There is a chain of underwater volcanoes off the Pennell Coast in southern Antarctica, in the area where the circumantarctic currents of the Southern Ocean meet the waters of the Ross Sea.
The first clues of its existence date back to February 2023 and now confirmation has arrived from the geological and geophysical research conducted by researchers on board the Italian icebreaker 'Laura Bassi', of the National Institute of Oceanography and Experimental Geophysics, Ogs, in scope of the international Boost project financed by the National Antarctic Research Program and coordinated by the University of Genoa.
About 50 kilometers long and with a maximum width of 15 kilometers, the mountain range reaches 1,500 meters, which remains hidden under the sea.
Studying it is useful for understanding the global changes that characterize the evolution of the Earth system, such as the opening of the ocean basins which favored the climatic isolation of Antarctica with the consequent cooling and development of the ice cap starting from around 34 million from years ago.
“The area studied by the project represents a key area for understanding the interaction between the geological processes linked to the movements of the lithospheric plates and the evolution of the Antarctic ice sheets”, observes the scientific manager of the project Laura Crispini, of the University of Genoa .
“In the past – he continues – the area has been almost not investigated at all, above all due to its remote geographical position, often covered by sea ice and characterized by extreme weather and sea conditions”.
The analyzes indicate that in the chain there is a main volcanic complex, which occupies an area of over 500 square kilometers, made up of a set of cones aligned along a north-south direction and a second ridge, again of probable volcanic origin, but of larger dimensions reduced, observes Dario Civile, researcher and head of the Ogs research unit.
“The volcanism appears to be geologically recent, but its origin and age remain to be precisely determined.
The discovery of a young volcanic chain characterized by rising lava and fluids has implications both from a geological and geodynamic point of view, and from a physical/chemical point of view, as well as the composition of the waters and interactions with the biosphere".
The Boost project (Bridging Onshore-Offshore Structures at the Pacific Coast of North Victoria Land, Antarctica: an integrated approach) which sees the University of Genoa as leader, involves researchers from the Ogs of Trieste, the Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources (of Hannover and the University of Roma Tre and the University of Trieste.
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