Amazing Facts About Antarctica
It has an active volcano
Recent earthquakes deep under the ice sheet of West Antarctica have revealed an active volcano. The discovery confirms long-held suspicions that volcanic activity is occurring in the region. While several active volcanoes do poke out from the Antarctic continent’s coast, these are located on offshore islands. However, this is the first time geologists have been able to capture the magma in action so far from the coast. This new discovery may help explain why the ice sheet of Antarctica is so thick.
Scientists have found 91 previously unknown volcanoes, compared to the 47 previously discovered in the past century. These new volcanoes range in height from 100 to 3,850 metres and are covered by ice. Most of the newly discovered volcanic features are concentrated in the west Antarctic rift system, a 3,500 km-long rift zone between the peninsula and the Ross ice shelf. Moreover, some of the new discoveries were spotted during seismic surveys conducted in 2017.