- 6 weeks ago
Antarctica isn’t just ice — it hides dozens of volcanoes beneath its frozen surface. Some of them sit under massive ice sheets, and if they wake up, they could melt ice fast and flood coastlines worldwide. Scientists worry the chain reaction could mess with oceans, climate, and even Earth’s ability to support life. This isn’t a movie plot, it’s something researchers actively monitor. And in this video, we break down how Antarctic volcanoes work and why they could be far more dangerous than they look. Animation is created by Bright Side.
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This video is made for entertainment purposes. We do not make any warranties about the completeness, safety and reliability. Any action you take upon the information in this video is strictly at your own risk, and we will not be liable for any damages or losses. It is the viewer's responsibility to use judgement, care and precaution if you plan to replicate.
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00:00The largest volcanic region on Earth is not in Africa or Japan, but under the ice of Antarctica.
00:07Scientists found 138 volcanoes in its western part, and if they decide to go wild, you'll surely notice it.
00:14They could melt huge amounts of ice that will move into the ocean, raise its level, and make our planet uninhabitable for humans.
00:21But before you pack your things to fly away to another planet, hear me out.
00:25Only two of the Antarctic volcanoes are officially classified as active now.
00:31And it would take a whole series of eruptions, decade after decade, to seriously impact the whole world.
00:38Mount Erebus, one of the two Antarctic volcanoes currently in action, proudly bears the title of the world's southernmost active one.
00:47It has been continuously erupting since at least 1972.
00:50It emits plumes of gas and steam and sometimes even spews out rocks.
00:55And scientists call it strombolian eruptions.
00:59One of the coolest features is a lava lake in one of its summit craters, with molten material on the surface.
01:05Such lakes are rather rare, because they need certain conditions to make sure the surface never freezes over.
01:11The second active volcano is Deception Island, a horseshoe-shaped landmass.
01:16It is the caldera of an active volcano that last erupted over 50 years ago.
01:22Scientists who monitor it say it shouldn't go wild anytime soon.
01:26Antarctica also has plenty of fumaroles.
01:29Those are volcanic vents that release gases and vapors into the air.
01:33In the right conditions, they can spew out enough stuff to build fumarolic ice towers up to 10 feet tall.
01:40Scientists keep an eye on the Antarctic volcanoes with seismometers that detect when the Earth starts trembling from volcanic activity.
01:49Sometimes, they also use more complicated tech.
01:52But it's all really challenging because of how far away this polar region is and how tricky it is to get there.
01:58That's why no one can predict when one of the continent's volcanoes that are now sleeping might erupt.
02:04We can guess what this waking up would look like if we analyzed the events from nearly 20,000 years ago.
02:10So, shall we?
02:13One of Antarctica's sleeping volcanoes, Mount Takahe, had a series of eruptions and spewed out a good amount of halogens rich in ozone back then.
02:23Some scientists say these events warmed up the southern hemisphere.
02:27Glaciers started to melt and help finish the last ice age.
02:30For these events to repeat, we'd need a series of eruptions with substances rich in halogens from one or more volcanoes that are now above the ice.
02:39It's an unlikely scenario, but since it already happened in the past, it's not completely impossible.
02:46As for volcanoes hiding under a thick layer of ice, it looks like their gases would hardly make it to the atmosphere.
02:52But they would be strong enough to melt huge caverns in the base of the ice and produce a serious amount of meltwater.
03:00The West Antarctic ice sheet is wet and not frozen to its bed, so this meltwater would work as a lubricant and set the overlying ice into motion soon.
03:10The volume of water that even a large volcano would generate in this way is nothing compared to the volume of ice beneath it.
03:17So, a single eruption wouldn't make a difference.
03:20But several volcanoes erupting close to or beneath any of the western Antarctica's big ice streams would.
03:28Those ice streams are rivers of ice that take most of the frozen water in Antarctica into the ocean.
03:34If they change their speed and bring unusual amounts of water into the ocean, its level will rise.
03:40As the ice would get thinner and thinner, there would be more and more new eruptions.
03:44Scientists call it a runaway effect.
03:47Something like that happened in Iceland.
