#ARCTIC. #SIBERIA. THIS IS TAIMYR. In Russia, for the first time, studies of the seismic dynamics of Arctic glaciers were carried out by scientists from the Russian Academy of Sciences’ Ural Branch’s Federal Research Center for Integrated Study of the Arctic (FRCISA, Arhangelsk). Galina Antonovskaya, the research center’s deputy director for scientific work, the seismology laboratory’s head, spoke about the details.
In an interview with TASS, she explained that with the help of seismic stations it is possible to monitor processes occurring in the thickness of glaciers and leading, for example, to the appearance of icebergs. Such research is aimed at improving the safety of navigation in the northern seas.
Antonovskaya noted that a new scientific direction – cryoseismology – has just begun to develop in Russia and the FRCISA scientists became the first in the country to study the dynamics of Arctic glaciers and lay the foundations for cryoseismological monitoring.
“The melting of Arctic ice is changing weather conditions, which complicates navigation along the Northern Sea Route. That is why obtaining new information about the state and dynamics of glaciers is important in a fundamental aspect for predicting climate change, and in a practical sense – for monitoring the ice situation in the Russian Arctic”, she said.
In 2016, a seismic station was installed on Bolshevik island in the Severnaya Zemlya archipelago. Several years of data obtained with its help were analyzed and formed the basis of a new study.
Similar seismic stations also operate on the island of Alexandra Land in Franz Josef Land and on Novaya Zemlya. The seismic station on Severnaya Zemlya is believed to improve the accuracy of the location of Arctic earthquakes that occur in the Barents and Kara seas, but at the same time it also records what is happening in glaciers on land and sea ice fields.
“We began to register fairly strong local seismic events, that is, those events occurring in the area and on the territory of the Severnaya Zemlya archipelago. And we set out to determine the nature of these events: whether they are weak earthquakes or strong icequakes”, Antonovskaya explained.
The data obtained were compared with those that were obtained in Spitsbergen, where several seismic stations operate at once, making it possible to distinguish between various processes occurring in glaciers: ice dome cracking, iceberg calving, glacier lake’s wall breakthrough.
Seismic data can be considered in conjunction with others: satellite images, field data from glaciologists.
“With appropriate seismic network density and continuous observations, it is possible to predict the formation of icebergs”, Antonovskaya noted.
On the Kara sea, a seismic station records what is happening in the ice fields, and this data can be used to assess the ice situation.
It was previously believed that the Arctic was aseismic, but studies have shown that this is not true. According to TASS, over five years, the station on Severnaya Zemlya has recorded 73 seismic events, 45 of which occurred on the October Revolution Island, where the Kara Plate and the North Taimyr deformation zone converge. Even though earthquakes are quite weak, they cause the formation of icebergs.
“We have identified the relationship between earthquakes and icequakes. And we emphasize that continuous seismic monitoring is necessary, it allows us to obtain important information about the glaciers’ dynamics”, said the seismologist.
Currently, the few seismic stations in the Russian Arctic are separated by distances of 1.5–2 thousand kilometers, which makes it difficult to accurately determine the earthquakes epicenters. And to the east of Severnaya Zemlya there are no such stations at all, although this zone is more seismically active. Scientists believe that a seismic station has to be installed on the New Siberian islands – it will also help determine the ice situation on the Northern Sea Route.
In addition to earthquakes, methane emissions, which can also be recorded by seismic stations, are also potentially dangerous for ships. Scientists believe that the seismic observation network should be developed on the basis of Roshydromet federal service’s observation points, where there is light, communications and people capable of repairing equipment if necessary.
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Text: Angelika Stepanova, Photo: Nikolay Shchipko
