Complex force history of a calving-generated glacial earthquake derived from broadband seismic inversion

• Published in: Geophysical Research Letters
• Main Authors: Sergeant, Amandine, Mangeney, Anne, Stutzmann, Eléonore, Montagner, Jean-Paul, Walter, Fabian, Moretti, Laurent, Castelnau, Olivier
• Other Authors: Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris (IPGP), Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université Paris Diderot - Paris 7 (UPD7)-Université de La Réunion (UR)-Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris (IPG Paris)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Swiss Seismological Service ETH Zurich (SED), Institute of Geophysics ETH Zürich, Department of Earth Sciences Swiss Federal Institute of Technology - ETH Zürich (D-ERDW), Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule - Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zürich (ETH Zürich)- Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule - Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zürich (ETH Zürich)-Department of Earth Sciences Swiss Federal Institute of Technology - ETH Zürich (D-ERDW), Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule - Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zürich (ETH Zürich)- Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule - Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zürich (ETH Zürich), Laboratoire Procédés et Ingénierie en Mécanique et Matériaux (PIMM), Conservatoire National des Arts et Métiers CNAM (CNAM), HESAM Université - Communauté d'universités et d'établissements Hautes écoles Sorbonne Arts et métiers université (HESAM)-HESAM Université - Communauté d'universités et d'établissements Hautes écoles Sorbonne Arts et métiers université (HESAM)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Arts et Métiers Sciences et Technologies, HESAM Université - Communauté d'universités et d'établissements Hautes écoles Sorbonne Arts et métiers université (HESAM), ERC. Grant Number: ERC-CG-2013-PE10-617472ANR. Grant Number: ANR-11-BS01-0016LANDQUAKES, CNCS‐UEFISCDI. Grant Number: PN-II-ID-PCE-2011-3-0045
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2016
• Subjects: iceberg calving; glacial earthquake; source inversion; [SDU.STU.GP]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Earth Sciences/Geophysics [physics.geo-ph]; Greenland; Jakobshavn
• Online Access: https://hal.science/hal-02140763; https://hal.science/hal-02140763/document; https://hal.science/hal-02140763/file/PIMM%20-%20GRL%20-%20SEREGEANT%20-%202016.pdf; https://doi.org/10.1002/2015GL066785

International audience The force applied to the Earth by the calving of two icebergs at Jakobshavn Isbrae, Greenland, has been quantified. The source force history was recovered by inversion of regional broadband seismograms without any a priori constraint on the source time function, in contrast with previous studies. For periods 10-100 s, the three-component force can be obtained from distant stations alone and is proportional to the closest station seismograms. This inversion makes it possible to quantify changes of the source force direction and amplitude as a function of time and frequency. A detailed comparison with a video of the event was used to identify four forces associated with collision, then bottom-out and top-out rotation of the first and second icebergs, and ice mélange motion. Only the two iceberg rotations were identified in previous studies. All four processes are found here to contribute to the force amplitude and variability. Such a complete time-frequency force history provides unique dynamical constraints for mechanical calving models.