Melting glaciers can make volcanic eruptions more explosive and frequent, and in the process, scientists warn that climate change could worsen.
Hundreds of volcanoes in Antarctica, Russia, New Zealand and North America are located below the glacier. However, as the planets warm up and these ice sheets melt and retreat, these volcanoes are likely to become more active, according to the authors of a new study analyzing the activity of six volcanoes in southern Chile during the last ice age.
Researchers will present their findings on Wednesday (July 8) at the 2025 Goldschmidt conference in Prague.
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“Glaciers tend to suppress the amount of eruptions from the volcanoes below them. However, when the glacier retreats due to glacial changes, our findings suggest that these volcanoes erupt more frequently and explosively.”
Scientists first theorized that melted ice in the 1970s could affect volcanoes. The underlying process is a simple process. The weight of the glacier exerts downward forces on the Earth’s crust and mantle. Therefore, when ice retreats, underground gas and magma expand, leading to pressure buildup fuelled by an explosive eruption.
Related: “Mysterious Carbon” could be leaking from the volcano millions of years after the eruption ends
This process is already known to be a radically reconstructed Iceland. Iceland is located on branching North American and Eurasian tectonic plates. In 2002, scientists calculated changes in Icelandic volcanic activity as the glacier retreated at the end of the last ice age, about 10,000 years ago. The island’s volcanoes reacted with a surge in eruptions, blowing them away at 30-50 times faster than before or since.
However, the dangers that may lie in continental volcanic systems still depend on. To investigate that, geoscientists saw six volcanoes in southern Chile. How did you respond to this to the melting of Patagonia’s ice sheets thousands of years ago, such as the current dormant Mocho Choshuenko volcano?
By using the radioactive decay of argon released by the eruption volcanoes in the area as isoairway clocks, researchers were able to track the relationship between volcanic activity in the area and its disappearing ice by studying the crystals that formed inside the magmatic rocks when the volcano ejected.
They discovered 26,000 to 18,000 years ago, during the peak of the last ice age, ice coverings suppressed the amount of eruptions and giant magma reservoirs accumulate beneath the surface of the area. When the ice sheet melted, pressure increased inside this reservoir, and was eventually released to form the Mocho Choenko volcano.
The scope of this threat is scope. According to a 2020 survey, 245 of the world’s potentially active volcanoes are located under the ice or within 3 miles (5 km).
“A key requirement for increased explosiveness is that they initially have very thick glacier coverage on the magma chamber. The trigger point is when these glaciers begin to retreat and release pressure. This is happening now in places like Antarctica.”
He added that other areas of concern include North America, New Zealand and Russia, which he says “need closely to ensure scientific attention.”
Over a short period of time, eruptions usually release sulfate aerosols that bring sunlight back into space. This led to cooling events after past eruptions, some of which caused major hunger. However, over the long term, greenhouse gases from these volcanoes are likely to accelerate climate change, researchers said.
“Over time, the cumulative effects of multiple eruptions can contribute to long-term global warming due to the accumulation of greenhouse gases,” Moreno Jager said. “This creates a positive feedback loop where sophisticated glaciers can cause eruptions and the eruption can further contribute to warming and melting.”
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