Seismic Characteristics of the Largest Measured Subglacial Flood from the Eastern Skaftá cauldron, Iceland
Subglacial floods are hazardous events. Since seismic tremor accompanies them, the source can be located and tracked in space and time using a seismic array. However, understanding how these seismic signals are generated remains elusive. Here, we study the seismic characteristics of the largest meas...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Copernicus Publications
2022
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2022-644 https://noa.gwlb.de/receive/cop_mods_00061942 https://egusphere.copernicus.org/preprints/egusphere-2022-644/egusphere-2022-644.pdf |
| Summary: | Subglacial floods are hazardous events. Since seismic tremor accompanies them, the source can be located and tracked in space and time using a seismic array. However, understanding how these seismic signals are generated remains elusive. Here, we study the seismic characteristics of the largest measured flood from the Eastern Skaftá cauldron, Iceland. We track the propagation of the flood in 2015 using two seismic arrays and a local seismic network. Data from three GPS instruments above the cauldron lake and the subglacial flood path and from hydrological instruments in the Skaftá river aid the interpretation. We find that as the water drained from the lake, quakes were generated in the area around the cauldron and the glacier surface subsided by more than 100 m.We detected several-hours-long, non-harmonic tremor migrating downglacier following the subglacial flood front. We suggest that this tremor is composed of repeated, closely spaced icequakes generated as the glacier was being lifted, cracked and deformed enabling the subglacial water flow. When the lake had largely drained, we recorded minute-long tremor bursts with hour-long harmonic tails emanating from the cauldron area. Body waves compose the bursts. We interpret them as hydrothermal explosions in the geothermal system underlying the cauldron, followed by vigorous boiling due to the pressure drop within the hydrothermal system as a consequence of the lowering of the water level in the lake. We conclude that the three different tremor characteristics are associated with three different geophysical processes. |
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