Helene Meling Stemland

Passive seismic monitoring of an arctic glacier

Helene Meling Stemland

Widespread glacier loss is observed in the Arctic region, partly caused by rising surface temperatures. Calving, which is the mechanical break-off of ice at the glacier terminus, is important to monitor to estimate the potential sea level rise due to glacier mass loss, but is difficult due to the remote and seasonally dark locations of many glaciers. To overcome this challenge, the field of cryoseismology, where seismic waves from glacial environments are recorded and analyzed, is expanding. In this talk, I will describe the details of two seismic experiments we have conducted at a partly marine-terminating glacier on Svalbard. We placed seismic receivers on land and at the seabed in front of the glacier, and passively monitored the glacier for up to five weeks. We recorded seismic signals attributed to calving, fracturing/crevassing, and tectonic earthquakes. Here, I will talk about the challenges involved in the seismic campaigns, lessons learnt, and share some of the preliminary analysis of the data.