Antarctica 207 B.C. - One of the Planet's Most Massive Volcanic Explosions Still Detectable

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Two British researchers contend that a volcano violently erupted around 2,000 years ago and blew a large hole through the ice sheet in West Antarctic at around the year 207 B.C., and scientists confirm it was the largest volcanic eruption in Antarctica over the last 10,000 years. The force of its eruption threw a plume of debris (ash, dust, and other materials) into the atmosphere—they think it went about 7.5 miles, or 12 kilometers high—which returned to Earth as a large elliptical-shaped layer of debris still detectable today—as a suspension within the ice—with their powerful radar instruments.

“The discovery of a ‘subglacial’ volcanic eruption from beneath the Antarctic ice sheet is unique in itself, Hugh F.J. Corr of the British Antarctic Survey stated. "But our techniques also allow us to put a date on the eruption, determine how powerful it was and map out the area where ash fell. We believe this was the biggest eruption in Antarctica during the last 10,000 years. It blew a substantial hole in the ice sheet, and generated a plume of ash and gas that rose around 12 km into air.”

Corr and David G. Vaughan, both with the British Antarctic Survey , Natural Environment Research Council (Cambridge, England), used a high-tech airborne ice-sounding radar system to make their unique discovery as they flew over the Hudson Mountains, the dividing line between the East Antarctic ice sheet and the West Antarctic ice sheet.

During their flight they detected a debris field that was about 12,300 square miles (23,000 square kilometers) in area and approximately 330 to 2,300 feet (100 to 700 meters) beneath the ice surface. It is described as an area larger than the country of Wales.

Corr and Vaughan state that the subglacial volcano lies on a tectonic rift beneath the icy surface of Antarctica. They think the volcano is about 330 feet (100 meters) under the surface of the ice and is about 3,300 feet (1,000 meters) in height from its base.

Posted by Casey Kazan. Adapted from a British Antarctic Survey release.

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