It seems reasonable to hear about scientists chasing tornadoes in the corn fields of Tornado Alley within the United States. How about chasing volcanoes lying below the ice sheet of Antarctica? And also incredible, convincing your university professor as an undergraduate student to support a full-blown expedition to Antarctica?
Well, student Max Van Wyk de Vries at Edinberg University accomplished a “high-tech expedition” when he showed his professor data on “traces of volcanism” along the western coast of Antarctica. Max received his professor’s assistance to analyze publicly-available data from ground-penetrating radar, aerial surveys and satellite images. Their research successfully discovered almost 100 more volcanoes, making the region known as the West Antarctic Rift System rival the World’s greatest concentration of volcanoes located within East Africa’s volcanic ridge. One of the discovered volcanoes is as tall as the Eiger (height of over 13,000 feet) in Switzerland.
Max said, “Antarctica remains among the least studied areas of the globe, and as a young scientist I was excited to learn about something new and not well understood.” Maybe someday Max will be knighted like Sir Ernest Shackleton for his arduous expeditions to both polar caps and climbing the most active Antarctic volcano, Mount Erebus (over 12.400 feet). By the way, if you want to see a great PBS series on the recreation of Shackleton’s 1914 expedition on The Endurance, involving over 500 days of survival and rescue of his crew, CLICK HERE.
This Ahh-Mazing “AHA!” Discovery comes from Max Van Wyk de Vries, a young “high-tech” volcano chaser with an explorer’s spirit like that of Shackleton’s legacy. Max prepared a compelling report that convinced a university to support his pursuit in discovering volcanoes in a far and frozen corner of the world.
Do you have an Ahh-mazing “AHA!” Discovery to share?
Email inquiries@aquanew.com. This can be any idea or endeavor that may help others in their own revelation or better quality of life. Alternatively, want to nominate someone with special skills of creativity and innovation? Let us know!
CLICK HERE to read all of our past “AHA!” Discoveries.