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Geophysics

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Glaciers and Ice Sheets in the Climate System

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Abstract

This chapter describes geophysical methods used to probe the interior of ice sheets and glaciers, focussing on active seismics and radar measurements. Their physical principles, data acquisition and processing, and the interpretation of internal reflectors from seismic or radar data, are explained. The chapter goes on to describe the glaciological applications of these methods, including the mapping of ice thickness, bed topography, subglacial properties and the internal stratigraphy within ice masses. Additional sections present an overview of passive methods (gravimetry, magnetics, seismology) and detail the mathematics of seismic and electromagnetic wave propagation.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    The acronyms have the following meaning: CHAMP, Challenging Mini-satellite Payload; GRACE: Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment; GOCE: Gravity field and steady-state Ocean Circulation Explorer.

  2. 2.

    As its name suggests, impedance is a measure of the resistance of the medium. In an electrical circuit, the resistance is the voltage divided by the current; in a uni-directional fluid flow such as in a river, we might define it as the hydraulic head divided by the velocity. Impedance generalises this idea to alternating currents where there is no net flow or current. Further detail is given in Sects. 14.3.1 and 14.7.

  3. 3.

    Other terms are also used, such as LPO (lattice preferred orientation).  An individual ice crystal has considerable anisotropic properties [rheology, thermal conductance, seismic and electromagnetic wave speed (Table 14.1)]. The overall properties of the bulk medium depend on the orientation of the individual crystals within the bulk, e. g., whether they are randomly orientated (isotropic) or have a preferred (anisotropic) orientation.

  4. 4.

    A streamer is a linear array of geophones towed along the ground or through the water.

  5. 5.

    We use the notation \(d\mathbf{s}=ds_1\,ds_2\,ds_3\) to denote volume elements.

  6. 6.

    In reference to Galileo’s Pisa experiment on the fall of two spheres of unequal mass.

  7. 7.

    That is, an ellipse rotated about its minor axis.

  8. 8.

    Impedance is a measure of resistance to motion. For sound waves it can be defined as the ratio of pressure perturbation to velocity perturbation. Since, from (14.17), with \(\mathbf{u}\) and \(\rho \propto e^{i(\mathbf{k}.\mathbf{r}-\omega t)}\), \(\rho _0\mathbf{u}_t=-i\omega \rho _0\mathbf{u}=-c^2{\varvec{\nabla }}\rho =-i\rho c^2\mathbf{k}\), and the pressure perturbation \(\phi =\rho c^2\), and \(c=\omega /k\), it follows that \(\phi /u=\rho _0c\).

  9. 9.

    The symbol ‘\(\sim \)’ is used rather than ‘\(=\)’ because the approximation is asymptotic rather than convergent.

  10. 10.

    The strain at a point of an elastic material is its displacement from its position of equilibrium.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research, Bremerhaven, Germany

    Olaf Eisen

  2. Department of Geosciences, University of Bremen, Bremen, Germany

    Olaf Eisen

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  1. Olaf Eisen
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Correspondence to Olaf Eisen .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. MACSI, University of Limerick, Limerick, Ireland

    Andrew Fowler

  2. Department of Geography, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK

    Felix Ng

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Eisen, O. (2021). Geophysics. In: Fowler, A., Ng, F. (eds) Glaciers and Ice Sheets in the Climate System. Springer Textbooks in Earth Sciences, Geography and Environment. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-42584-5_14

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