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.

本项目作为惠兰斯冰流冰下访问研究钻探（Whillans Ice Stream Subglacial Access Research Drilling, WISSARD）计划的组成部分，聚焦于在冰下惠兰斯湖附近的惠兰斯冰流区域部署地面被动地震台网与钻孔地震计阵列。此项工作为WISSARD项目新增了极具价值的研究方向，有助于揭示冰下水文系统在调控冰流动态与物质平衡的时间变异性中所发挥的作用。具体而言，相较于仅使用地面观测仪器，钻孔地震学能够记录并研究量级小数个数量级、且频率成分更完整的冰床地震与冰下水文活动产生的地震信号。