what are several different factors that result in Mount Meager being classified as a very high threat?
due to its location
its peaks look out over the town of Pemberton and the farmland of the Sea to Sky corridor with more than 33k residents
it is also 150km north of Vancouver
why is Mount Meager a difficult volcano to study?
the glacier and the toxic gases make it incredibly difficult for scientists to access the volcano to test temperature and gas
Canada has not historically monitored for changes at volcanoes. It’s expensive to carry out regular monitoring and there are other more pressing concerns for governments and academia given that an eruption seems unlikely and remote.
how does a glaciovolcanic cave form? describe the appearance of these caves.
Glaciovolcanic caves form when heat and gas from a volcano warp the ice of the glacier above, creating tunnels that are continuously morphing.
Inside, these caves are “like a cathedral of ice,” says Stenner. The beauty is otherworldly: white and blue rooms carved into ice, with curved walls that look like they are made of hundreds of giant white seashells.
describe the type of equipment that the cavers needed before they were able to embark on a multi-day expedition.
a life support system that would allow them to breathe safely for longer while they worked in deadly levels of toxic gas
needs filters!
why is the study of the diversity of microbes in water beneath glaciers important?
Since then, Mikucki has been testing the samples to see if the microlife is unique to Mount Meager and to learn how it survives in such austere conditions. She is hopeful these microorganisms are chemoautotrophs (which produce their own energy by oxidizing inorganic molecules, such as sulphur), making them a useful analog for microlife outside of Earth.
how do scientists typically map caves? why was that method not possible in this cave?
The team was unable to map the inside of the cave in detail (the lasers that scientists typically use to survey beneath glaciers didn’t work in the heavy haze of Mount Meager’s recesses), but they did manage to hand sketch an outline of a lopsided horseshoe of a cave system with water and fields of rock.
