It's also been active for over a million years and carries more carbon dioxide with its magma than many other volcanoes. It's an unusual volcano and a unique natural laboratory because of the football field-sized lava lake in its summit crater. Erebus and the conduit that brings hot magma to Earth's surface. “Understanding the controls and geometry of magma movements might also improve regional exploration models for rare elements that we need for everyday life.” Getting a peek behind the curtainĪ schematic of the plumbing beneath Mt. “Rift systems such as Mount Erebus have, in some geological intervals, emitted climate-forcing levels of carbon dioxide,” Wannamaker said. Studying Erebus's plumbing also helps geologists understand how rare chemical elements may make it from Earth's mantle to its surface, according to Phil Wannamaker, a geologist at the University of Utah and co-author of the study. The lava lake at Erebus is one of only a handful on Earth, so any insight into its workings helps scientists better understand how these unusual features form. This process helps keep the magma hot, dry and runny, which may explain why Erebus has small, gassy eruptions and how its lava lake has persisted for decades. The nozzle pushes small amounts of magma and carbon dioxide to the surface in pulses, rather than allowing them to flow continuously. The fault valve acts like a nozzle that controls the flow of magma and gas upward into Erebus's open lava lake. About 15 kilometers below the volcano, the tube narrows and turns slightly eastward, creating a structure geologists call a fault valve. The images show a nearly vertical tube of magma that extends about 100 kilometers down into the mantle. Scientists recently published the first three-dimensional schematics of Erebus's magma chamber, the conduit that brings melted rock from Earth's mantle up to the surface. Erebus, according to new research that illustrates the plumbing below Earth's southernmost active volcano for the first time.
Antarctic Program will greatly miss his leadership, his research, and his humor.Ī 20-kilometer-wide tube of melted rock feeds the lava lake at Mt. Wannamaker was active in basic and applied geophysical research and the U.S. Wannamaker, quoted as part of this article, passed away in Salt Lake City, Utah. It is with great sadness we report that on Monday AugDr.
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