Mount Rittmann
{{short description|Volcano in Antarctica}}
{{Infobox mountain
| name=
| photo=
| caption =
| elevation_m=2600
| prominence_m=
| prominence_ref=
| range=Mountaineer Range
| map=Antarctica
| coordinates={{coord|73.45|S|165.5|E|display=inline,intitle}}
| etymology=Volcanologist Alfred Rittmann
| type=Volcano
| age=Pliocene
| volcanic_belt=McMurdo Volcanic Group
| last_eruption=>1254 CE
}}
Mount Rittmann is a volcano in Antarctica. Discovered in 1988–1989 by an Italian expedition, it was named after the volcanologist Alfred Rittmann (1893–1980). It features a {{convert|2|km}} or {{convert|8|x|5|km}} wide caldera which crops out from underneath the Aviator Glacier. The volcano was active during the Pliocene and into the Holocene, including large explosive eruptions; a major eruption occurred in 1254 CE and deposited tephra over much of Antarctica. Currently, the volcano is classified as dormant.
The volcano is fumarolically active. The geothermal activity keeps part of the caldera ice-free; mosses and various microorganisms grow on this ice-free terrain. Such an occurrence of mosses on fumarolically active volcanoes of Antarctica is limited to Mount Rittmann, Mount Melbourne and Mount Erebus and has led to efforts to establish a protected area on the volcano.
Geography and geomorphology
It lies in Victoria Land on the Ross Sea,{{sfn|Skotnicki|Bargagli|Ninham|2002|p=771}} {{convert|100|km}} from Terranova Bay{{sfn|Nicolaus|Improta|Manca|Lama|1998|p=134}} and {{convert|150|km}} from the Italian Mario Zucchelli Station.{{sfn|Herbold|McDonald|Cary|2014|p=185}} It was discovered by an Italian expedition in 1988–1989{{sfn|Bargagli|Broady|Walton|2004|p=121}} and named in honour of the volcanologist Alfred Rittmann.{{sfn|Armienti|Tripodo|1991|p=427}} Owing to having only been recently discovered and being remote, the volcano is poorly studied.{{sfn|Gambino|Armienti|Cannata|Del Carlo|2021|p=751}}
Mount Rittmann is {{convert|2600|m}} high and lies in the Mountaineer Range.{{sfn|Bargagli|Broady|Walton|2004|p=121}} A {{convert|2|km}}{{sfn|Lee|Kyle|Iverson|Lee|2019|p=174}} or {{convert|8|x|5|km}} wide caldera is located underneath the Aviator Glacier; it is outlined by a ring of volcanic hills and outcrops{{sfn|Bargagli|Broady|Walton|2004|p=121}} that emerge slightly{{sfn|Gambino|Armienti|Cannata|Del Carlo|2021|p=748}} from an almost flat surrounding terrain.{{sfn|Armienti|Tripodo|1991|p=430}} The name Mt. Rittmann is sometimes applied to a fumarolically active nunatak on the caldera rim.{{sfn|Lee|Kyle|Iverson|Lee|2019|p=175}} The base of the volcano crops out from the Pilot Glacier,{{sfn|Bargagli|Broady|Walton|2004|p=121}} which together with the caldera is one of the few parts of the{{sfn|Armienti|Tripodo|1991|p=427}} otherwise snow- and ice-covered volcano{{sfn|Skotnicki|Bargagli|Ninham|2002|p=771}} that aren't encased in ice.{{sfn|Armienti|Tripodo|1991|p=427}} Outcrops consist of hyaloclastites, lava flows and pillow lavas.{{sfn|Armienti|Tripodo|1991|p=430}}
= Fumaroles and their ecosystems =
An Italian expedition in 1990–1991 discovered heated ground and fumaroles at the caldera, implying that molten magma exists underneath the volcano.{{sfn|Bargagli|Broady|Walton|2004|p=121}} The fumarolic activity occurs at a {{convert|200|m}} wide and {{convert|80|m}} high face{{sfn|Herbold|McDonald|Cary|2014|p=189}} with sandy-gravelly soil;{{sfn|Herbold|McDonald|Cary|2014|p=190}} another warm area is reported from the lower slopes.{{sfn|Skotnicki|Bargagli|Ninham|2002|p=771}}
The vents of the fumaroles are centimetres wide and surrounded by efflorescences formed by hydrothermally altered rocks.{{sfn|Bargagli|Broady|Walton|2004|p=121}} Fumarolic gases contain carbon dioxide and methane and lack hydrogen sulfide and sulfur dioxide.{{sfn|Gambino|Armienti|Cannata|Del Carlo|2021|p=754}} The fumaroles keep an area of the caldera at {{convert|2250|m}} elevation ice-free;{{sfn|Skotnicki|Bargagli|Ninham|2002|p=771}} at {{convert|2100|m}} elevation mean temperatures are {{convert|-20|C}}, but fumarolic activity heats the surrounding rocks up to {{convert|60|C}}.{{sfn|Nicolaus|Improta|Manca|Lama|1998|p=134}} Surface temperatures reach {{convert|43.4|C}}.{{sfn|Herbold|McDonald|Cary|2014|p=189}}
Patches of{{sfn|Skotnicki|Bargagli|Ninham|2002|p=771}} moss grow in rosette form on sandy soil in the fumarolic areas{{sfn|Skotnicki|Bargagli|Ninham|2002|p=771}} at temperatures of {{convert|17|-|35|C}}.{{sfn|Herbold|McDonald|Cary|2014|p=201}} A steady supply of water, the fumarolic warmth and shelter allow the growth of this vegetation;{{sfn|Skotnicki|Bargagli|Ninham|2002|p=771}} such volcanic vegetation is also found at volcanoes Mount Erebus and Mount Melbourne.{{sfn|Bargagli|Broady|Walton|2004|p=121}} The mosses may have arrived there by wind;{{sfn|Skotnicki|Bargagli|Ninham|2002|p=776}} Pohlia nutans, the moss found at Mount Rittmann, is a cosmopolitan species which is also encountered elsewhere in Victoria Land.{{sfn|Bargagli|Broady|Walton|2004|p=125}} Genetic analysis indicates that the mosses growing at Mount Rittmann arrived there in one event and are not diverse.
