From IGY to IPY: Volcanism Associated With the West Antarctic Rift System Interpreted From Geophysical Observations, and Possible Effects on the Stability of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS).
Abstract
Observations from a few oversnow and airborne magnetic profiles acquired over the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) during the International Geophysical Year (1957-58) indicated numerous high amplitude, shallow source, magnetic anomalies over a very extensive area of the presently known West Antarctic rift system. Aeromagnetic surveys over the WAIS in the early 1960s and later combined with radar ice sounding in 1978- 79 defined an area >500,000 km2; these anomalies range from 100->1000 nT as observed ~1 km over the 2-3 km thick moving ice. Behrendt et al, (1962, 1964, 1994, and 2005) and Jankowski et al. (1983) interpreted these anomalies as indicating "volcanic centers." Detailed aeromagnetic and radar ice sounding surveys since 1993 have shown that >80% of these anomaly sources have been modified by the moving ice into which they were injected requiring a younger age than the WAIS (~25 Ma). Behrendt et al., (1994; 2007) conservatively estimated >1 x 106 km3 volume of volcanic sources to account for the area of the "volcanic center" anomalies and suggested the presence of a large igneous province (LIP) if this volume was intruded within a time interval of 1-10 Ma. Active volcanism at a few widely spaced exposures of alkaline volcanic rocks associated with the West Antarctic rift, which extend in age to ~34 Ma in the WAIS area, and interpreted active subglacial volcanism revealed by aerogeophysical data (Blankenship et al., 1993; and Corr and Vaughan, 2008) have raised the question of possible volcanic effects on the regime of the WAIS. Vogel and Tulaczyk (2006) argued that subglacial volcanism may play a "crucial roll" in WAIS stability, but LeMasurier (2008) has discounted this as unlikely. In my presentation I will review the geophysical evidence acquired from the IGY to the IPY, and conclude that whether unlikely or not, future effects on the stability of the WAIS should not be ignored.
- Publication:
-
AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts
- Pub Date:
- December 2008
- Bibcode:
- 2008AGUFM.V11F..01B
- Keywords:
-
- 1000 GEOCHEMISTRY;
- 3600 MINERALOGY AND PETROLOGY;
- 8100 TECTONOPHYSICS;
- 8400 VOLCANOLOGY;
- 9310 Antarctica (4207)