The new crust formed over the course of just a few weeks, the rise of the layer was followed by a volcanic eruption

Dec 16, 2014 09:38 GMT  ·  By

Earlier this year, our planet felt like a makeover and got itself a brand new layer. The crust fragment, whose formation was documented by researcher Andy Hooper with the University of Leeds in the UK and his colleagues, came into being under a volcano.

In a paper published in the journal Nature, the scientists detail that the volcano in question goes by the name of Bárðarbunga. It sits under the Vatnajökull ice cap in Iceland, which happens to be the second largest ice cap in Europe by volume.

The new layer formed over a fairly short timespan. More precisely, Andy Hooper and fellow researchers explain that it was born in the weeks leading up to a volcanic eruption. The scientists say that it is the first crust fragment whose formation has until now been studied using GPS and satellite radar.

How volcanic eruptions birth new Earth layers

Writing in the journal Nature, the University of Leeds specialists behind this research project explain that Iceland's Bárðarbunga started acting out back in August. At that time, magma emerged from deep inside our planet and started flowing away from the volcano.

The scientists go on to detail that the magma worked its way through whatever cracks in the ground it managed to find in the proximity of the volcano. While busy engulfing the local landscape, it started to cool and eventually formed sheets of rock.

These sheets set up camp in the cracks in the ground that the magma reached and filled, and pushed the already existing rock body apart. Mind you, the magma Iceland's Bárðarbunga volcano started coughing out in August even pushed through several natural barriers.

Specialist Andy Hooped and fellow researchers claim that, by the time the volcano actually erupted, magma originating from it had come to cover a distance of about 45 kilometers (about 28 miles). While journeying farther away from Bárðarbunga, the molten rock ended up birthing a new crust fragment.

It's not often that researchers document such phenomena

The University of Leeds researchers show that, although the scientific community is no stranger to such phenomena, the fact of the matter is that they are not all that often properly documented and studied. This is because most processes of layer formation occur in the deep ocean.

“New crust forms where two tectonic plates are moving away from each other. Mostly this happens beneath the oceans, where it is difficult to observe,” specialist Andy Hooper explained in an interview.

“However, in Iceland this happens beneath dry land. The events leading to the eruption in August 2014 are the first time that such a rifting episode has occurred there and been observed with modern tools, like GPS and satellite radar,” he added.

While flowing across Iceland, magma from the Bárðarbunga volcano not only formed a new crust fragment, but also created so-called ice cauldrons, which are basically depressions in the ice that came into contact with it and partly melted as a result.

Besides, specialists say that, according to data at hand, this most recent volcanic event caused the ice present in Bárðarbunga’s crater to sink by about 16 meters (52.5 feet). It is believed that this happened because, as magma worked its way out of the volcano's entrails, Bárðarbunga’s floor collapsed.

Scientists study new Earth layer in Iceland (5 Images)

In August, Earth got a brand new crust fragment
The layer formed in Iceland in the weeks leading up to a volcanic eruptionFaults and two active eruptive fissures
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