Research on microbial communities at Mount Rittmann fumaroles has found bacteria including cyanobacteria,{{sfn|Herbold|McDonald|Cary|2014|pp=194–195}} fungi including yeast{{sfn|Herbold|McDonald|Cary|2014|p=196}} and cyanobacterial microbial mats.{{sfn|Herbold|McDonald|Cary|2014|p=204}} Algae and protozoa have been identified at Mount Rittmann fumaroles.{{sfn|Bargagli|Broady|Walton|2004|p=125}} The bacterial species Anoxybacillus amylolyticus and the subspecies Alicyclobacillus acidocaldarius subsp. rittmannii were discovered at fumaroles of Mount Rittmann,{{sfn|Nicolaus|Improta|Manca|Lama|1998|p=140}} and the bacterium Bacillus fumarioli was cultured from Mount Rittmann and Mount Melbourne. Alicyclobacillus acidocaldarius subsp. rittmannii is used in studied of thermophilic enzymes.{{sfn|Herbold|McDonald|Cary|2014|p=206}} Another thermophilic bacteria reported from Mount Rittmann is Aneurinibacillus terranovensis.
Together with Deception Island, Mount Erebus and Mount Melbourne, Mount Rittmann is one of the four volcanoes in Antarctica with known geothermal habitats{{sfn|Herbold|McDonald|Cary|2014|p=184}} and the least studied of these.{{sfn|Herbold|McDonald|Cary|2014|p=185}} Three other volcanoes show evidence of past or present fumarolic activity.{{sfn|Herbold|McDonald|Cary|2014|p=184}}
There are efforts by Antarctica New Zealand to establish an Antarctic Specially Protected Area (ASPA) on Mount Rittmann,{{sfn|Herbold|McDonald|Cary|2014|p=190}} and in 2014 Mount Rittmann was reportedly part of ASPA 175.
Geology
The volcano is part of the McMurdo Volcanic Group, one of the largest provinces of alkaline volcanism in the world. It has been subdivided into four subprovinces; Mount Rittmann is considered part of the Melbourne subprovince{{sfn|Bargagli|Broady|Walton|2004|p=121}} or of the Mount Overlord volcanic field. The volcanic province is related to the tectonic events that occurred during the rifting of the Ross Sea. Activity commenced during the Eocene-Oligocene and continued into the Holocene.{{sfn|Armienti|Tripodo|1991|p=430}}
The outcrops around the caldera rim are formed by breccia, which contains juvenile pumice and xenoliths.{{sfn|Bargagli|Broady|Walton|2004|p=121}} The volcanic rocks define a basanitic, hawaiitic, mugearitic,{{sfn|Armienti|Tripodo|1991|p=432}} phonolithic and trachytic suite{{sfn|Armienti|Tripodo|1991|p=430}} that is alkaline and sodic{{sfn|Armienti|Tripodo|1991|p=431}} and features olivine and plagioclase phenocrysts.{{sfn|Armienti|Tripodo|1991|p=432}} Xenoliths include both granite and metamorphic rocks from the basement and volcanic rocks.{{sfn|Armienti|Tripodo|1991|p=430}} Hydrothermal alteration has occurred close to the fumaroles.{{sfn|Bonaccorso|Maione|Pertusati|Privitera|1991|p=455}}
Eruption history
The volcano is of Pliocene age{{sfn|Narcisi|Petit|Langone|Stenni|2016|p=71}} and was active between 4 million years ago and 70,000 years ago, although the oldest rocks may actually be from a separate volcano. Radiometric dating has yielded ages of 3.97 million years for rocks at the base of Mount Rittmann and 240,000 ± 200,000, 170,000 ± 20,000 and 70,000 ± 20,000 years ago for lava flows. The caldera appears to be younger than the volcanic rocks at Pilot Glacier,{{sfn|Bargagli|Broady|Walton|2004|p=121}} although its unimpressive topographical expression might indicate an old age. It was possibly formed by a Plinian eruption.{{sfn|Armienti|Tripodo|1991|p=442}} Tephra deposits at Outback Nunataks, various marine and ice core tephras,{{sfn|Di Roberto|Albert|Colizza|Del Carlo|2020|p=16}} Eemian-age tephras at Talos Dome in East Antarctica{{sfn|Narcisi|Petit|Langone|Stenni|2016|p=69}} and dust bands found in blue-ice areas of Frontier Mountain and Lichen Hill in Victoria Land may originate from Mount Rittmann, and at least four large eruptions took place in the last 74,000 years.{{sfn|Di Roberto|Albert|Colizza|Del Carlo|2020|p=16}} The eruption history of the volcano is poorly known due to the scarcity of outcrops.
