Experts Know Why Massive Volcanic Eruptions Spread From Greenland to Scotland 60 Million Years Ago

While natural disasters are all extremely heartbreaking, a few of them are so powerful and dramatic that they become a topic of conversation for millions of years. A few such examples are massive volcanic eruptions​, dangerous earthquakes, and the impact of asteroids. These events also leave behind certain clues in the surrounding rocks and landscapes, helping scientists to study them even after centuries. In one such instance, a team of researchers from the University of Cambridge has now uncovered the secrets of a volcanic event that reportedly occurred millions of years ago. This discovery has helped scientists to better understand the natural forces that have shaped our planet into what it is today.

Around 60 million years ago, a massive upwelling of hot rock from deep beneath the surface of Iceland sparked volcanic eruptions across the North Atlantic, spreading from Greenland to Ireland and Scotland. For several years, scientists have been struggling to understand why these eruptions were so widespread, and the recent research has suggested that variations in the thickness of tectonic plates in the said region may be the answer for it, as reported by Science Daily. Raffaele Bonadio, a geophysicist, focused solely on Scotland and Ireland, using seismic data and computer imaging to look deep beneath the Earth's surface.

His team also measured the thickness and temperature of the tectonic plates and found that such aggressive volcanic eruptions happened at places where the lithosphere was thinner and weaker. Bonadio said, "We see ancient volcanoes concentrated within this corridor of thin lithosphere beneath the Irish Sea and surrounding areas." Sergei Lebedev, another expert from the University of Cambridge, also spoke about this and said, "Hot plume material eroded the lithosphere in this region. This resulting combination of thin lithosphere, hot asthenosphere, and decompression melting likely caused the uplift and volcanic activity."

Moving ahead, Lebedev also claimed, "In Britain and Ireland, the greatest supply of heat from the Earth's mantle is in the same places where volcanoes erupted sixty million years ago, and where the lithosphere is thinner.” The findings of the research were revealed in a study titled, ‘Volcanism and long-term seismicity controlled by plume-induced plate thinning,’ which was published by the journal Nature Communications. The team analyzed satellite data, seismic signals, and geological surveys in detail to get a clear understanding of how the Icelandic mantle plume caused the massive eruptions.

Meanwhile, the recent study also analyzes how these massive volcanic events may have an impact on the planet’s climatic conditions even today. It is well-known that when vast volcanic regions, such as the Icelandic plume, erupt, they release huge amounts of harmful gases like carbon dioxide into the Earth’s atmosphere. Therefore, this might have led to long-term global warming and might have been the reason for mass extinction in the area. Moreover, eruptions also spew sulfur aerosols that can block the sunlight and temporarily cool the Earth, causing a natural phenomenon called the ‘volcanic winters,’ as reported by the Daily Galaxy.