Geophysics professor Martyn Unsworth is part of an international team of researchers who say they may be "witnessing the development of a new supervolcano.
Those are the words of Shanaka de Silva of Oregon State University, a geologist working with PLUTONS, a research project that is studying Uturuncu Volcano in Southern Bolivia. De Silva was commenting in a New York Times article that stated, "Satellite measurements show that the hill has been rising more than half an inch a year for almost 20 years, suggesting that the volcano, which last erupted more than 300,000 years ago, is steadily inflating."
The report goes on to note the ß÷ßäÉçÇø role in the project:
"Martyn Unsworth, a geophysicist at the ß÷ßäÉçÇø in Canada and a member of the Plutons team, studied data from 20 days of fieldwork in November using magnetotellurics, a remote radio-wave-sensing method similar to CT scanning in the human body. The findings suggested a zone of low electrical resistivity far below the surface 'that is likely a magma chamber,' he said."
ß÷ßäÉçÇø research has shown that the magma body is at a depth of 10-15 km. Growth of this magma body is causing the surface uplift. Ongoing research will determine if this could lead to a super volcano eruption, or is just a short-lived period of magma intrusion.
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