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CATEGORIES:Scott Polar Research Institute - Polar Physical Sc
 iences Seminar
SUMMARY:Sub ice volcanism\, ice sheets and global change -
  Prof John Smellie\, University of Leicester
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20120502T163000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20120502T173000
UID:TALK34004AThttp://talks.cam.ac.uk
URL:http://talks.cam.ac.uk/talk/index/34004
DESCRIPTION:Other than in response to mitigating the impacts o
 f modern eruptions (e.g. Eyjafjallajökull (Iceland
 ) in 2010)\, the products of volcanism are general
 ly neglected in environmental studies. This is als
 o true for studies of palaeoenvironments\, where v
 olcanism is not often considered a first line of a
 ttack. However\, Antarctica is host to numerous vo
 lcanoes that were constructed over the past 25 mil
 lion years. They were erupted in association with 
 a coeval ice sheet\, and Antarctica contains the w
 orld’s largest and longest-lived glaciovolcanic pr
 ovince. Glaciovolcanic studies have advanced out o
 f all recognition over the past 10 years and they 
 are now a major new proxy methodology that can yie
 ld a much wider and more quantitative range of cri
 tical parameters of past ice sheets than any other
  palaeoenvironmental methodology. They provide a u
 nique ultra-proximal terrestrial record of equal i
 mportance to results of more distally situated hig
 her-resolution marine sedimentary studies\, which 
 are obtained by offshore drilling at a substantial
 ly higher cost. Historically\, glaciovolcanic sequ
 ences provided the earliest evidence for a pre-Qua
 ternary ice sheet in Antarctica\, and subglacial v
 olcano(es) might today be influencing ice sheet st
 ability by lubricating sensitive parts of the West
  Antarctic Ice Sheet. This talk will use examples 
 of selected mature studies of Antarctic glaciovolc
 anism to demonstrate how they are at last beginnin
 g to be used to reconstruct parts of the Neogene A
 ntarctic Ice Sheet (AIS) in far greater detail tha
 n was previously possible. Critical parameters tha
 t can be routinely deduced include basal thermal r
 egime and (uniquely) ice thickness\, knowledge of 
 which is a fundamental prerequisite for making acc
 urate estimates of past ice volumes and showing ho
 w those volumes fluctuated with time. Studies such
  as these are important in assessing the stability
  of the AIS under the current phase of climate war
 ming\, and ultimately to calculate much more relia
 bly the possible impacts on eustasy. Thus glaciovo
 lcanic investigations in Antarctica are likely to 
 make major contributions to our understanding of t
 he global impact of the world’s largest & longest-
 lived ice sheet.
LOCATION:Scott Polar Research Institute\, main lecture thea
 tre
CONTACT:Steven Palmer
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