Observations of the seasonality of the Antarctic microseismic signal, and its association to sea ice variability

International audienceSeismic noise spectra at all seismic stations display two peaks in the 1-20 s period band, called primary and secondary microseisms. They are caused by the coupling of ocean waves into Rayleigh waves. At most locations, microseismic power is greater during local winter (when nearby oceans are stormier) than local summer. This tendency is reversed for stations in Antarctica, where growth of local winter sea ice seems to impede microseism generation in near coastal areas. A decade of continuous data from coastal seismic stations in Antarctica show systematic seasonality in microseismic signal levels, and demonstrate associations with both broad‐ scale and local sea‐ice conditions. Primary microseisms are known to be generated at the coast and the modulation that we observe can be associated with sea‐ice variations both in the vicinity of the station and along other Antarctic coasts. The similar modulation of short‐period secondary microseisms corroborates their mostly near‐coastal origin, while the con- tinued presence of long‐period secondary microseisms sug- gests more distant source regions. These observations could be used to extend the monitoring of climate variability prior to the availability of satellite‐derived climate indicators

Characteristic atmosphere-ocean-solid earth interactions in the Antarctic coastal and marine environment inferred from seismic and infrasound recording at Syowa Station, East Antarctica

International audienceSeveral characteristic waves detected by seismographs in Antarctic stations have been recognized as originating from the physical interaction between the solid earth and the atmosphere-ocean-cryosphere system surrounding the Antarctic and may be used as a proxy for characterizing ocean wave climate. A Chaparral-type infrasound sensor was installed at Syowa Station (SYO; 39.6E, 69.0S), East Antarctica, in April 2008 during the International Polar Year (IPY2007-2008). Matching data are also available for this time period from the existing broadband seismic recorder located close by. Continuous infrasound data for 2008-2009 include background signals (microbaroms) with a broad peak in the wave period between the values of 4 and 10 s. Signals with the same period are recorded by the broadband seismograph at SYO (microseisms). This period band is identified as double-frequency microseisms/baroms (DFM). The DFM have relatively lower amplitudes during winter. We suggest that this is due to the sea-ice extent around the coast causing a decreased ocean loading effect. In contrast, the single frequency microseisms/baroms with a peak in period between 12 and 30 s are observed under storm conditions, particularly in winter. On the infrasound data, stationary signals are identified with harmonic overtones at a few Hertz to lowermost human audible band, which we suggest is due to local effects such as sea-ice cracking and vibration. Microseism measurements are a useful proxy for characterizing ocean wave climate, complementing other oceanographic and geophysical data. At SYO, continuous monitoring by both broadband seismograph and infrasound contributes to the Federation of Digital Seismographic Networks, the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty in the high southern latitudes and the Pan-Antarctic Observations System under the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research

Numerical Modeling of Iceberg Capsizing Responsible for Glacial Earthquakes

The capsizing of icebergs calved from marine‐terminating glaciers generate horizontal forces on the glacier front, producing long‐period seismic signals referred to as glacial earthquakes. These forces can be estimated by broadband seismic inversion, but their interpretation in terms of magnitude and waveform variability is not straightforward. We present a numerical model for fluid drag that can be used to study buoyancy‐driven iceberg capsize dynamics and the generated contact forces on a calving face using the finite‐element approach. We investigate the sensitivity of the force to drag effects, iceberg geometry, calving style, and initial buoyancy. We show that there is no simple relationship between force amplitude and iceberg volume, and similar force magnitudes can be reached for different iceberg sizes. The force history and spectral content varies with the iceberg attributes. The iceberg aspect ratio primarily controls the capsize dynamics, the force shape, and force frequency, whereas the iceberg height has a stronger impact on the force magnitude. Iceberg hydrostatic imbalance generates contact forces with specific frequency peaks that explain the variability in glacial earthquake dominant frequency. For similar icebergs, top‐out and bottom‐out events have significantly different capsize dynamics leading to larger top‐out forces especially for thin icebergs. For realistic iceberg dimensions, we find contact‐force magnitudes that range between 5.6 × 1011 and 2 × 1014 kg·m, consistent with seismic observations. This study provides a useful framework for interpreting glacial earthquake sources and estimating the ice mass loss from coupled analysis of seismic signals and modeling results

Mantle upwellings and convective instabilities revealed by seismic tomography and helium isotope geochemistry beneath eastern Africa

