Thursday, August 04, 2016

Geosonnet 46



If decompression melting is enhanced
When glacial loads are washed away by rain
Then letting go the ice sheets that advanced
Might wake volcanoes in an arc again.
Unloading helps silicic lavas blow
And then the magma chambers must recharge
Desire for huge eruptions simmers low
Five thousand years ‘till ash beds become large
A glacial load weighs heavy on the soul
Unfreezing lets the middle crust rebound
Explosive lava, free from amphibole
Bursts forth like summer flowers from the ground.
   Frost claims ice will suffice to wreck the world.
   But should it melt, eruptions are unfurled.


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1 comment:

Chris Phoenix said...

I wondered, many years ago, whether rising sea levels could trigger earthquakes (and maybe volcanoes) around the Pacific Rim, the way filling a reservoir can trigger earthquakes.

Since then, I've read that island volcano activity has been correlated with tides.

I know it's not the same as this paper, but it's at least tangentially related.