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Proposal from
Ms. Stoica's Class
Tudor Vianu National High School of Computer Science
Romania
First
of all we have to say that we are pleased that we took part at
this project, that offered us the chance to improve our knowledge
about Antarctica, but also improved our team working skills.
We
are students at National Highschool of Computer Science Tudor
Vianu, Bucharest, Romania, in 11th form.
We are looking forward to find
more obout this topic but not only, because our hope is to take part at many
others project.
The scientists are outlining a
gloomy image of the future, future that seemingly isn’t too bright
for Antarctica, which in our opinion is one of the most spectacular ecosystems
of our planet. The fascination of Antarctica was the main reason for
which we wish to take part at this project.
All the pictures that are presented on
your web site are truly interesting and two of them have really impressed us
and that will by the pictures of Mount Takahe and the one of the Mesa
mountain in the McKelvey Valley of the Antarctic Dry Valleys. For us was quite
impressive that in Antarctica do exist active volcanoes and dry valleys. Furthermore,
these two photos raised in our minds several questions like: How could exist
active volcanoes in such a place like Antarctica? Or Are the dry valleys
an effect of the global warming? Or If Antarctica is moving are the other continents
doing the same?
The
picture we have chosen to explore and to find more about of that region was the one
of the Mount Takahe. We think this area should be further observed
because it offers the possibility of better understanding this spectacular
ecosystem and, furthermore, the public will become more interested
in investigating this continent.
Nature has proved us, through this image that contrasts, such as worm
and frozen, can be found together in an unexpected place like Antarctica.
That is why, with the help of new technologies and a more detailed research
of this volcano, specialists could discover other unbelievable associations
between two or more of nature’s creations. As we all know, spectacular
discoveries have always represented the key towards a successful beginning
from the public point of view and exploring the depths of Antarctica
could easily become such an example. A better knowledge and understanding
of this continent could bring great satisfactions for our species, especially
in what concerns our future. One of the most present problems nowadays
is represented by global warming, which could probably be prevented if
we were aware of the importance of maintaining a balance in Antartica’s
ecosystems. That’s why we think that a more detailed study of this
continent could help us prevent other possible threats.
We know that Mount Takahe is an isolated
shield volcano in eastern Marie Byrd Land with an 8-km-wide summit caldera.
The massive 780 cu km volcano displays a conical, youthful morphology, and
the oldest dated rocks are only 0.31 million years old. Three samples were
too young to date by Potassium-Argon, and some tephra layers younger than 30,000
years in the Byrd Station ice core are thought to have originated from Mount
Takahe. Two early Holocene phreatomagmatic tephra layers in the Antarctic ice
core were attributed to Mount Takahe (Palais et al., 1988). The latest stage
of activity at Mount Takahe constructed cinder cones on the upper southern
flanks and tuff cones and cinder cones on the lower SW and NE flanks. We also
know that this volcano may have last erupted during the Holocene,
and thus is probably still active, but presently dormant.
Under
the volcano there can be many types of rocks, as eruptions can throw
them towards the surface. The volcanic rocks can also scientifically
prove the age of the region and the existing iced water at the surface
can be relevant in the research of micro-organisms that had existed
there before the ice formed.
After we did some researches on this topic
we found out that the ice feature was created by the interaction of molten
rock and meltwater from the surrounding glacier and the encapsulation of the
volcanic activity by the glacier ice. In Iceland, where landforms formed from
subglacial volcanic activity abound, two distinct types can be recognized:
- landforms resulting from
central eruptions of basaltic lava
- landforms resulting from
linear eruptions of basaltic lava (Williams et al., 1983b)
Volcanic landforms formed
in this way are composed of hyaloclastite breccias and pillow lavas, characteristic
of the so-called Móberg Formation in Icelandic. The linear landforms
are called subglacial or móberg ridges, especially well depicted on
Plate G-15 in the region between the southwestern part of Vatnajökull
and the northeastern part of Myrdalsjökull. The subglacial landform that
results from a subglacial eruption is called a table mountain ("stapi" in
Icelandic).
About us
We are students at National Highschool
of Computer Science “Tudor Vianu”, Bucharest, Romania, in 11th
form.
We really enjoyed working together at
this project, which draw our attention regarding Antarctica and in this way
we found out more about issues of it. We hope you will enjoy our project and
we are looking forward to find out more about this subject.
See our Power Point Presentation .ppt descriptions.
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