About 11,000 years ago, Mount Rittmann had a large explosive eruption which deposited the "Aviator Tephra" in the Aviator Basin of the Ross Sea. Reconstructions imply that the eruption commenced as a hydromagmatic event which then transitioned into a Plinian eruption which yielded lapilli and volcanic ash.{{sfn|Di Roberto|Albert|Colizza|Del Carlo|2020|p=18}} Presumably, the volcano was ice-clad when the eruption commenced and meltwater from the ice interacted with the magma to trigger hydromagmatic activity.{{sfn|Di Roberto|Albert|Colizza|Del Carlo|2020|p=16}} At the end, a caldera collapse may have occurred, and the volcano produced ignimbrites.{{sfn|Di Roberto|Albert|Colizza|Del Carlo|2020|p=18}}
Tephrochronology has found evidence that Mount Rittmann erupted in 1254{{sfn|Di Roberto|Colizza|Del Carlo|Petrelli|2019|p=6}} and deposited a tephra layer across Antarctica.{{sfn|Di Roberto|Colizza|Del Carlo|Petrelli|2019|p=5}} This Rittmann tephra{{sfn|Lee|Kyle|Iverson|Lee|2019|p=170}} or "1254 C.E. tephra" has been identified in ice cores of East and West Antarctica;{{sfn|Di Roberto|Colizza|Del Carlo|Petrelli|2019|p=5}} its discovery at Edisto Inlet expands its occurrence to an area of over {{convert|950000|km2}} all around the volcano and to distances of over {{convert|2000|km}}. Magma was efficiently fragmented during the eruption,{{sfn|Di Roberto|Colizza|Del Carlo|Petrelli|2019|p=6}} which may{{sfn|Lee|Kyle|Iverson|Lee|2019|p=170}} or may not have been intense.{{sfn|Di Roberto|Colizza|Del Carlo|Petrelli|2019|p=6}} It probably was one of the largest Holocene eruptions of Antarctica,{{sfn|Lee|Kyle|Iverson|Lee|2019|p=170}} although it was exceeded in size by Rittmann's 11,000 and 22,000 eruptions{{sfn|Abbott|McConnell|Chellman|Kipfstuhl|2024|p=10}} and did not produce much sulfur.{{sfn|Abbott|McConnell|Chellman|Kipfstuhl|2024|p=16}} Originally, it was attributed to The Pleiades volcanoes before its source at Mount Rittmann was discovered.{{sfn|Lee|Kyle|Iverson|Lee|2019|p=174}}
Additional eruptions may have occurred after 1254.{{sfn|Lee|Kyle|Iverson|Lee|2019|p=174}} Presently, the volcano is considered quiescent{{sfn|Narcisi|Petit|Langone|Stenni|2016|p=71}} and is not monitored{{sfn|Lee|Kyle|Iverson|Lee|2019|p=175}} although a seismo-tectonic station was installed in its vicinity and has recorded seismic activity, some of which may be due to ice movements and the other of volcanic origin.{{sfn|Gambino|Armienti|Cannata|Del Carlo|2021|p=755}} Small thermal anomalies have been observed from Landsat satellite images and may correspond to fumarolic activity. A repeat of the 1254 eruption could form a long-lasting ash cloud, ashfall on nearby research stations{{sfn|Di Roberto|Colizza|Del Carlo|Petrelli|2019|p=7}} and disruption of air traffic to and from McMurdo Station.{{sfn|Lee|Kyle|Iverson|Lee|2019|p=175}}
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{{refend}}
{{Antarctic Specially Protected Areas}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rittmann}}
Category:Mountains of Victoria Land
Category:Volcanoes of Victoria Land
Category:Antarctic Specially Protected Areas