Large Lake Discovered Below Volcano In Bolivia
Scientist from university of Bristol, Canada, France, Germany and Wales have discovered an unexpected “lake” below a dormant volcano in Bolivia, South America.
Science Daily reports that the body of water which is dissolved into partially molten rock at a temperature of about a thousand degree Celsius is the equivalent to what is found in some of the world's giant freshwater “lakes”, like “Lake” Superior. Professor Jon Blundy (School of Earth Sciences) got involved in an international multi-disciplinary research project at Cerro Uturuncu volcano in Bolivian Altiplano.
The Professor said the Bolivian Altiplano has been the site of extensive volcanism over past 10 million years, although there have been no current active volcanoes there.
Bristol Website reports that the Professor said the Altiplano is underlain by a geophysical anomaly at a depth of fifteen kilometers below the earth surface. These anomalies have a volume of one and a half million Cubic kilometers or more and are characterized by reduced seismic wave speeds and increased electrical conductivity. This indicates that there is the presence of molten rock. Professor Jon Blundy also said that the rock is not completely molten, but partial molten. Only about 10 - 20% of the rock is actually liquid and the other parts are solid. The rock at these depths is at a temperature of about 970°C.
NDTV also reports that in order to characterize the partially molten region, the team performed high temperature and pressure experiments at the University of Orleans in France. The experiment measured the electrical conductivity of the molten rock in the anomalous region and concluded that there have to be about 8 to 10% of water dissolved in the silicate melt.
Professor Jon Blundy said “It agrees with estimates made for the volcanic rocks of Uturuncu using high temperature and pressure experiments to match the chemical composition of crystals."
