Subglacial Volcanoes

Very little in known about the subglacial volcanoes, which is the reason why they still remain a subject of mystique and intrigue. These volcanoes are restricted to certain areas due to their premise of erupting in glacial regions

Volcanoes remains a subject of great intrigue to everyone. The magnanimity of their eruptions amazes the world at large. Known to change landforms forever, volcanic eruptions are a rare occurrence. However, whenever they erupt, they do conjure memorable chaos. Interestingly, not all volcanic eruptions are of the same type. Some are slow in nature, while some are destructively violent, lighting up the sky and polluting the air for couple of days. Volcanoes are characterized depending on nature of the eruption and location of the eruption. Subglacial volcanoes are the ones that erupt beneath the surface of a glacier sheet. These are also termed as the glaciovolcano. Most of these volcanoes are found near Iceland, Antarctica and some in Canada.

Famous Subglacial Volcanoes

Hayrick Butte

Hayrick Butte, is a flat topped volcano located in the Cascade Range of northern Oregon. It is also known as the tuya volcano, which means that the erupted lava cools down by pervading the surface. This volcanic mountain is located in USA and stretches for 0.5 miles across. It is 700 feet in height from the surface.

Viedma

This volcano is located in Argentina. The eruption took place in 1988 at the Patagonian Icefield. This eruption is known for the large amounts of ash and pumice that it deposited on the ice fields, which reached the Viedma Lake.

Ash Mountain

This is the highest point of Tuya Range in Stikine Ranges. This mountain has been formed as a result of a subglacial eruption, as it stands on a base of pillow lava. When lava consists of pillow shaped objects which are released underwater, it is known as pillow lava. The base of this mountain also consists of loose debris and dikes of basaltic rock.

Chakatah Creek Peak

This is believed to the last of the subglacial eruptions of the Pleistocene period in British Columbia, Canada. This volcano is located in Northern Cordilleran Volcanic Province.

A lot depends on the nature of subglacial eruption. For instance, when the eruption does not even reach the height of the surrounding water, the eruption leads to a subglacial mound. This continues to remain below the surface of the ice until the next eruption, which may the ice sheet. The other type of volcanic eruption is the one that reaches the topmost layer of the ice sheet. This one builds into a mountain top as the lava cools down. The lava that flows around this volcanic vent may be supported by lava pillows and hyaloclastite. The flat topped mountains that are formed due to such an eruption are known as tuyas. They are also referred to as ‘table mountains’. The variations in the shapes of the volcanic mountains is caused to the thickness of the lava. Subglacial eruption have the power to cause great damages to everything around them. They can cause floods, lahars or mudflow, hyaloclastite and pillow lava. The recent subglacial volcanic activity in Iceland has got every hooked on to it. This volcano which lies beneath 2500 feet of ice sheet, known as the Vatnajokull ice cap, which is the biggest ice body in the region.