Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Quantifying The Basal Conditions Of A Mountain Glacier Using A Targeted Full-Waveform Inversion: Bench Glacier, Alaska, Usa, E. Babcock, J. Bradford

John H. Bradford

Glacier dynamics are inextricably linked to the basal conditions of glaciers. Seismic reflection methods can image the glacier bed under certain conditions. However, where a seismically thin layer of material is present at the bed, traditional analyses may fail to fully characterize bed properties. We use a targeted full-waveform inversion algorithm to quantify the basal-layer parameters of a mountain glacier: thickness (d), P-wave velocity (α) and density (ρ). We simultaneously invert for the seismic quality factor (Q) of the bulk glacier ice. The inversion seeks to minimize the difference between the data and a one-dimensional reflectivity algorithm using a gradient-based …