Seismic Mapping of Subglacial Hydrology Reveals Previously Undetected Pressurization Event
Understanding the dynamic response of glaciers to climate change is vital for assessing water resources and hazards, and subglacial hydrology is a key player in glacier systems. Traditional observations of subglacial hydrology are spatially and temporally limited, but recent seismic deployments on a...
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ftunivalaska:oai:scholarworks.alaska.edu:11122/13021 2023-05-15T16:20:26+02:00 Seismic Mapping of Subglacial Hydrology Reveals Previously Undetected Pressurization Event Labedz, Celeste R. Bartholomaus, Timothy, C. Amundson, Jason M. Gimbert, Florent Karplus, Marianne Tsai, Victor C. Veitch, Stephen A. 2022-02-11 http://hdl.handle.net/11122/13021 en_US eng American Geophysical Union Labedz, C. R., Bartholomaus, T. C., Amundson, J. M., Gimbert, F., Karplus, M. S., Tsai, V. C., & Veitch, S. A. (2022). Seismic mapping of subglacial hydrology reveals previously undetected pressurization event. Journal of Geophysical Research: Earth Surface, 127, e2021JF006406. https://doi. org/10.1029/2021JF006406 http://hdl.handle.net/11122/13021 Journal of Geophysical Research: Earth Surface Climate Change Glaciers Subglacial hydrology Lemon Creek Glacier Alaska Subglacial pressurization Article 2022 ftunivalaska 2023-02-23T21:38:02Z Understanding the dynamic response of glaciers to climate change is vital for assessing water resources and hazards, and subglacial hydrology is a key player in glacier systems. Traditional observations of subglacial hydrology are spatially and temporally limited, but recent seismic deployments on and around glaciers show the potential for comprehensive observation of glacial hydrologic systems. We present results from a high-density seismic deployment spanning the surface of Lemon Creek Glacier, Alaska. Our study coincided with a marginal lake drainage event, which served as a natural experiment for seismic detection of changes in subglacial hydrology. We observed glaciohydraulic tremor across the surface of the glacier that was generated by the subglacial hydrologic system. During the lake drainage, the relative changes in seismic tremor power and water flux are consistent with pressurization of the subglacial system of only the upper part of the glacier. This event was not accompanied by a significant increase in glacier velocity; either some threshold necessary for rapid basal motion was not attained, or, plausibly, the geometry of Lemon Creek Glacier inhibited speedup. This pressurization event would have likely gone undetected without seismic observations, demonstrating the power of cryoseismology in testing assumptions about and mapping the spatial extent of subglacial pressurization. This work was made possible in part by hard work in the field by Margot Vore, Daniel Bowden, Galen Kaip, and the students and staff of the 2017 Juneau Icefield Research Program. We especially thank Matt Beedle for provision of the photogrammetrically-produced DEM of Lake Linda, following lake drainage. This work was also aided by the advice of Mike Gurnis and Rob Clayton. We thank Paul Winberry and two anonymous reviewers for their helpful feedback, which improved this paper greatly. This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship under Grant No. DGE-1745301. This ... Article in Journal/Newspaper glacier glaciers Alaska University of Alaska: ScholarWorks@UA Clayton ENVELOPE(-64.183,-64.183,-65.167,-65.167) Juneau Icefield ENVELOPE(-134.254,-134.254,58.916,58.916) Lemon Creek ENVELOPE(177.452,177.452,51.987,51.987) Marginal Lake ENVELOPE(163.500,163.500,-74.600,-74.600) |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
University of Alaska: ScholarWorks@UA |
op_collection_id |
ftunivalaska |
language |
English |
topic |
Climate Change Glaciers Subglacial hydrology Lemon Creek Glacier Alaska Subglacial pressurization |
spellingShingle |
Climate Change Glaciers Subglacial hydrology Lemon Creek Glacier Alaska Subglacial pressurization Labedz, Celeste R. Bartholomaus, Timothy, C. Amundson, Jason M. Gimbert, Florent Karplus, Marianne Tsai, Victor C. Veitch, Stephen A. Seismic Mapping of Subglacial Hydrology Reveals Previously Undetected Pressurization Event |