International audienceThe relationship between intraplate volcanism and continental tectonics has been investigated for North and East Africa using a high resolution three-dimensional anisotropic tomographic model derived from seismic data of a French experiment ''Horn of Africa'' and existing broadband data. The joint inversion for seismic velocity and anisotropy of the upper 400 km of the mantle, and geochemical data reveals a complex interaction between mantle upwellings, and lithosphere. Two kinds of mantle upwellings can be distinguished: The first one, the Afar ''plume'' originates from deeper than 400 km and is characterized by enrichment in primordial 3 He and 3 He/ 4 He ratios higher than those along mid-ocean ridges (MOR). The second one, associated with other Cenozoic volcanic provinces (Darfur, Tibesti, Hoggar, Cameroon), with 3 He/ 4 He ratios similar to, or lower than MOR, is a consequence of shallower upwelling. The presumed asthenospheric convective instabilities are oriented in an east-west direction, resulting from interaction between south-north asthenospheric mantle flow, main plume head and topography on the base of lithosphere

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

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.ERC. Grant Number: ERC-CG-2013-PE10-617472 ANR. Grant Number: ANR-11-BS01-0016 LANDQUAKES, CNCS‐UEFISCDI. Grant Number: PN-II-ID-PCE-2011-3-004

Characterization of Martian Convective Vortices Using InSight's Seismic and Meteorological Data

From Nov. 2018 to Dec. 2022, NASA's InSight (Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy, and Heat Transport) was operated on Mars to conduct seismic and meteorological observations. InSight¿s long quasicontinuous and high-temporal sampling observations have significantly improved our understandings of the inner structure, seismicity, and meteorological phenomena of the red planet (e.g., [1]-[8]). Prominent among these are convective vortices or dust devils

Empirical H/V spectral ratios at the InSight landing site and implications for the martian subsurface structure

The horizontal-to-vertical (H/V) spectral ratio inversion is a traditional technique for deriving the local subsurface structure on Earth. We calculated the H/V from the ambient vibrations at different wind levels at the InSight landing site, on Mars, and also computed the H/V from the S-wave coda of the martian seismic events (marsquakes). Different H/V curves were obtained for different wind periods and from the marsquakes. From the ambient vibrations, the recordings during low-wind periods are close to the instrument self-noise level. During high-wind periods, the seismic recordings are highly contaminated by the interaction of the lander with the wind and the martian ground. Therefore, these recordings are less favourable for traditional H/V analysis. Instead, the recordings of the S-wave coda of marsquakes were preferred to derive the characteristic H/V curve of this site between 0.4 and 10 Hz. The final H/V curve presents a characteristic trough at 2.4 Hz and a strong peak at 8 Hz. Using a full diffuse wavefield approach as the forward computation and the Neighbourhood Algorithm as the sampling technique, we invert for the 1-D shear wave velocity structure at the InSight landing site. Based on our inversion results, we propose a strong site effect at the InSight site to be due to the presence of a shallow high-velocity layer (SHVL) over low-velocity units. The SHVL is likely placed below a layer of coarse blocky ejecta and can be associated with Early Amazonian basaltic lava flows. The units below the SHVL have lower velocities, possibly related to a Late Hesperian or Early Amazonian epoch with a different magmatic regime and/or a greater impact rate and more extensive weathering. An extremely weak buried low velocity layer (bLVL) between these lava flows explains the data around the 2.4 Hz trough, whereas a more competent bLVL would not generate this latter feature. These subsurface models are in good agreement with results from hammering experiment and compliance measurements at the InSight landing site. Finally, this site effect is revealed only by seismic events data and explains the larger horizontal than vertical ground motion recorded for certain type of marsquakes.The authors acknowledge National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), Centre National D’études Spatiales (CNES), their partner agencies and institutions (United Kingdom Space Agency [UKSA], Swiss Space Office [SSO], Deutsches Zentrum für Luft-und Raumfahrt [DLR], Jet Propulsion Laboratory [JPL], Institut du Physique du Globe de Paris [IPGP]—Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique-École Normale Supérieure [CNRS], Eldgenössische Technische Hochschule Zürich [ETHZ], Imperial college [IC], Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research [MPS-MPG]), and the flight operations team at JPL, SEIS on Mars Operation Center (SISMOC), Mars SEIS Data Service (MSDS), Incorporated Research Institutions for Seismology–Data Management Center (IRIS-DMC) and Planetary Data System (PDS) for providing SEED Seismic Experiment for Interior Structure (SEIS) data. We acknowledge funding from (1) Swiss State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation (SEFRI project ‘Marsquake Service-Preparatory Phase’), (2) ETH Research grant ETH-0617–02, and (3) ETH + 02 19–1: Planet MARS. The research was carried out in part at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, under a contract with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (80NM0018D0004). This is the InSight contribution number 268

