Record-breaking swarm of earthquakes hits Antarctica as a sleeping volcano awakens

A deep underwater volcano near Antarctica has awakened, causing a swarm of 85,000 earthquakes to erupt.

The swarm, which began in August 2020 and subsided by November of that year, is the strongest earthquake activity ever recorded in the area. New research has found that the quakes were most likely caused by a “finger” of hot magma burrowing into the Earth’s crust.

“There have been similar intrusions elsewhere on Earth, but this is the first time we’ve observed them there,” study co-author Simon Siska, a seismologist at the German GFZ Research Center for Geosciences in Potsdam, told Live Science.

“These processes typically occur over geological timescales,” Cesca said, as opposed to the course of a human lifespan. “So in a way, we’re lucky to see this.”

The swarm occurred around the offshore Mount Orca, an inactive volcano rising 2,950 feet (900 meters) from the sea floor in the Bransfield Strait, a narrow passage between the South Shetland Islands and the northwest tip of Antarctica.

In this region, the Phoenix tectonic plate sinks beneath the Antarctic continental plate, creating a network of fault zones, stretching some parts of the crust and opening faults elsewhere, according to a 2018 study in the journal Polar Science.

Scientists at research stations on King George Island, one of the South Shetland Islands, were the first to feel the rumble of small earthquakes. Word soon returned to Cesca and his colleagues around the world, some of whom were collaborating on separate projects with researchers on the island.

Siska said the team wanted to understand what was going on, but King George Island is far away, with only two seismic stations nearby. So the researchers used data from those seismic stations, as well as data from two Global Satellite Navigation System ground stations, to measure Earth’s displacement.

The study authors reported April 11 in the journal Communications Earth & Environment that they also looked at data from more distant seismic stations and from Earth-orbiting satellites that use radar to measure ground-level shift.

The stations nearby are rather simple, but they were good for detecting the smallest earthquakes. Meanwhile, remote stations use more sophisticated equipment and can thus paint a more detailed picture of larger earthquakes.

By putting this data together, Siska said, the team was able to build a picture of the underlying geology that caused this massive earthquake swarm.

The two largest in the series were a 5.9-magnitude quake in October 2020 and a 6.0-magnitude quake in November. After the November earthquake, seismic activity waned. The study found that the earthquakes appeared to have moved the ground on King George Island by about 4.3 inches (11 cm).

Only 4 percent of this displacement can be directly explained by the earthquake; Scientists suspect that the movement of magma in the crust is largely responsible for the Earth’s dramatic transformation.

“What we think is that Fate 6 somehow created some fractures and lowered the pressure of the magma dam,” Siska said.

Siska added that if an underwater volcanic eruption occurred at the seamount, it likely would have occurred at that time.

But so far, there is no direct evidence of a volcanic eruption. To confirm that the massive shield volcano blew up its summit, scientists will have to send a mission into the strait to measure bathymetry, or the depth of the sea floor, and compare it to historical maps, he said.

Related content:

The deepest earthquake ever detected should have been impossible

This article was originally published by Live Science. Read the original article here.

What Are The Main Benefits Of Comparing Car Insurance Quotes Online

LOS ANGELES, CA / ACCESSWIRE / June 24, 2020, / Compare-autoinsurance.Org has launched a new blog post that presents the main benefits of comparing multiple car insurance quotes. For more info and free online quotes, please visit https://compare-autoinsurance.Org/the-advantages-of-comparing-prices-with-car-insurance-quotes-online/ The modern society has numerous technological advantages. One important advantage is the speed at which information is sent and received. With the help of the internet, the shopping habits of many persons have drastically changed. The car insurance industry hasn't remained untouched by these changes. On the internet, drivers can compare insurance prices and find out which sellers have the best offers. View photos The advantages of comparing online car insurance quotes are the following: Online quotes can be obtained from anywhere and at any time. Unlike physical insurance agencies, websites don't have a specific schedule and they are available at any time. Drivers that have busy working schedules, can compare quotes from anywhere and at any time, even at midnight. Multiple choices. Almost all insurance providers, no matter if they are well-known brands or just local insurers, have an online presence. Online quotes will allow policyholders the chance to discover multiple insurance companies and check their prices. Drivers are no longer required to get quotes from just a few known insurance companies. Also, local and regional insurers can provide lower insurance rates for the same services. Accurate insurance estimates. Online quotes can only be accurate if the customers provide accurate and real info about their car models and driving history. Lying about past driving incidents can make the price estimates to be lower, but when dealing with an insurance company lying to them is useless. Usually, insurance companies will do research about a potential customer before granting him coverage. Online quotes can be sorted easily. Although drivers are recommended to not choose a policy just based on its price, drivers can easily sort quotes by insurance price. Using brokerage websites will allow drivers to get quotes from multiple insurers, thus making the comparison faster and easier. For additional info, money-saving tips, and free car insurance quotes, visit https://compare-autoinsurance.Org/ Compare-autoinsurance.Org is an online provider of life, home, health, and auto insurance quotes. This website is unique because it does not simply stick to one kind of insurance provider, but brings the clients the best deals from many different online insurance carriers. In this way, clients have access to offers from multiple carriers all in one place: this website. On this site, customers have access to quotes for insurance plans from various agencies, such as local or nationwide agencies, brand names insurance companies, etc. "Online quotes can easily help drivers obtain better car insurance deals. All they have to do is to complete an online form with accurate and real info, then compare prices", said Russell Rabichev, Marketing Director of Internet Marketing Company. CONTACT: Company Name: Internet Marketing CompanyPerson for contact Name: Gurgu CPhone Number: (818) 359-3898Email: [email protected]: https://compare-autoinsurance.Org/ SOURCE: Compare-autoinsurance.Org View source version on accesswire.Com:https://www.Accesswire.Com/595055/What-Are-The-Main-Benefits-Of-Comparing-Car-Insurance-Quotes-Online View photos