03:49The number of volcanic eruptions went up when glaciers started to recede at the end of the last ice age.
03:56So, it looks like for massive changes, several powerful volcanoes above the ice with gases full of halogens need to get active within a few decades of each other and stay strong over many tens to hundreds of years.
04:10Antarctica stores around 80% of all the fresh water in the world.
04:14And if they melted all of it, global sea levels would rise by almost 200 feet.
04:20And then we'd have to look for a new planet to live on.
04:23But this again is an unlikely scenario.
04:26It's more likely that the eruptions under the ice will lubricate ice streams and seep water into the ocean.
04:32But it wouldn't be the end of the world.
04:36A super-strong, super-angry supervolcano could do it, though.
04:41And it has already happened in the past.
04:43Over 200 million years ago, the world went through a major makeover with not one, not two, but four massive volcanic eruptions and huge pulses.
04:54The supervolcano, called Camp, had been erupting over and over for 600,000 years.
05:00It all happened in Rangelia, a large chunk of land that used to be a supermassive volcano stretching across what's now British Columbia and Alaska.
05:09And it wasn't the lava or the volcanic ash that ruined the environment.
05:13The eruption made carbon levels skyrocket.
05:16The planet would never be the same again.
05:18This volcanic activity might have helped dinosaurs grow from cat-sized critters into giants we saw in Jurassic Park.
05:26It kicked off a 2-million-year rainy season.
05:28It made the whole world hot and humid.
05:31And the dinos just loved it.
05:33Researchers dug deep into sediment layers beneath an ancient lake in Asia to uncover these secrets.
05:39They found traces of volcanic ash and mercury, clear signs of those epic eruptions.
05:45There were carbon signatures showing huge spikes in carbon dioxide levels.
05:49It made the atmosphere toasty, and the rain poured down.
05:52So, the bad news is, another eruption like this could happen.
05:58The supervolcano beneath Yellowstone National Park has been sleeping for nearly 70,000 years.
06:05But if it wakes up, it would be many times more catastrophic than the eruption of Mount St. Helens in 1980.
06:12It's considered the most disastrous volcanic eruption in U.S. history.
06:15It followed two months of earthquakes and injection of magma below the volcano that weakened and destroyed the entire north face of the mountain.
06:25The eruption column went 80,000 feet into the atmosphere and spread ash over 11 U.S. states and several Canadian provinces.
06:33The last Yellowstone eruption was 1,000 times greater than that.
06:37The ground above Yellowstone sits on a hot spot made of molten and semi-molten rock called magma.
06:44This magma stuff flows into a chamber beneath the park, about 4 to 6 miles down, making the ground puff up like a balloon.
06:52But then, as it cools down, the ground goes back to its usual state.
06:57Volcano watchers have been keeping an eye on this for a century.
06:59They noticed the ground lift up about 10 inches around 20 years ago.
07:04But since 2010, it's been going back down.
07:08The experts say we have no big eruptions on the horizon, so doomsday isn't coming anytime soon.
07:14But there's some underground activity going on lately which keeps us interested.
07:19Since humans haven't been around to witness every little thing Yellowstone does,
07:24it's kind of tough to say for sure what's brewing down there.
07:27Yellowstone has had some epic eruptions within the last couple million years.
07:31They happen like clockwork, with gaps of 600,000 to 800,000 years between them.
07:36The last big one was around 640,000 years ago, and it basically reshaped the entire landscape,
07:43spreading ash and debris as far as Louisiana.
07:46You can still see the aftermath of the last big eruption in the Yellowstone caldera today.
07:52Experts say a massive eruption like the last one is an unlikely scenario.
07:57We're more likely to see eruptions of steam and hot water or lava flows.
08:01When and with what force it will wake up remains a mystery to scientists.
08:07Ooh, mysterious mountain ranges hidden under thousands of tons of ice.
08:12Bizarre, transparent creatures with see-through skin.
08:16Singing snowplanes.
08:17Antarctica has its own terrifying secrets.
08:19And now, a mysterious ice hole the size of Switzerland that keeps popping open.
08:25And scientists have finally figured out why.
