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Basal Icequake Detection at Eastern Shear Margin of Thwaites Glacier, Antarctica

Description: 

Basal icequakes occur throughout Antarctica and have been observed at various locations. Since basal icequakes occur near the sliding interface, icequakes yield the potential for better studying glacial processes. Environmental noise and low signal-to-noise ratios for small events make seismic event detection difficult. We utilized the open-source Python package, Quakemigrate, to identify seismic events from 14 seismometers that were deployed straddling the eastern shear margin of Thwaites Glacier in two 7-element arrays from early 2020 until late 2021. The project was part of the TIME project within the broader Thwaites Initiative. Quakemigrate utilizes waveform migration and stacking algorithms to determine seismic events from every seismometer deployed. While working with the data, we assume a homogenous velocity model for ice. Utilizing Quakemigrate, over ten thousand potential seismic events were identified from the 2020 waveform data. Preliminary results show that these basal icequakes primarily occur from 1 to 2.5 km depth, which corresponds to depths that are either above the basal interface or near the estimated basal interface from both seismic and radar studies in the area. These event epicenters occur within a small zone with a distribution of 0.1° latitude and 0.5° longitude focused near the arrays. We plan to present our observations, provide sensitivity analysis for the icequake locations, and interpret our findings as it relates to the dynamics of ice stream margins.

Session: Cryoseismology: Advances in Technology and Scientific Discovery [Poster]

Type: Poster

Date: 4/15/2026

Presentation Time: 08:00 AM (local time)

Presenting Author: David Fleenor

Student Presenter: Yes

Invited Presentation: 

Poster Number: 2

Authors