Abstract Seismic studies of glaciers yield insights into spatio-temporal processes within and beneath glaciers on scales relevant to flow and deformation of the ice. These methods enable direct ...monitoring of the bed in ways that complement other geophysical techniques, such as geodetic or ground penetrating radar observations. In this work, we report on the analysis of passive seismic data collected from the interior of the North East Greenland Ice Stream, the Greenland ice sheet's largest outlet glacier. We record thousands of basal earthquakes, many of which repeat with nearly identical waveforms. We also record many long-duration glacial tremor episodes that migrate across the seismic network with slow velocities (e.g. ~4–12 m s −1 ). Analysis of the basal earthquakes indicates a transition between times of individual event activity and times of tremor activity. We suggest that both processes are produced by shear slip at localized asperities along the bed. The transition between discrete and quasi-continuous slipping modes may be driven by pore-water pressure transients or heterogeneous strain accumulation in the ice due to strength contrasts of the underlying till.
Ocean-ice interactions have exerted primary control on the Antarctic Ice Sheet and parts of the Greenland Ice Sheet, and will continue to do so in the near future, especially through melting of ice ...shelves and calving cliffs. Retreat in response to increasing marine melting typically exhibits threshold behavior, with little change for forcing below the threshold but a rapid, possibly delayed shift to a reduced state once the threshold is exceeded. For Thwaites Glacier, West Antarctica, the threshold may already have been exceeded, although rapid change may be delayed by centuries, and the reduced state will likely involve loss of most of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet, causing >3 m of sea-level rise. Because of shortcomings in physical understanding and available data, uncertainty persists about this threshold and the subsequent rate of change. Although sea-level histories and physical understanding allow the possibility that ice-sheet response could be quite fast, no strong constraints are yet available on the worst-case scenario. Recent work also suggests that the Greenland and East Antarctic Ice Sheets share some of the same vulnerabilities to shrinkage from marine influence.
Thwaites Glacier (TG) plays an important role in future sea-level rise (SLR) contribution from the West Antarctic Ice Sheet. Recent observations show that TG is losing mass, and its grounding zone is ...retreating. Previous modeling has produced a wide range of results concerning whether, when, and how rapidly further retreat will occur under continued warming. These differences arise at least in part from ill-constrained processes, including friction from the bed, and future atmosphere and ocean forcing affecting ice-shelf and grounding-zone buttressing. Here, we apply the Ice Sheet and Sea-level System Model (ISSM) with a range of specifications of basal sliding behavior in response to varying ocean forcing. We find that basin-wide bed character strongly affects TG's response to sub-shelf melt by modulating how changes in driving stress are balanced by the bed as the glacier responds to external forcing. Resulting differences in dynamic thinning patterns alter modeled grounding-line retreat across Thwaites' catchment, affecting both modeled rates and magnitudes of SLR contribution from this critical sector of the ice sheet. Bed character introduces large uncertainties in projections of TG under equal external forcing, pointing to this as a crucial constraint needed in predictive models of West Antarctica.
Glacial hydraulic tremor (GHT) can be monitored to observe changes in location and distribution of water flow beneath glacial ice, allowing the spatiotemporal evolution of subglacial hydrology to be ...studied continuously and remotely. We use frequency-dependent polarization analysis (FDPA) to classify types of GHT and assess its spatio-temporal extent beneath Rhonegletscher, Switzerland, in a continuous seismic record through 2018 and 2019 at three ice-proximal bedrock-based seismometers. We determine the frequency bands composing the GHT and calculate back azimuth angles pointing to a previously known subglacial channel. We also inspect the relationship between GHT seismic power and water discharge from the glacier to compare daily and seasonal shifts with the observed GHT. We observed the seasonal shift from a distributed system to a channelized system, and our dataset allowed comparison of channel locations within and across seasons, with implications for sediment evacuation and bed erosion. The successful use of this method to assess GHT previously on Taku glacier (the methods of which this project follows) and now Rhonegletscher shows that existing ice-proximal passive seismic installations can be used to easily and continuously monitor subglacial hydraulic activity.
