather remote, PIG and its twin glacier, Thwaites, … (1) One study, entitled “Evidence of an active volcanic heat source beneath the Pine Island Glacier“, proves that the Pine Island Glacier of West Antarctica is melting and retreating from geothermal heat from a currently active subglacial volcano, not man-made global warming. The surprising find, published recently in Nature Communications, offers insight into the movement and melting of the Pine Island Glacier. Glaciers such as Pine Island act as plugs that regulate the speed at … subglacial volcano and high bedrock heat flow can be seen by referring to DeSanto 2019, Loose 2017, and De Vries 2017. Researchers operating special ship-mounted sonar gear found a series of 25-mile-wide channels in the seafloor that bring warm water to the base of the Thwaites and Pine Island Glaciers. Heat from the volcano creates melt-water that lubricates the base of the ice sheet and increases the flow towards the sea. NASA Earth Observatory (2020, February 10) Another Berg from Pine Island Glacier. In January 2008 the British Antarctic Survey (BAS) scientists, Hugh Corr and David Vaughan, reported that 2,200 years ago a volcano erupted under the Antarctic ice sheet.This was the biggest Antarctic eruption in the last 10,000 years. The Pine Island glacier is one of the biggest ice flows in Antarctica and is also among the most affected by melting. Pine Island Glacier on the West Antarctic Ice Sheet is showing rapid change and BAS scientists are part of an international research effort to understand this change. Location of study area. The volcanic activity was first noticed in 2007 and then verified in 2014. Extending for 19 miles (30 kilometers), the crack was 260 feet (80 meters) wide and 195 feet (60 meters) deep. NASA Earth Observatory (2020, February 11) Pine Island Glacier’s Newest Iceberg. half as large as the active Grimsvötn volcano on Iceland. Scientists have discovered active volcano heat source under Antartica's fastest-moving and melting glacier - Pine Island Glacier. The Pine Island glacier is particularly unstable, and made headlines in 2017 when it lost a chunk of ice four times the size of Manhattan. Therefore, decreased thickness of Thwaites glacier is not exclusively the result of surface ice melting. 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