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Tide‐modulated ice flow variations drive seismicity near the calving front of Bowdoin Glacier, Greenland
Author(s) -
Podolskiy Evgeny A.,
Sugiyama Shin,
Funk Martin,
Walter Fabian,
Genco Riccardo,
Tsutaki Shun,
Minowa Masahiro,
Ripepe Maurizio
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
geophysical research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.007
H-Index - 273
eISSN - 1944-8007
pISSN - 0094-8276
DOI - 10.1002/2016gl067743
Subject(s) - geology , glacier , ice calving , front (military) , induced seismicity , tidewater glacier cycle , iceberg , glacier morphology , ice stream , seismology , geomorphology , oceanography , ice sheet , cryosphere , sea ice , pregnancy , lactation , biology , genetics
Glacier microseismicity is a promising tool to study glacier dynamics. However, physical processes connecting seismic signals and ice dynamics are not clearly understood at present. Particularly, the relationship between tide‐modulated seismicity and dynamics of calving glaciers remains elusive. Here we analyze records from an on‐ice seismometer placed 250 m from the calving front of Bowdoin Glacier, Greenland. Using high‐frequency glacier flow speed measurements, we show that the microseismic activity is related to strain rate variations. The seismic activity correlates with longitudinal stretching measured at the glacier surface. Both higher melt rates and falling tides accelerate glacier motion and increase longitudinal stretching. Long‐term microseismic monitoring could therefore provide insights on how a calving glacier's force balance and flow regime react to changes at the ice‐ocean interface.