(ORDO NEWS) — Something strange is happening in Antarctica today. Since the end of summer, experts have recorded more than 50 thousand earthquakes of various strengths on the continent. Such strong seismic activity has never been observed before.
The largest earthquakes occurred in the Bransfield Strait, according to the University of Chile.
Tectonic plates and several microplates are located not far from the strait. But scientists believe that seismic activity was provoked by some other factors.
Most of the aftershocks were recorded by experts in September. Due to the fact that there were more than a thousand shocks per day, the strait began to expand by 15 centimeters per year instead of 7-8 mm, as it was before.
Sergio Barrientos added that seismic activity also affected the Shetland Islands, which began to quickly separate from the continent.
Some experts suggested that the cause of the earthquakes could be the formation of a new volcano underwater. Some scientists also think that the reason could be that pieces began to separate from the giant iceberg and fall into the water.
An equally interesting theory was the emergence of methane vents on the territory of Antarctica, which became the reason for the increase in seismic activity in the region.
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