A team of researchers understands more about the melting of the Greenland ice sheet. They discovered a flow of hot rocks, known as a mantle plume, rising from the core-mantle boundary beneath central Greenland that melts the ice from below.
A team of researchers understands more about the melting of the Greenland ice sheet. They discovered a flow of hot rocks, known as a mantle plume, rising from the core-mantle boundary beneath central Greenland that melts the ice from below.
The results of their two-part study were published in the Journal of Geophysical Research.
"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.
The North Atlantic region is awash with geothermal activity. Iceland and Jan Mayen contain active volcanoes with their own distinct mantle plumes, whilst Svalbard - a Norwegian archipelago in the Arctic Ocean - is a geothermal area. However, the origin of these activities and their interconnectedness has largely been unexplored.
Read more: Tohoku University
A seismic station on the Greenland Ice Sheet installed by authors. Snow accumulation in one year is ~1.5 m, and the solar panels are buried in the snow. Snow removal and maintenance are done manually by several people. (Photo Credit: Genti Toyokuni)
