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scientist may have by chance discovered magma bubbling beneath a volcanoless realm of Alaska .
Many geologists have long thoughtthat the highest peak in North America , Denali(formerly know as Mount McKinley ) , should be avolcano , because it ’s positioned just 60 miles ( 100 kilometers ) above one of the most active demerit zones in the U.S. Yet , despite being bordered by volcano to its eastern United States and west , this domain has not shown the telltale sign of molten rock or hot springs at its aerofoil . This incite a soubriquet for the region : the Denali volcanic break .
Magma may have been discovered in a volcano-ness region known as the Denali volcanic gap.
However , a team studying seismal activity in the arena lately unveil grounds of a magma reservoir about 7 miles ( 11 km ) beneath the Earth’s surface , agree to a study published in December 2023 in theJournal of Geophysical Research : Solid Earth .
" Denali is fix above a downgoing subducting plate , and in most architectonic scene on Earth like this , you have volcanoes at the surface , such as Chile , Mexico , Pacific Northwest , and most of the Aleutians , " discipline authorCarl Tape , a professor of geophysics at the University of Alaska Fairbanks , told Live Science in an email . " We were surprised , though not shock " to find grounds of the magma , he said .
In 2019 , Tape and his team guide to the Denali volcanic crack area to accumulate data following a order of magnitude 7.1 temblor thathit Anchorage in November 2018and was gestate to produce a series of aftershocks . They site hundred of seismometers ( instruments that measure ground motion in the earth ) along the main road near the Denali fault and a few directly above the fault . This allowed the squad to collect transcription of local and removed earthquakes that could be used to document the variations of the impudence and uppermost Mickey Charles Mantle of the Alaskasubduction zone .
The team deployed seismometers around the Denali fault after an earthquake in the region, and accidentally found what appears to be a magma reservoir.
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" Amazingly , theEarthis in a invariant Department of State of ambient ground motion , " Tape enounce . This is principally cause by ocean waves interacting and send force play down to the seafloor . " These randomly propagating waves can be used to envision the subsurface property of the Earth , " Tape said .
Then , while they were sieve through their data point , the researcher noticed a " seismic - velocity unusual person " — an area where the wave slack down as they passed through the ground . This speckle most likely bespeak the presence of a reservoir of slow - moving , molten magma , according to the subject area .
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" This particular anomaly lie in the crust below two unusual volcanic deposits ( Buzzard [ Creek ] Maars and Jumbo Dome ) and above where the subducting slab dip into the chimneypiece , " Tape said . In the past , scientistshave found rocksin the Denali volcanic gap with the same chemical signatures as volcano in the Aleutian Arc , which spans around 1,550 air mile ( 2,500 km ) along the Bering Sea and Alaskan mainland .
It is crucial to mention that this amount of magma and the size of it of the volcano here are much smaller than the volcano in the active part of the volcanic bow , Dennis Newell , a geochemist at Utah State University who was not involve in the cogitation , tell Live Science in an email . He added that this could be fluids other than magma , or a intermixture of other fluid and magma .
To substantiate the front of magma , scientists will require a clearer image of the anomaly , which will necessitate them to set up seismic monitoring instruments straight above the mystery spot — a difficult exploit in the treacherous terrain of inland Alaska .
" The next phase — getting off the main road and into this rugged land — will be much more complicated , " Tape said .
