You may remember back in 2010 when flights across Europe were shut down by a volcanic eruption in Iceland spewing ash into the sky from a difficult to pronounce place. What you probably do not recall is that it cost several billion Euros in disrupted flights and that its cause, the violent interaction of lava with ice, was yet another example of the practical importance of ‘glaciovolcanism.’
This remarkable and detailed book synthesizes an extraordinary quantity of knowledge across different fields. The first chapters introduce the importance of glaciovolcanism, the various types of ice–volcano interactions that can occur and their occurrences around the world from Iceland to Antarctica. This section, like all those in the book, is richly supported by references, making this a valuable book for anyone with even vaguely related academic interests.
After a discussion of recent events, the authors launch into the practical details, discussing the physical parameters that shape glaciovolcanic activity, such as the flow of the lava mass (rheology) and the structure of the ice with which it interacts. How do we know these things? Through comprehensive study of the materials, and the authors provide us with accessible information on the analytical methods used to understand these processes.
To the unfamiliar, one imagines lava interacting with ice in a chaotic, haphazard and explosive manner, but the types of interactions that occur are quite well defined and they are categorized into different major types, such as domes and sheets. In the following chapters, the authors comprehensively examine types of glaciovolcanism and their sequences in different rock types from mafic to felsic and intermediate forms.
In addition to investigating these features as an end in itself, and to better understand how the Earth works, glaciovolcanic sequences can be used to understand past environments, and here, the authors transition into considering the practical uses of the features produced as paleoenvironmental records. They then introduce the hazards caused by these processes, describing the various horrors that come along with the ice and fire, including avalanches, lightning and pyroclastic flows.
Having equipped ourselves with all this expertise, we are then transported to Mars, to consider how knowledge of Earth might inform the study of the Red Planet. Not only does this give us a direct comparison to Earth, thus improving our understanding of these processes on our own planet, but the interaction of lava with ice and the formation of liquid water may imply habitable conditions. Thus, glaciovolcanism takes a front seat in our efforts to understand whether Mars ever hosted habitable conditions. In the final chapter of the book, the authors look back across this vista and suggest future research directions and challenges, both scientific and practical.
This book is an extraordinary and very thorough survey of glaciovolcanism. It should be read by anyone with an interest in Earth system processes and the formation and evolution of other planets, and by those sitting in an airport lounge who want to do more than just ponder how a volcano can delay a flight.
