Chile earthquake fractured ice in Antarctica
DOI: 10.1063/PT.5.028161
Science : A magnitude 8.8 earthquake that struck off the coast of Chile in 2010 also produced “icequakes” in Antarctica. According to a study published by Zhigang Peng of Georgia Tech and colleagues, their investigation of surface waves generated by the large quake turned up evidence of tiny seismic signals, associated with ice cracking, in Antarctica. Of the two types of surface waves generated by earthquakes, only the Rayleigh waves appeared to have any effect in Antarctica. “That makes us suspect that the mechanisms of icequakes might be different from regular earthquakes,” said Peng. Next they plan to look at data collected at all the Antarctic stations over the past four to five years for the effects of other large geologic events.
