Iceberg Harmonic Tremor, Seismometer Data, Antarctica  View Catalog Page Entry ID
NSIDC-0349
Summary
Seismometers were placed on a 25 km by 50 km iceberg called C16 in the Ross Sea, Antarctica, to identify the Iceberg harmonic Tremor (IHT) source mechanism and to understand the relevance of IHT to iceberg calving, drift and break-up. The seismic observations reveal that the IHT signal consists of extended episodes of stick-slip icequakes (typically thousands per hour) generated when the ice-cliff edges of two tabular icebergs rub together during glancing, strike/slip type iceberg collisions (e.g., between C16 and B15A). With the source mechanism revealed, IHT may provide a promising signal useful for the study of iceberg behavior and iceberg-related processes such as climate-induced ice-shelf disintegration.
Here, a single day of seismometer data for a single station on iceberg C16 is provided as an example of "a day in the life of an iceberg" for use by scientists and students wishing to know more about IHT. The station data is from C16 "B" site on C16's northeast corner, and the day is 27 December, 2003, a day when B15A struck C16 and caused an episode of tremor that was particularly easy to identify and understand.
This represents only a small fraction of the total data that exist for the seismic program on iceberg C16. The full data are archived at the IRIS data center (where seismic data is commonly archived). This one-day data set is to provide glaciologists with ready access to a good example of IHT that they can use for teaching and for demonstration purposes. Data are available in comma-delimited ASCII format and Matlab native mat files. Data are available via FTP.
Geographic Coverage
Spatial Coordinates:
N: -77°
S: -77°
E: 168°
W: 168°
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Data Set Citation
Dataset Creator: Douglas MacAyeal
Dataset Title: Iceberg Harmonic Tremor, Seismometer Data, Antarctica
Dataset Release Date: 2008-10-01
Dataset Release Place: Boulder, Colorado USA
Dataset Publisher: NSIDC: National Snow and Ice Data Center
Online Resource: http://nsidc.org/data/nsidc-0349.html
Dataset DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.7265/N5445JD6
Temporal Coverage
Start Date: 2003-12-27
Stop Date: 2003-12-28
Location Keywords
- CONTINENT ANTARCTICA
Science Keywords
- Cryosphere Glaciers/Ice Sheets
- Cryosphere Glaciers/Ice Sheets Icebergs
- Cryosphere Sea Ice Icebergs
- Cryosphere Sea Ice Sea Ice Motion
- Cryosphere Snow/Ice Ice Motion
- Oceans Sea Ice Icebergs
- Oceans Sea Ice Sea Ice Motion
- Terrestrial Hydrosphere Snow/Ice Ice Motion
Ancillary Keywords
- Antarctica
- Iceberg
- Ross Ice Shelf
- seismology
- seismometer
- Climatology/Meteorology/Atmosphere
Platform
- FIELD INVESTIGATION
- FIELD SURVEYS
Data Set Progress
complete
Originating Center
NSIDC_AGDC
Data Center
National Snow and Ice Data Center
Data Center URL: http://nsidc.org
Data Center Personnel
Name: NSIDC User Services
Phone: 1 303 492-6199
Fax: 1 303 492-2468
Email: nsidc@nsidc.org
Contact Address:
- National Snow and Ice Data Center
- CIRES, 449 UCB
- University of Colorado
City: Boulder
Province or State: CO
Postal Code: 80309-0449
Country: USA
NSIDC Antarctic Glaciological Data Center
Data Center URL: http://nsidc.org/agdc/
Data Center Personnel
Name: NSIDC AGDC User Services
Phone: 1 303 492-6199
Fax: 1 303 492-2468
Email: nsidc@nsidc.org
Contact Address:
- National Snow and Ice Data Center
- CIRES, 449 UCB
- University of Colorado
City: Boulder
Province or State: CO
Postal Code: 80309-0449
Country: USA
Distribution
Distribution Media: FTP
Distribution Size: 150 MB
Distribution Format: ASCII Text
Personnel
Douglas Macayeal
Role: INVESTIGATOR
Phone: 1 773 702-8027
Email: drm7@midway.uchicago.edu
Contact Address:
- Department of Geophysical Sciences
- University of Chicago
- 5734 S. Ellis Ave.
City: Chicago
Province or State: IL
Postal Code: 60637
Country: USA
Emile Okal
Role: INVESTIGATOR
Contact Address:
- Northwestern University
- Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences
City: Evanston
Province or State: Illinois
Postal Code: 60208-2150
Country: USA
Richard Aster
Role: INVESTIGATOR
Contact Address:
- New Mexico Tech
- Dept. of Earth & Environmental Science
City: Socorro
Province or State: New Mexico
Postal Code: 87801
Country: USA
Jeremy Bassis
Role: INVESTIGATOR
Contact Address:
- University of California, San Diego
- Institute for Geophysics and Planetary Physics, Scripps Institution of Oceanogra
City: La Jolla,
Province or State: California
Postal Code: 92093-0225
Country: USA
NSIDC User Services
Role: TECHNICAL CONTACT
Phone: 1 303 492-6199 x
Fax: 1 303 492-2468 x
Email: nsidc@nsidc.org
Contact Address:
- National Snow and Ice Data Center
- CIRES, 449 UCB
- University of Colorado
City: Boulder
Province or State: CO
Postal Code: 80309-0449
Country: USA
Related URL
VIEW PROJECT HOME PAGE
AGDC Web site
VIEW PROJECT HOME PAGE
Antarctic Glaciological Data Center Web site
VIEW RELATED INFORMATION
Continuous GPS (static) Data from the Ross Ice Shelf, Antarctic
VIEW RELATED INFORMATION
Continuous GPS (static) Data from the Ross Ice Shelf, Antarctica
Reference
MacAyeal, D. R., E. A. Okal, R. C. Aster, and J. N. Bassis (2008), Seismic and hydroacoustic tremor generated by colliding icebergs, J. Geophys. Res., 113, F03011, doi:10.1029/2008JF001005.
Metadata Name and Version
Metadata Name: CEOS IDN DIF
Metadata Version: 9.7
Creation and Review Dates
DIF Creation Date: 2008-10-01
Last DIF Revision Date: 2013-03-18
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