topic_facet |
Climate Change Glaciers Subglacial hydrology Lemon Creek Glacier Alaska Subglacial pressurization |
description |
Understanding the dynamic response of glaciers to climate change is vital for assessing water resources and hazards, and subglacial hydrology is a key player in glacier systems. Traditional observations of subglacial hydrology are spatially and temporally limited, but recent seismic deployments on and around glaciers show the potential for comprehensive observation of glacial hydrologic systems. We present results from a high-density seismic deployment spanning the surface of Lemon Creek Glacier, Alaska. Our study coincided with a marginal lake drainage event, which served as a natural experiment for seismic detection of changes in subglacial hydrology. We observed glaciohydraulic tremor across the surface of the glacier that was generated by the subglacial hydrologic system. During the lake drainage, the relative changes in seismic tremor power and water flux are consistent with pressurization of the subglacial system of only the upper part of the glacier. This event was not accompanied by a significant increase in glacier velocity; either some threshold necessary for rapid basal motion was not attained, or, plausibly, the geometry of Lemon Creek Glacier inhibited speedup. This pressurization event would have likely gone undetected without seismic observations, demonstrating the power of cryoseismology in testing assumptions about and mapping the spatial extent of subglacial pressurization. This work was made possible in part by hard work in the field by Margot Vore, Daniel Bowden, Galen Kaip, and the students and staff of the 2017 Juneau Icefield Research Program. We especially thank Matt Beedle for provision of the photogrammetrically-produced DEM of Lake Linda, following lake drainage. This work was also aided by the advice of Mike Gurnis and Rob Clayton. We thank Paul Winberry and two anonymous reviewers for their helpful feedback, which improved this paper greatly. This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship under Grant No. DGE-1745301. This ... |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Labedz, Celeste R. Bartholomaus, Timothy, C. Amundson, Jason M. Gimbert, Florent Karplus, Marianne Tsai, Victor C. Veitch, Stephen A. |
author_facet |
Labedz, Celeste R. Bartholomaus, Timothy, C. Amundson, Jason M. Gimbert, Florent Karplus, Marianne Tsai, Victor C. Veitch, Stephen A. |
author_sort |
Labedz, Celeste R. |
title |
Seismic Mapping of Subglacial Hydrology Reveals Previously Undetected Pressurization Event |
title_short |
Seismic Mapping of Subglacial Hydrology Reveals Previously Undetected Pressurization Event |
title_full |
Seismic Mapping of Subglacial Hydrology Reveals Previously Undetected Pressurization Event |
title_fullStr |
Seismic Mapping of Subglacial Hydrology Reveals Previously Undetected Pressurization Event |
title_full_unstemmed |
Seismic Mapping of Subglacial Hydrology Reveals Previously Undetected Pressurization Event |
title_sort |
seismic mapping of subglacial hydrology reveals previously undetected pressurization event |
publisher |
American Geophysical Union |
publishDate |
2022 |
url |
http://hdl.handle.net/11122/13021 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-64.183,-64.183,-65.167,-65.167) ENVELOPE(-134.254,-134.254,58.916,58.916) ENVELOPE(177.452,177.452,51.987,51.987) ENVELOPE(163.500,163.500,-74.600,-74.600) |
geographic |
Clayton Juneau Icefield Lemon Creek Marginal Lake |
geographic_facet |
Clayton Juneau Icefield Lemon Creek Marginal Lake |
genre |
glacier glaciers Alaska |
genre_facet |
glacier glaciers Alaska |
op_relation |
Labedz, C. R., Bartholomaus, T. C., Amundson, J. M., Gimbert, F., Karplus, M. S., Tsai, V. C., & Veitch, S. A. (2022). Seismic mapping of subglacial hydrology reveals previously undetected pressurization event. Journal of Geophysical Research: Earth Surface, 127, e2021JF006406. https://doi. org/10.1029/2021JF006406 http://hdl.handle.net/11122/13021 Journal of Geophysical Research: Earth Surface |
_version_ |
1766008349418061824 |