Geothermal heat under Greenland glacier?

Indicators of geothermal heat under the Greenland glacier

Vísbendingar um jarðhita undir Grænlandsjökli

RUV,

17 July, 2017

Steamers rising from the Greenland glacier could be a sign of geothermal heat under the glacier. If so, it is much about ideas and theories about the Earth's crust in Greenland, according to volcanologists.

"Men have not noticed this until now. There's something going on there. We just do not know what it is, "says Haraldur Sigurðsson, volcanologist, who discusses the steam bulbs on his website.

The picture above was taken last week when Icelandair's airline flew over Greenland to 10.4 km. There, there are tall steam bubbles rising from the crack in the glacier and heading to the sky some west of Kúlusuk.

Think the plane would have snapped

"This was first noticed at the end of April. Then a plane flew across the glacier. 75 km from Kúlusuk they saw the columns. First, they thought that this would have been a plane that would have scratched, because there were crates that came up. They took a picture out of the window on the machine, "says Haraldur.

After that, Haraldur began to encourage pilots flying over the area to keep their eyes open. "One of them wants to get a picture now for five days of the same place. And then the phenomenon is the same, nothing changed. The picture is taken from a height of 10.4 km, yet it is clear, "says Haraldur.

A huge question mark

"But now we know nothing more. No one has come to the place, "says Haraldur, claiming that he is ready to go out on the spot to investigate the subject. "This is just one giant question mark. Hopefully you will get answers soon. "

Haraldur says that two explanations are particularly relevant. "One is that there is a potential geothermal surface that is on the surface, but we know that the glacier is high at 2 km in thickness in this area. If it were geothermal he would be extremely powerful to bring steam up there, "he says.

Tröllauknir waterfalls

Another explanation is that the bulbs are associated with melting on the glacier and are sprayed by huge waterfalls that fall down through cracks and down the glacier.