Marine-terminating glaciers lose mass through melting and iceberg calving, and we find that meltwater drainage systems influence calving timing at Helheim Glacier, a tidewater glacier in East ...Greenland. Meltwater feeds a buoyant subglacial discharge plume at the terminus of Helheim Glacier, which rises along the glacial front and surfaces through the mélange. Here, we use high-resolution satellite and time-lapse imagery to observe the surface expression of this meltwater plume and how plume timing and location compare with that of calving and supraglacial meltwater pooling from 2011 to 2019. The plume consistently appeared at the central terminus even as the glacier advanced and retreated, fed by a well-established channelized drainage system with connections to supraglacial water. All full-thickness calving episodes, both tabular and non-tabular, were separated from the surfacing plume by either time or by space. We hypothesize that variability in subglacial hydrology and basal coupling drive this inverse relationship between subglacial discharge plumes and full-thickness calving. Surfacing plumes likely indicate a low-pressure subglacial drainage system and grounded terminus, while full-thickness calving occurrence reflects a terminus at or close to flotation. Our records of plume appearance and full-thickness calving therefore represent proxies for the grounding state of Helheim Glacier through time.
We present radio-echo sounding (RES), global positioning system (GPS), and active-source seismic data across the central portion of the Northeast Greenland Ice Stream (NEGIS). NEGIS widens ...downglacier from a small region of high geothermal flux near the ice divide. Our data reveal high-porosity (40+%) water-saturated till lubricating the ice stream. Ice accelerates and thins as it flows into NEGIS, producing marginal troughs in surface topography. These troughs create steep gradients in the subglacial hydropotential that generate parallel “sticky” and “slippery” bands beneath the shear margins. The low-porosity “sticky” sediment bands limit ice entrainment across the margins and thus restrict further widening, producing the long, narrow, and relatively stable ice stream. However, the observed relations among surface elevation, basal water routing, broad sedimentary drape, and till dilatancy suggest that rapid shifts in ice dynamics are possible, including rapid transmission of ocean forcing inland. The source and routing of the subglacial till are unclear, but our data help constrain hypotheses.
•Dilatant till facilitates ice-stream flow in northeast Greenland.•Source and routing of subglacial till are unclear.•Dynamics of ice flow control ice-stream extent.•Rapid shifts in ice dynamics may be possible.
Abstract
Recent seismic measurements from upper Thwaites Glacier indicate that the bed-type variability is closely related to the along-flow basal topography. In high-relief subglacial highlands, ...stoss sides of topographic highs have a relatively higher acoustic impedance (‘hard’ bed) with lower acoustic impedance (‘soft’ till) on lee sides. This pattern is similar to observations of many deglaciated terrains. Subglacial hydraulic-potential gradient and its divergence show a tendency for water to diverge over the stoss sides and converge into the lee sides. Convergence favors a thicker or more widespread water system, which can more efficiently decouple ice from the underlying till. Under such circumstances, till deformation does occur but, fluxes are relatively small. Till carried from the lee sides onto stoss sides of downstream bumps should couple to the ice more efficiently, increasing the ability for transport by till deformation. In turn, this suggests that steady-state till transport can be achieved if the stoss-side till layer is thin or discontinuous. In addition, the large basal shear stress generated in the highlands seems too high for a bed lubricated by a continuous although thin deforming till, suggesting till discontinuity, which would allow debris-laden ice to erode bedrock on stoss sides, supplying additional till for transport.
