Volcanism in Antarctica: 200 Million Years of Subduction, Rifting and Continental Break-up
CONTAINS OPEN ACCESS

This memoir is the first to review all of Antarctica's volcanism between 200 million years ago and the Present. The region is still volcanically active. The volume is an amalgamation of in-depth syntheses, which are presented within distinctly different tectonic settings. Each is described in terms of (1) the volcanology and eruptive palaeoenvironments; (2) petrology and origin of magma; and (3) active volcanism, including tephrochronology. Important volcanic episodes include: astonishingly voluminous mafic and felsic volcanic deposits associated with the Jurassic break-up of Gondwana; the construction and progressive demise of a major Jurassic to Present continental arc, including back-arc alkaline basalts and volcanism in a young ensialic marginal basin; Miocene to Pleistocene mafic volcanism associated with post-subduction slab-window formation; numerous Neogene alkaline volcanoes, including the massive Erebus volcano and its persistent phonolitic lava lake, that are widely distributed within and adjacent to one of the world's major zones of lithospheric extension (the West Antarctic Rift System); and very young ultrapotassic volcanism erupted subglacially and forming a world-wide type example (Gaussberg).
Chapter 7.5 Active subglacial volcanism in West Antarctica
Correspondence: [email protected]
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Published:May 27, 2021
Abstract
A combination of aerogeophysics, seismic observations and direct observation from ice cores, and subglacial sampling, has revealed at least 21 sites under the West Antarctic Ice Sheet consistent with active volcanism (where active is defined as volcanism that has interacted with the current manifestation of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet). Coverage of these datasets is heterogeneous, potentially biasing the apparent distribution of these features. Also, the products of volcanic activity under thinner ice characterized by relatively fast flow are more prone to erosion and removal by the ice sheet, and therefore potentially under-represented. Unsurprisingly, the sites of active subglacial volcanism that we have identified often overlap with areas of relatively thick ice and slow ice surface flow, both of which are critical conditions for the preservation of volcanic records. Overall, we find the majority of active subglacial volcanic sites in West Antarctica concentrate strongly along the crustal-thickness gradients bounding the central West Antarctic Rift System, complemented by intra-rift sites associated with the Amundsen Sea–Siple Coast lithospheric transition.
- Antarctic ice sheet
- Antarctica
- buried features
- Cenozoic
- crust
- detection
- dielectric constant
- eruptions
- geophysical methods
- geophysical profiles
- geophysical surveys
- glacial geology
- gravity field
- ice cores
- ice sheets
- ice streams
- lithosphere
- magma chambers
- magmas
- magnetic anomalies
- magnetic field
- Marie Byrd Land
- plate boundaries
- plate tectonics
- Quaternary
- radar methods
- seismicity
- stress
- subglacial processes
- surveys
- thermal anomalies
- volcanic features
- volcanism
- volcanoes
- West Antarctic ice sheet
- West Antarctica
- Thwaites Glacier
- West Antarctic Rift System
- ice-penetrating radar
- Kamb ice stream
- Mount Casertz
- Mount Resnik
- Mount Thiel