Controlled-source seismic imaging of McMurdo Ice Shelf near Williams Airfield
Description:
Understanding the structure and thickness of the McMurdo Ice Shelf and the ocean environment below is important from an operational as well as a scientific perspective. The McMurdo Ice Shelf is part of the Ross Ice Shelf, and ice shelf mass loss has been observed due to warming ocean conditions in the Ross Sea. During December 2021, the Thwaites Interdisciplinary Margin Evolution (TIME) project team collected a controlled-source seismic survey along an 1150-meter-long line near William’s Airfield on McMurdo Ice Shelf. We deployed twenty-four Magseis Fairfield, Z-Land Generation 2, 5-Hz, 3-component seismic nodes at 50-m spacing for 30 days. During one day, we used a 12-lb sledgehammer as a seismic source at 23 locations, with 3 hammer strikes at each location to stack and enhance the signal. The seismic nodes also recorded a variety of passive seismic sources, including icequakes and anthropogenic seismic sources like vehicle and airplane traffic. We process the controlled-source refraction data to develop a velocity model of the ice shelf and environment below. We use Python ObsPy tools to visualize the seismic data and make observations about the data quality and wave propagation. The survey was also a methods test for the use of seismic nodes for ice shelf (and glacier) imaging with controlled sources, and we discuss lessons learned for future deployments such as those planned by the TIME project for Thwaites glacier in 2022-23.
Session: Understanding and Managing Induced Seismicity [Poster]
Type: Poster
Date: 4/19/2023
Presentation Time: 08:00 AM (local time)
Presenting Author: Yeshey Seldon
Student Presenter: Yes
Invited Presentation:
Authors
Yeshey Seldon Presenting Author yseldon@miners.utep.edu University of Texas at El Paso |
Marianne Karplus Corresponding Author mkarplus@utep.edu University of Texas at El Paso |
Daniel May dfxmay@stanford.edu Stanford University |
Tun Young tjy22@cam.ac.uk Scott Polar Research Institute |
Paul Summers psummers@stanford.edu Stanford University |
Lucia Gonzalez lfgonzalez5@miners.utep.edu University of Texas at El Paso |
Stephen Veitch saveitch@utep.edu University of Texas at El Paso |
Gailen Kaip gkaip@utep.edu University of Texas at El Paso |
Adam Booth a.d.booth@leeds.ac.uk University of Leeds |
Controlled-source seismic imaging of McMurdo Ice Shelf near Williams Airfield
Category
Understanding and Managing Induced Seismicity