Monitoring Greenland ice sheet buoyancy-driven calving discharge using glacial earthquakes

Since the 2000s, Greenland ice sheet mass loss has been accelerating, followed by increasing numbers of glacial earthquakes (GEs) at near-grounded glaciers. GEs are caused by calving of km-scale icebergs which capsize against the terminus. Seismic record inversion allows a reconstruction of the history of GE sources which captures capsize dynamics through iceberg-to-terminus contact. When compared with a catalog of contact forces from an iceberg capsize model, seismic force history accurately computes calving volumes while the earthquake magnitude fails to uniquely characterize iceberg size, giving errors up to 1 km ³ . Calving determined from GEs recorded ateight glaciers in 1993–2013 accounts for up to 21% of the associated discharge and 6% of the Greenland mass loss. The proportion of discharge attributed to capsizing calving may be underestimated by at least 10% as numerous events could not be identified by standard seismic detections (Olsen and Nettles, 2018). While calving production tends to stabilize in East Greenland, Western glaciers have released more and larger icebergs since 2010 and have become major contributors to Greenland dynamic discharge. Production of GEs and calving behavior are controlled by glacier geometry with bigger icebergs being produced when the terminus advances in deepening water. We illustrate how GEs can help in partitioning and monitoring Greenland mass loss and characterizing capsize dynamics

First observations of core-Transiting seismic phases on Mars

We present the first observations of seismic waves propagating through the core of Mars. These observations, made using seismic data collected by the InSight geophysical mission, have allowed us to construct the first seismically constrained models for the elastic properties of Mars core. We observe core-Transiting seismic phase SKS from two farside seismic events detected on Mars and measure the travel times of SKS relative to mantle traversing body waves. SKS travels through the core as a compressional wave, providing information about bulk modulus and density. We perform probabilistic inversions using the core-sensitive relative travel times together with gross geophysical data and travel times from other, more proximal, seismic events to seek the equation of state parameters that best describe the liquid iron-Alloy core. Our inversions provide constraints on the velocities in Mars core and are used to develop the first seismically based estimates of its composition. We show that models informed by our SKS data favor a somewhat smaller (median core radius = 1,780 to 1,810 km) and denser (core density = 6.2 to 6.3 g/cm3) core compared to previous estimates, with a P-wave velocity of 4.9 to 5.0 km/s at the core mantle boundary, with the composition and structure of the mantle as a dominant source of uncertainty. We infer from our models that Mars core contains a median of 20 to 22 wt% light alloying elements when we consider sulfur, oxygen, carbon, and hydrogen. These data can be used to inform models of planetary accretion, composition, and evolution.W.B.B., K.J.H, and M.P.P. were supported by the NASA InSight mission and funds from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, under a contract with the NASA (80NM0018D0004). V.L. and N.C.S. were supported by funding from NASA grant 80NSSC18K1628 and NASA SSERVI Cooperative Agreement 80NSSC19M0216. C.D., A.K., D.G., S.C., J.C., D.K., and S.C.S. acknowledge support from ETH through the ETH+ funding scheme (ETH+02 19-1: “Planet Mars”). The Marsquake Service (MQS) operations at ETH are supported by ETH Research grant ETH-06 17-02. M.D., H.S., D.A., R.G., T.K., P.L., E.S., and Z.X. acknowledge the support of CNES for SEIS operation and science analysis, with an additional support of ANR (MAGIS, ANR-19-CE31-0008-08). H.S., T.K., P.L. E.S., and Z.X. additionally acknowledge the support from the IdEx Université Paris Cité (ANR-18-IDEX-0001). M.D. and H.S. were granted access to the HPC resources of CINES under the allocation A0110413017, made by the GENCI. Numerical computations were partly performed on the S-CAPAD/DANTE platform, IPGP, France. D.A. has received funding from the European Research Council under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program (grant agreement 724690); D.A. also acknowledges the support by CNES, focused on the SEIS instrument of the InSight mission. A.R. was financially supported by the Belgian PRODEX program managed by the European Space Agency in collaboration with the Belgian Federal Science Policy Office. E.B. and Q.H. were funded by NASA InSight PSP grant #80NSSC18K1680. C.B. and J.L. were funded by NAS