Whillians Ice Stream Subglacial Access Research Drilling

This project focuses on deployment of a surface passive seismic network and an array of borehole seismometers on Whillhans Ice Stream in the vicinity of Subglacial Lake Whillians as part of the Whillans Ice Stream Subglacial Access Research Drilling (WISSARD) program. This work adds a new and exciting component to the WISSARD project that will help to reveal the role of subglacial hydrology in controlling temporal variability of ice stream dynamics and mass balance. Specifically, borehole seismology will allow basal earthquakes and seismic signals generated by subglacial hydrology to be recorded and studied that are orders of magnitude smaller and have a more complete frequency content than possible using surface instrumentation alone.