The scientists from the British Antarctic Survey have reported in the journal Nature Geosciences the discovery of the first evidence of a volcanic eruption from beneath Antarctica’s most rapidly changing ice sheet.

Using airborne ice-sounding radar, the scientists from the British Antarctic Survey discovered a layer of ash produced by a "subglacial" volcano.

The volcano is located beneath the West Antarctic ice sheet in the Hudson Mountains at latitude 74.6°South, longitude 97°West.

Volcanoes are an important component of the Antarctic region. They formed in diverse tectonic settings, mainly as a result of mantle plumes acting on the stationary Antarctic plate. The region also includes some of the world's best examples of a long-lived continental margin arc (Antarctic Peninsula), a very young marginal basin (Bransfield Strait) and an oceanic island arc (South Sandwich Islands). Many extinct volcanoes are very well preserved and others are still active (e.g. Deception Island, Mount Erebus, and the South Sandwich Islands).

“The discovery of a ‘subglacial’ volcanic eruption from beneath the Antarctic ice sheet is unique in itself. 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," said lead author, Hugh Corr. "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 kilometers into air.”

On the other hand, co-author Professor David Vaughan (BAS) explained that the new discovery cannot explain the more widespread thinning of West Antarctic glaciers that together are contributing nearly 0.2 millimeters per year to the rise of the sea-level.

“This wider change most probably has its origin in warming ocean waters”, he said.