Environment & Energy

Melting glaciers could trigger more explosive eruptions globally, finds research

Research presented at the Goldschmidt Conference in Prague

Reports and Proceedings
European Association of Geochemistry

Melting glaciers may be silently setting the stage for more explosive and frequent volcanic eruptions in the future, according to research on six volcanoes in the Chilean Andes.

Presented today [Tuesday 8 July] at the Goldschmidt Conference in Prague, the study suggests that hundreds of dormant subglacial volcanoes worldwide – particularly in Antarctica – could become more active as climate change accelerates glacier retreat.

The link between retreating glaciers and increased volcanic activity has been known in Iceland since the 1970s, but this is one of the first studies to explore the phenomenon in continental volcanic systems. The findings could help scientists better understand and predict volcanic activity in glacier-covered regions.

Researchers from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA, used argon dating and crystal analysis across six volcanoes in southern Chile, including the now dormant Mocho-Choshuenco volcano, to investigate how the Patagonian Ice Sheet’s advance and retreat influenced past volcanic behaviour. The work is in collaboration with researchers from Lehigh University, University of California Los Angeles, and Dickinson College.

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