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Synthesis A spaceborne inventory of volcanic activity in Antarctica and southern oceans, 2000–10

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 June 2013

Matthew R. Patrick  and
John L. Smellie
Matthew R. Patrick*
Affiliation:
Hawaiian Volcano Observatory - US Geological Survey, PO Box 51, Hawaii National Park, HI 96718, USA
John L. Smellie
Affiliation:
Department of Geology, University of Leicester, University Road, Leicester LE1 7RH, UK
*
mpatrick@usgs.gov
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Abstract

Of the more than twenty historically active volcanoes in Antarctica and the sub-Antarctic region only two, to our knowledge, host any ground-based monitoring instruments. Moreover, because of their remoteness, most of the volcanoes are seldom visited, thus relegating the monitoring of volcanism in this region almost entirely to satellites. In this study, high temporal resolution satellite data from the Hawaii Institute of Geophysics and Planetology's MODVOLC system using MODIS (Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer) are complemented with high spatial resolution data (ASTER, or Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer, and similar sensors) to document volcanic activity throughout the region during the period 2000–10. Five volcanoes were observed in eruption (Mount Erebus, Mount Belinda, Mount Michael, Heard Island and McDonald Island), which were predominantly low-level and effusive in nature. Mount Belinda produced tephra, building a cinder cone in addition to an extensive lava field. Five volcanoes exhibited detectable thermal, and presumed fumarolic, activity (Deception, Zavodovski, Candlemas, Bristol, and Bellingshausen islands). A minor eruption reported at Marion Island was not detected in our survey due to its small size. This study also discovered a new active vent on Mount Michael, tracked dramatic vent enlargement on Heard Island, and provides an improved picture of the morphology of some of the volcanoes.

Keywords

ASTERfumaroleslava-ice interactionMODISsatellite thermal monitoringvolcano remote sensing
Type
Synthesis
Information
Antarctic Science , Volume 25 , Issue 4 , August 2013 , pp. 475 - 500
Copyright
Copyright © Antarctic Science Ltd 2013 

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