08:29This hole, called the Modrise Polignia, was first spotted in 1974 and 1976 in the Weddell Sea.
08:38Since then, it's been kind of playing hard to get.
08:41Sometimes it appears.
08:43Sometimes it disappears for years.
08:45Then, when it does show up, it mysteriously changes size.
08:50For decades, researchers were trying to figure out what makes it form.
08:55Then, in 2016 and 2017, the Polignia went absolutely massive, more than 30,000 square miles.
09:03The hole stuck around for several weeks during winters.
09:07It was the first time since the 1970s that the Weddell Sea had such a huge, long-lasting Polignia.
09:14Here's the deal with Antarctic sea ice.
09:17In summer, the ice is at its smallest, around 1 million square miles.
09:22Yeah, that's considered small.
09:24By winter, it spreads to a whopping 7 million square miles,
09:29covering about 4% of Earth's surface in weird white tiles.
09:34Most of this ice grows during the weeks-long polar night on the floating ice shelves around the continent.
09:40These holes in the ice, called Polignias, usually form when strong winds from inland push the ice tiles apart.
09:48That same cold wind also freezes more seawater inside the hole, adding extra chunks to the ice sheet.
09:56But the Mod Rise Polignia isn't near the coast, where those winds normally help make holes.
10:02Out in the open ocean, holes like this are rare.
10:06Add in the fact that ice across the southern ocean has been shrinking.
10:10No wonder scientists are left bewildered.
10:14What exact conditions are creating this stubborn giant ice hole?
10:18To correct the mystery, the scientists dove into a mountain of data.
10:22Satellites, floating sensors, even info from tagged marine animals.
10:27Plus, they had years of past observations from other researchers.
10:32And they found something unusual.
10:35In 2016 and 2017, the Weddell Sea's circular ocean current, called the Weddell Gyre, was stronger than usual.
10:43That extra punch made it easier for salty, warmer water from deep below to reach the surface.
10:50The Mod Rise Polignia sits above an underwater mountain called Mod Rise.
10:55During those big Polignia years, the stronger current caused salt to gather around this submerged peak.
11:03On the surface, the wind whipped over the ice, creating a corkscrew effect.
11:08It literally pulled that salty water up from below.
11:12The extra salt lowered the freezing point of the surface water, allowing the Mod Rise Polignia to form and stick around.
11:20Polignias are really important for the planet.
11:23The dense, salty water formed in these holes can travel huge distances, spreading across the global ocean and affecting climates everywhere.
11:32But these magnificent holes aren't the only cool and mysterious phenomena Antarctica is famous for.
11:39How about underground lakes?
11:41Or, shall I say, under ice lakes?
11:44Because there are entire lakes hidden under Antarctica's thick ice.
11:48Scientists first found them back in 1970, using radar.
11:52And now they think there are around 400 lakes tucked under around 2 miles of ice in the explored areas.
12:00These lakes likely formed after Antarctica broke off from Gondwanda Land, the ancient supercontinent.
12:08Surprisingly, the water in the lakes doesn't freeze because the ice above presses down too hard.
12:14Hey, it's physics, bro!
12:16The biggest of them all is Lake Vastok, discovered in the 1990s.
12:21It sits a bit more than 2 miles below the ice.
12:25Scientists have drilled down to take samples, and the water they pulled up was about 26 degrees Fahrenheit,
12:32even though the lake had been trapped under ice for over 20 million years.
12:36There's also Lake Williams.
12:39In 2014, scientists made a lit discovery there.
12:43They found a thriving colony of microorganisms nearly a mile under the ice.
12:49Those tiny creatures never saw sunlight or fresh air.
12:53Instead, they used methane and ammonium as energy to grow.
12:58Another marvel hides in plain sight in the McMurdo Dry Valley.
13:03It's a waterfall that looks like something straight out of a horror movie.
13:07Bright, crimson water, like blood gushing from a wound in the ice,
13:12pours down 5 stories from Taylor Glacier into Lake Bonny.
13:17Ooh, spooky.
13:18But there's actually a scientific reason behind it.
13:21The water that feeds blood falls used to be part of a salty lake.
