From the Field: Seismic Network Will Measure the Effects of Ocean Waves on Antarctic Ice Shelves

Starting in November, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UC San Diego, researchers and colleagues will embark on an ambitious and arduous mission funded by National Science Foundation Polar Programs to install a seismic array on Antarctica’s Ross Ice Shelf.

The data generated by the array is expected to deliver important new information on the dynamics of the stresses that wave impact vibrations place on ice shelves that extend out into the open ocean. With attention on acceleration of sea level rise from increased melting in Greenland and Antarctica of great concern in an era of rapid climate change, the study could help scientists understand what triggers sudden ice shelf collapse.

Follow the scientists' progress on the blog Ice Shelf Vibrations and learn more about the forces that cause ice shelves to collapse and which polar phenomena contribute to sea-level rise and which don't.