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from the 150-vs-200-milliwatts-per-square-meter dept.
A mantle plume producing almost as much heat as [the] Yellowstone supervolcano appears to be melting part of West Antarctica from beneath.
Researchers at NASA have discovered a huge upwelling of hot rock under Marie Byrd Land, which lies between the Ross Ice Shelf and the Ross Sea, is creating vast lakes and rivers under the ice sheet. The presence of a huge mantle plume could explain why the region is so unstable today, and why it collapsed so quickly at the end of the last Ice Age, 11,000 years ago.
[...] For 30 years, scientists have suggested that a mantle plume may exist under Marie Byrd Land. Its presence would explain the regional volcanic activity seen in the area, as well as a dome feature that exists there. However, there was no evidence to support this idea.
Now, scientists from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory have created advanced numerical models to show how much heat would need to exist beneath the ice to account for their observations—including the dome and the giant subsurface rivers and lakes we know are present on Antarctica's bedrock. As lakes fill and drain, the ice thousands of feet above rises and falls, sometimes by as much as 20 feet.
Study author Hélène Seroussi, from JPL, said when she first heard that a mantle plume might be heating Marie Byrd Land she thought the idea was "crazy."
"I didn't see how we could have that amount of heat and still have ice on top of it," she said in a statement.
Also at BGR and Live Science.
Influence of a West Antarctic mantle plume on ice sheet basal conditions (DOI: 10.1002/2017JB014423) (DX)
(Score: 3, Informative) by khallow on Thursday November 09 2017, @10:33PM (2 children)
There is uplift and considerable heat being released by the region. On the uplift [springer.com]:
That's a huge area, larger than the Yellowstone hotspot uplift, but it might be over a much longer period of time as well.
(Score: 2) by frojack on Friday November 10 2017, @12:57AM (1 child)
The way I read it is the only thing they were measuring was the amount of heat it takes to do the melting we are seeing today.
They don't't directly address the uplift in their results, an actually suggest simple rifting as a source of the heat.
Further, there isn't as much heat as Yellowstone exhibits. Their models show that there is only 3/4 as much heat.
Plume theories have been around for this area for a long time.
No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.
(Score: 1) by khallow on Friday November 10 2017, @06:05AM