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Machine Learning for Icequake Detection and Location Across the Eastern Shear Margin of Thwaites Glacier, West Antarctica

Description: 

The dynamics and potential migration of the Eastern Shear Margin of Thwaites Glacier could play a critical role in the stability of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet and future sea-level rise projections. The current position of this boundary is inferred to be weakly controlled by basal properties and topography. Additionally, recent observations of a transition from frozen to thawed bed beneath this shear margin and evidence for a water system, could indicate a potential control on the strength of the bed and potentially allow future outward migration. Previous passive seismic studies of basal crevassing, stick-slip events, and their relationship with englacial and subglacial water have shed light on glacier basal conditions. To investigate the type and extent of these seismic events in addition to changes in basal conditions, we use a 2-year passive seismic dataset, from December 2019 to January 2022, from two 7-station arrays, TIME1 and TIME2, crossing Thwaites’ Eastern Shear Margin. We follow an icequake detection, location, template-matching, and relocation routine using easyQuake, EQcorrscan, and hypoDD. Although results provide an icequake catalog for events around both seismic arrays, we focus on a cluster of 1757 events, located a few kilometers from the TIME1 array in an area of slow-moving ice. We interpret these icequake observations and implications for the stability of Thwaites’ shear margin and the broader West Antarctic Ice Sheet.

Session: Applications and Discoveries in Cryoseismology Across Spatial and Temporal Scales [Poster Session]

Type: Poster

Date: 5/2/2024

Presentation Time: 08:00 AM (local time)

Presenting Author: Lucia

Student Presenter: Yes

Invited Presentation: 

Authors