13:25Now, it's completely cut off from the atmosphere because glaciers formed on top of it.
13:32Tracked more than 1,300 feet underground, the water has become super salty.
13:37Three times saltier than seawater, and it can't freeze.
13:41This underground water is also packed with iron and completely lacks oxygen in sunlight.
13:47When it slowly seeps through a crack in the glacier and hits the open air,
13:52the iron oxidizes, basically rusts, and turns the water that eerie dark red.
13:58With such creepy landscapes, Antarctica might look like a frozen wasteland.
14:03Freezing cold, almost no rain, and winds that could knock you off your feet.
14:08The coldest Earth's temperatures ever was recorded there.
14:13Minus 128.6 degrees Fahrenheit.
14:17And still, Antarctica is actually home to some seriously bizarre wildlife.
14:23For the longest time, scientists thought nothing could survive under all that ice.
14:27Turns out, they were very wrong.
14:30There are all sorts of creatures that have adapted to the brutal environment.
14:35Tiny microbes, crustaceans, colossal squid, and spiders so big, their legs could cover a dinner plate.
14:42Giant worms with shiny golden bristles and huge sharp-toothed jaws also lurk under the ice.
14:50And then, there's the ice fish.
14:53A completely see-through fish with huge eyes and organs you can literally see through its skin.
14:59These fish have built-in antifreeze proteins to survive the freezing waters,
15:04and they can't live anywhere warmer.
15:06Even stranger, they don't have hemoglobin, the protein that makes our blood red.
15:12In other words, they survive without the stuff that literally keeps most animals alive.
15:18But Antarctica wasn't always the frozen desert we know today.
15:23Millions of years ago, before the Ice Age, it was actually warm, lush, and full of life.
15:29Maybe even home to ancient civilizations.
15:33Hard to imagine, huh?
15:34Scientists figured this out after finding fossilized wood, tropical tree remains, and leaf impressions,
15:41all pointing to the existence of rainforests.
15:45On top of that, they've uncovered fossils of marine animals, birds, and dinosaurs from the Cretaceous period.
15:52Even tiny creatures left their mark.
15:55Fossilized beetle wings from 14 to 20 million years ago.
15:59Single-cell fossils, and, astonishingly, 50-million-year-old sperm cells preserved in the egg case of an extinct worm.
16:09So, now, it probably won't shock you when I tell you that beneath Antarctica's thick ice sheets,
16:15there's a massive hidden mountain range.
16:18The Gambertzi Mountains stretch for 745 miles and rise to almost 10,000 feet,
16:25about the third the height of Mount Everest.
16:27And all this is buried under between 6,500 to 13,100 feet of ice.
16:35The mountains were discovered in 1958.
16:38Scientists noted a thin patch of ice and some weird gravity readings while crossing the continent.
16:44Even though no one has ever seen those mountains directly,
16:48researchers use radar to map their shape and gravitational and magnetic readings
16:52to study them all the way to their base.
16:55Perhaps the craziest part is that the Gambertzi's are around a billion years old.
17:01So, in theory, they should have eroded away long ago.
17:05How they're still standing is a mystery.
17:08Most scientists think a frozen mantle beneath the ice might be protecting them from erosion,
17:13keeping this ancient range intact.
17:16And finally, Antarctica has its own soundtrack.
17:20The Ross Ice Shelf, the continent's largest ice shelf,
17:24is several hundred feet thick and spreads over 193,000 square miles,
17:29roughly the size of France.
17:31And scientists have recently discovered that this massive ice slab actually sings.
17:37The eerie melody comes from wind blowing over snow dunes,
17:41which creates vibrations in the ice and a nearly continuous seismic hum.
17:47You can't hear it with your ears, but seismic sensors pick up the mournful tune.
17:52In fact, it was discovered by accident.
17:55Scientists just installed special sensors to monitor other ice behaviors.
17:59Now, even cooler, the song changes depending on what's happening on the ice.
18:05Melting, storms, and shifting snow all tweak the vibrations.
18:10Researchers are now using this haunting melody as a kind of early warning system.
18:15They listen to it in real time to track the ice shelf stability and potential collapse.
18:21That's it for today.
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