In August, researchers at Edinburgh University announced that frigid West Antarctica is home to at least 138 volcanoes, all concealed within an ice sheet that’s up to two kilometers thick in some places!
The finding left Robert Bingham, one of the study’s authors, with an urgent question.
“The big question is: how active are these volcanoes? That is something we need to determine as quickly as possible,” he told The Guardian.
“If one of these volcanoes were to erupt it could further destabilise west Antarctica’s ice sheets. Anything that causes the melting of ice – which an eruption certainly would – is likely to speed up the flow of ice into the sea.”
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BQO ROUNDUP
