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Volcanic eruptions may be terrifying, deadly, and wreak havoc on transatlantic air travel,
but they can also show us how the Earth’s crust regenerates.
Hey guys, Amy here for DNews.
We might not think about it, but beneath our feet the Earth is a really active planet.
The crust, the most superficial layer of the planet, constantly regenerates.
Molten rock in the mantle forms vertical sheet-like structures called dykes, and as these rise,
they force surface rock apart, typically where two plates are moving away from one another.
This creates a new portion of crust, but it usually happens beneath the oceans where we
can’t see it.
But the Bárðarbunga [BARTHAR BOONKA] volcano in Iceland, which is buried beneath the Vatnajökull
[VATNA yukuk] ice cap, has recently become active enough to offer scientists a rare chance
to see this resurfacing process in action.
The volcano reawakened in August 2014, and scientists have been monitoring the magma
flow in the surrounding area using GPS and satellites.
Specifically, scientists were able to track the path of the moving magma for some 28 miles
before it reached a point where the volcano began to erupt.
The slow, long movement of magma comes down to the way these dykes form and behave.
Dykes form in segments, moving along the path of least resistance and breaking through cracks
in rocks as the pressure from beneath builds.
This means that the pressure from the mantle as dykes form can spread out under something
like a volcano and rise to the surface at points where there are breaks in the crust.
In the case of the volcano in Iceland, scientists actually measured a dyke change directions
at one point, yielding to the influence of plate tectonics.
They also uncovered the existence of ice cauldrons, which are depressions in the glacier ice that
had been melted by magma.
So the active Earth resurfacing itself all comes down to magma breaking through the pressure
of rock and ice while responding to the pull of plates moving apart.
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So what do you guys think about the awesome, if slow, way our planet resurfaces itself?
Let us know in the comments below or you can catch me on Twitter as @astVintageSpace.
And don’t forget to subscribe for more DNews every day of the week.