We present subannual observations (2009–2014) of a major West Antarctic glacier (Pine Island Glacier) and the neighboring ocean. Ongoing glacier retreat and accelerated ice flow were likely triggered ...a few decades ago by increased ocean‐induced thinning, which may have initiated marine ice sheet instability. Following a subsequent 60% drop in ocean heat content from early 2012 to late 2013, ice flow slowed, but by < 4%, with flow recovering as the ocean warmed to prior temperatures. During this cold‐ocean period, the evolving glacier‐bed/ice shelf system was also in a geometry favorable to stabilization. However, despite a minor, temporary decrease in ice discharge, the basin‐wide thinning signal did not change. Thus, as predicted by theory, once marine ice sheet instability is underway, a single transient high‐amplitude ocean cooling has only a relatively minor effect on ice flow. The long‐term effects of ocean temperature variability on ice flow, however, are not yet known.
Key Points
Pine Island Glacier speed is correlated with ocean temperature
Grounded ice speed slowed by only ~1% despite ~60% drop in ocean heat content
Ice speed recovered after the cold‐ocean anomaly ended
Previously developed continental-scale surface wave models for Antarctica provide only broad interpretations of the mantle structure, and the best resolved features in recent regional-scale seismic ...models are restricted above ∼300–400 km depth. We have developed the first continental-scale P-wave velocity model beneath Antarctica using an adaptively parameterized tomography approach that includes data from many new seismic networks. Our model shows considerable, previously unrecognized mantle heterogeneity, especially beneath West Antarctica. A pronounced slow velocity anomaly extends between Ross Island and Victoria Land, further grid south than previous studies indicate. However, at least for mantle depths ≥∼200 km, this anomaly does not extend grid north along the Transantarctic Mountains (TAMs) and beneath the West Antarctic Rift System. The boundary between these slow velocities and fast velocities underlying East Antarctica is ∼100–150 km beneath the front of the TAMs, consistent with flexural uplift models. The lateral extent of the low velocity anomaly is best explained by focused, rift-related decompression melting. In West Antarctica, Marie Byrd Land is underlain by a deep (∼800 km) low velocity anomaly. Synthetic tests illustrate that the low velocities also extend laterally below the transition zone, consistent with a mantle plume ponded below the 660 km discontinuity. The slow anomalies beneath Ross Island and Marie Byrd Land are separate features, highlighting the heterogeneous upper mantle of West Antarctica.
•First continental-scale P-wave tomography model for Antarctica.•Considerable mantle heterogeneity, particularly across West Antarctica.•Ross Island slow anomaly associated with rift-related processes.•Deep low velocity anomaly beneath Marie Byrd Land (MBL).•Mantle plume ponded below the 660 km discontinuity beneath MBL.
Ice-penetrating radar and kinematic GPS observations from Subglacial Lake Whillans (SLW), West Antarctica, reveal a shallow lake that is confined by steep basal topographic features. Radar imaging of ...SLW, although indicating wet basal conditions, is consistent with a water column depth of only ~6m or less during the near low-stand state at the time of the survey. Kinematic GPS profiles reveal that SLW is generally defined by a ~15m surface depression centered at S 84.237° W 153.614°. This point coincides with the area of lowest hydropotential in the lake basin and also the largest surface elevation range in ICESat data. Therefore this location appears to be an opportune site for subglacial access drilling of this active subglacial lake. A distinct basal topographic ridge on the grid south side of the basin is coincident with a strong contrast in relative basal reflectivity (~6dB), which we interpret as the lake boundary. Mapped hydropotential (calculated assuming hydrostatic equilibrium) shows that water enters the lake from the upstream direction and drains downstream. We hypothesize that a lake-level rise of ~5m plus flexural effects is sufficient to overtop a drainage divide. Thus SLW acts as a temporary storage basin for water beneath Whillans Ice Stream.
► Radar and GPS surveys geophysically characterize a dynamic subglacial lake. ► Subglacial lakes store and release transient water flow impacting ice dynamics. ► A depression in hydropotential coincides with the greatest surface elevation change. ► Ice flexural effects may play a key role in lake drainage. ► Water flux during filling (or draining) is modest (∼10m3/s).
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