Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: Accelerating mass loss from the Greenland Ice Sheet is affected by meltwater-driven changes in ice dynamics, which remain poorly understood due to limited observations. Here, we present a 2.5 km2 wide dense passive seismic array experiment conducted in the ablation zone of Isunnguata Sermia, West Greenland. We target varying surface melt conditions through one-month long monitoring periods in spring, summer, and fall using 82-117 nodes deployed in 2023 and 2024 complemented by multi-week surface Distributed Acoustic Sensing acquisitions in 2024. We assess data quality using power spectral densities and noise correlation functions. We find that low-frequency seismic power is highly correlated to ice surface velocity, suggesting a strong control of subglacial hydrology on ice dynamics. We retrieve stable and high signal-to-noise ratio noise correlations containing Rayleigh, Love, and P wave arrivals, suggesting these may successfully be used for glacier structure imaging and monitoring. We finally demonstrate we can locate numerous seismic events with resolution down to a few meters using Matched Field Processing and which exhibit characteristic spatial patterns evolving across seasons. These findings establish the potential of such experiment to infer glacier hydrology, dynamics, and structure at high spatial and temporal resolution.
Source: Seismica
Authors: Nicolas Paris, Florent Gimbert, Tifenn Le Bris, Stephen J. Livingstone, Samuel H. Doyle, Alexandre Michel, Andrew J. Sole, Albanne Lecointre, Laura Pinzon-Rincon, Gregor Hillers, Roméo Courbis, Philippe Roux, Guilhem Barruol, Elizabeth A. Bagshaw, Thomas R. Chudley, Lisa Craw, Laura A. Edwards, Adrien Gilbert, Jonathan D. Hawkins, Ryan N. Ing, Andrew H. Jones, Angus Moffat, Matthew W. Peacey, Michael R. Prior-Jones, Neil Ross, Arnaud Reboud, Robert D. Storrar, Sian C. Thorpe, Remy Veness, Tun J. Young
Institutions: Institut des Géosciences de l'Environnement, Université Grenoble Alpes, Institut polytechnique de Grenoble, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Institut National de Recherche pour l'Agriculture, l'Alimentation et l'Environnement, Institut de Recherche pour le Développement, University of Sheffield, Aberystwyth University, Institut des Sciences de la Terre, Université Gustave Eiffel, Université Savoie Mont Blanc, GFZ Helmholtz Centre for Geosciences, University of Helsinki, University of Bristol, Cardiff University, Liverpool John Moores University, University of Edinburgh, Sheffield Hallam University, Newcastle University, University of St Andrews
Language: English
Topic: Seismic Waves and Analysis
Subfield: Geophysics
Field: Earth and Planetary Sciences
Domain: Physical Sciences
SDG: Climate action
Open Access status: diamond
Awards: Flagship of Advanced Mathematics for Sensing, Imaging and Modelling, Probing and predicting the dynamical response of the Greenland-Ice-Sheet to surface melt water, G5113138680, G5159399571, The influence of fast-draining subglacial lakes on the hydrology and dynamics of the Greenland Ice Sheet, G7888998918
OpenAlex ID: W7169555557