Booth, A orcid.org/0000-0002-8166-9608, Christoffersen, P, Schoonman, C et al. (5 more authors) (2020) Distributed Acoustic Sensing of Seismic Properties in a Borehole Drilled on a Fast‐Flowing Greenlandic Outlet Glacier. Geophysical Research Letters, 47 (13). e2020GL088. ISSN 0094-8276
Abstract
Abstract
Distributed Acoustic Sensing (DAS) is a new technology in which seismic energy is detected, at high spatial and temporal resolution, using the propagation of laser pulses in a fiber‐optic cable. We show analyses from the first glaciological borehole DAS deployment to measure the englacial and subglacial seismic properties of Store Glacier, a fast‐flowing outlet of the Greenland Ice Sheet. We record compressional and shear waves in 1,043 m‐deep vertical seismic profiles, sampled at 10 m vertical resolution, and detect a transition from isotropic to anisotropic ice at 84% of ice thickness, consistent with the Holocene‐Wisconsin transition. We identify subglacial reflections originating from the base of a 20 m‐thick layer of consolidated sediment and, from attenuation measurements, interpret temperate ice in the lowermost 100 m of the glacier. Our findings highlight the promising potential of DAS technology to constrain the seismic properties of glaciers and ice sheets.
Plain Language Summary
Distributed Acoustic Sensing (DAS) is a new technology for seismic surveying in which the transmission of light through fiber‐optic cables is used to record seismic energy, with unprecedented spatial resolution compared to traditional techniques. Our paper presents data from the first borehole‐glaciological deployment of DAS, in which fiber‐optic cable was installed in a 1,043 m‐deep vertical borehole on Store Glacier, a fast‐flowing outlet of the Greenland Ice Sheet. The detailed seismic anatomy of the glacier that our survey provides—an independent measurement of the seismic response every 10 m—gives new insights about its internal flow regime and temperature and even allows us to detect layers of sediment underlying it. We predict that DAS surveying will play an increasingly large role in future glaciological investigations as the recognition of its promising potential grows.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | ©2020. The Authors. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. |
Keywords: | Distributed Acoustic Sensing (DAS) ;Vertical Seismic Profile (VSP); Greenland Ice Sheet; anisotropy; subglacial sediment; borehole surveying |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Leeds |
Academic Units: | The University of Leeds > Faculty of Environment (Leeds) > School of Earth and Environment (Leeds) > Institute for Applied Geosciences (IAG) (Leeds) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Publications |
Date Deposited: | 13 Jul 2020 08:56 |
Last Modified: | 25 Jun 2023 22:20 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Wiley |
Identification Number: | 10.1029/2020GL088148 |
Related URLs: | |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:163021 |