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Home Science Geology

Scientists map the magma plume responsible for geothermal activity in the Arctic

The Arctic may be cold outside, but it's pretty hot beneath the surface.

Mihai Andrei by Mihai Andrei
December 7, 2020
in Geology, News, Physics
Reading Time: 3 mins read
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A seismic station on the Greenland Ice Sheet installed by authors. Snow accumulation in one year is ~1.5 m (~5 ft), and the solar panels are buried in the snow. Snow removal and maintenance are done manually by several people. Image credits: Genti Toyokuni Full size

The North Atlantic region is awash with geothermal activity. Just think of Iceland’s volcanoes and hot springs, and you get a fairly good idea of what’s going on in some of these areas. It’s not just Iceland, either. Svalbard, a Norwegian archipelago in the Arctic, is another area with rich geothermal activity.

But we don’t know all that much about what’s causing this geothermal activity. Geologists are well aware that it’s a magma plume, but not much is known about the size and spread of this plume.

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Now, in a new study, researchers have used seismic data to carry out a seismic tomography and analyze the area in unprecedented detail.

A schematic diagram showing the main tectonic features and mantle plumes beneath Greenland and the surrounding regions. Vp = P wave velocityCMB = the core-mantle boundary. Image credits: Tohoku University

It’s not an easy task. To conduct seismic tomography, you need measuring stations at various points which, in the Arctic, is quite the challenge. Researchers installed seismographs on the Greenland Ice Sheet in 2009, fitting them with solar panels to provide energy. The Greenland Ice Sheet Monitoring Network, a real-time array of 33 stations that monitors Greenland’s earthquakes and icequakes in real-time.

To generate the tomographic scan, you need numerous seismic waves. Researchers then calculate how long the fastest waves (called the P waves) take to reach the station and then calculate their speed. Seismic waves travel at a different speed through different materials — such as a plume, for instance. So you can map an area where waves travel at a plume-like speed and make the reasonable assumption that it is a plume. It’s kind of like how a CT scan works in the body.

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In the end, it proved to be worth it. They were able to define such an area, finding that it rises from the core-mantle boundary, spreading to two branches that supply geothermal heat to Iceland and Svalbard.

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In addition to helping geologists shed new light on one of the more mysterious parts of the Earth’s crust, this study could also help researchers understand how the volcanoes in the Arctic will be affected by processes such as ice melting and sea-level rise.

“Knowledge about the Greenland plume will bolster our understanding of volcanic activities in these regions and the problematic issue of global sea-level rising caused by the melting of the Greenland ice sheet,” said Dr. Genti Toyokuni, co-author of the studies.

Moving on Toyokuni wants to explore the thermal process in even more detail. “This study revealed the larger picture, so examining the plumes at a more localized level will reveal more information.”

Journal Reference: DOI: 10.1029/2020JB019837 / DOI: 10.1029/2020JB019839

Tags: Geologytomography
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Mihai Andrei

Mihai Andrei

Andrei's background is in geophysics, and he's been fascinated by it ever since he was a child. Feeling that there is a gap between scientists and the general audience, he started ZME Science -- and the results are what you see today.

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