Glacial Volcanoes

New research of a previously unknown underwater volcano first discovered in 2004 off the coast of Antarctica has just been released. The presence of a volcano was first suggested in sonar studies during the January 2004 research expedition. The finding helps explain mariners' historical reports of discolored water in the area. Material from underwater volcanoes is known to cause discoloration in water over them.
Published this Sunday (Jan. 2008) in the journal Nature Geoscience, researchers Hugh Corr and David Vaughan of the British Antarctic Survey, report the identification of a layer of volcanic ash and glass shards frozen within an ice sheet in western Antarctica. Vaughan states: "This is the first time we have seen a volcano beneath the ice sheet punch a hole through the ice sheet."The eruption occurred close to the massive Pine Island Glacier, an area where movement of glacial ice towards the sea has been accelerating alarmingly in recent decades. Co-researcher Hugh Corr states: "We believe this was the biggest eruption in Antarctica during the last 10,000 years. It blew a substantial hole in the icesheet and generated a plume of ash and gas that rose around 12 kms (eight miles) into the air."Volcanic heat could still be melting ice to water and contributing to thinning and speeding up of the Pine Island glacier, which passes nearby. Vaughan suggests the heat from volcanoes is the cause of glacier melt. This report adds another damaging blow to the Al Gore regime.