Researchers setting up seismic monitoring equipment to plot "glacial earthquakes" in Antarctica.
Antarctic researchers have tracked down the source of mysterious tremors that were first detected by seismographs deployed on the icy continent beginning in 2001: sudden advances of glacial rivers spilling into the ocean.
These daily glacial earthquakes regularly register magnitudes of up to 7.
Other researchers say such seismic signals from glacial movement have been increasing worldwide since they were discovered in 2003 due to a warming climate.
Some scientists think the seismic waves come from the phenomenon of calving, where a big chunk of ice breaks off of a glacier and floats away in the ocean — a very violent activity that could generate strong signals on monitoring equipment.
The new research show that at least some of the glacial earthquakes are produced by the sudden sliding of large ice sheets.
Photo: Douglas Wiens - Washington University in St. Louis
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