#ARCTIC. #SIBERIA. THIS IS TAIMYR. Researchers from the UK and the US have discovered that glaciers in the vicinity of active volcanoes move about 46 percent faster than in neighboring regions of the planet, which can be used to predict new lava flows and emissions of volcanic gases and ash, the University of Birmingham’s press service reported.
“Ice cover usually interferes with volcano observations. Our measurements and calculations show that satellite observations of glacier movement speed can form the basis for new approaches to tracking volcanic activity and predicting imminent volcanic eruptions”, said Joseph Mallalileu, a research fellow at the University of Birmingham, whose words are quoted by the university’s press service.
Mallalileu and his colleagues came to this conclusion as part of a global project to study the speed of movement of all the largest glaciers on Earth. To obtain such information, scientists analyzed satellite images of 217 thousand ice massifs obtained in different years and determined how the position of different sections of ice on their territory shifted, TASS writes.
During the subsequent analysis of the global map of glacier movement, specialists discovered that the speed of different sections of ice massifs depended heavily on how close they were to active volcanoes. On average, they moved 46 percent faster than neighboring regions of the ice surface if they were located five kilometers or less from the centers of volcanic activity.
At the same time, scientists noted that such a sharp acceleration in the speed of glacier movement in many cases begins several months before the active phase of a volcanic eruption. This allows for early evacuation of people and the implementation of other measures necessary to protect people and infrastructure from the effects of lava flows and emissions of volcanic gases and ash.
Earlier, This Is Taimyr reported that Mesyatsev island had disappeared in the Arctic.
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Text: Polina Bardik, Photo: Denis Kozhevnikov
