Monday, January 15, 2007

Volcanoes in Antarctica?!?


Check out this photograph from photojournalist George Steinmetz. Steinmetz specializes in photographing remote (far away) and harsh places. For this assignment, he traveled all the way to Antarctica to take photographs of an active volcano, which appear in the December issue of the Smithsonian magazine.

If you think about it, volcanoes in Antarctica are not all that implausible. Recall from Earth Science that volcanoes typically occur in one of three places: 1) convergent plate boundaries, 2) divergent plate boundaries and 3) hot spots. (Here's a quick refresher on plate tectonics and volcanoes) So Antarctica is probably situated near the boundary between these tectonic plates or near a hot spot.

Antarctica is not only place where you'll find a warm oasis caught in a winter wonderland. Iceland is a volcanic island found on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Even though it's fairly cold all year round, Icelanders take advantage of their geographic location by using hot springs and geysers to provide geothermal energy and year round outdoor bathing!

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