Research progress in geophysical exploration of the Antarctic ice sheet

The Antarctic ice sheet is an important target of Antarctic research. Thickness and structure, including intraice and subice, are closely related to the mass balance of the ice sheet, and play an important role in the study of global sea level and climate change. Subglacial topography is an importan...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Jinkai An, Song Huang, Xiangyang Chen, Tao Xu, Zhiming Bai
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: KeAi Communications Co. Ltd. 2023-07-01
Series:Earthquake Research Advances
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S277246702200094X
_version_ 1827891597955563520
author Jinkai An
Song Huang
Xiangyang Chen
Tao Xu
Zhiming Bai
author_facet Jinkai An
Song Huang
Xiangyang Chen
Tao Xu
Zhiming Bai
author_sort Jinkai An
collection DOAJ
description The Antarctic ice sheet is an important target of Antarctic research. Thickness and structure, including intraice and subice, are closely related to the mass balance of the ice sheet, and play an important role in the study of global sea level and climate change. Subglacial topography is an important basis for studying ice sheet dynamics and ice sheet evolution. This paper briefly reviews the geophysical detection methods and research status of the Antarctic ice sheet: (1) Conventional methods such as ice radar are the main methods for studying the ice sheet today, and passive source seismic methods such as the receiver function method, H/V method and P-wave coda autocorrelation method have good development prospects; (2) the high-resolution (1 ​km) ice thickness and subglacial topographic database BEDMAP2 established based on various data has greatly improved the ability to detect internal isochronous layers, anisotropic layers, and temperature changes within ice and has advanced research on ice sheet evolution; and (3) ice radar, numerical simulation and core drilling are the main methods to study subglacial lakes and sediments. More than 400 subglacial lakes have been confirmed, and more than 12 000 simulation results have been obtained. Research on the Antarctic ice sheet faces enormous challenges and is of great urgency. Aiming at hot issues, such as Antarctic geological evolution, glacial retreat, ice sheet melting and their relationships with global climate change, it is the frontier and trend of future Antarctic ice sheet research to carry out multidisciplinary and multicountry comprehensive geophysical exploration based on the traditional ice radar method combined with passive seismic methods, especially new technologies such as short-period dense array technology, unmanned aerial vehicles and artificial intelligence. This is expected to further promote Antarctic research.
first_indexed 2024-03-12T21:28:05Z
format Article
id doaj.art-d56567d7a52c4bdbb78ca5a78346bdf2
institution Directory Open Access Journal
issn 2772-4670
language English
last_indexed 2024-03-12T21:28:05Z
publishDate 2023-07-01
publisher KeAi Communications Co. Ltd.
record_format Article
series Earthquake Research Advances
spelling doaj.art-d56567d7a52c4bdbb78ca5a78346bdf22023-07-28T04:27:01ZengKeAi Communications Co. Ltd.Earthquake Research Advances2772-46702023-07-0133100203Research progress in geophysical exploration of the Antarctic ice sheetJinkai An0Song Huang1Xiangyang Chen2Tao Xu3Zhiming Bai4Key Laboratory of Petroleum Resource Research, Institute of Geology and Geophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100029, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, ChinaKey Laboratory of Petroleum Resource Research, Institute of Geology and Geophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100029, China; Innovation Academy for Earth Science, CAS, Beijing, 100029, China; Corresponding author. Key Laboratory of Petroleum Resource Research, Institute of Geology and Geophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100029, China.State Key Laboratory of Lithospheric Evolution, Institute of Geology and Geophysics, Chinese Academy of Science, Beijing, 100029, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, ChinaKey Laboratory of Mineral Resources, Institute of Geology and Geophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100029, China; Innovation Academy for Earth Science, CAS, Beijing, 100029, ChinaState Key Laboratory of Lithospheric Evolution, Institute of Geology and Geophysics, Chinese Academy of Science, Beijing, 100029, China; Innovation Academy for Earth Science, CAS, Beijing, 100029, ChinaThe Antarctic ice sheet is an important target of Antarctic research. Thickness and structure, including intraice and subice, are closely related to the mass balance of the ice sheet, and play an important role in the study of global sea level and climate change. Subglacial topography is an important basis for studying ice sheet dynamics and ice sheet evolution. This paper briefly reviews the geophysical detection methods and research status of the Antarctic ice sheet: (1) Conventional methods such as ice radar are the main methods for studying the ice sheet today, and passive source seismic methods such as the receiver function method, H/V method and P-wave coda autocorrelation method have good development prospects; (2) the high-resolution (1 ​km) ice thickness and subglacial topographic database BEDMAP2 established based on various data has greatly improved the ability to detect internal isochronous layers, anisotropic layers, and temperature changes within ice and has advanced research on ice sheet evolution; and (3) ice radar, numerical simulation and core drilling are the main methods to study subglacial lakes and sediments. More than 400 subglacial lakes have been confirmed, and more than 12 000 simulation results have been obtained. Research on the Antarctic ice sheet faces enormous challenges and is of great urgency. Aiming at hot issues, such as Antarctic geological evolution, glacial retreat, ice sheet melting and their relationships with global climate change, it is the frontier and trend of future Antarctic ice sheet research to carry out multidisciplinary and multicountry comprehensive geophysical exploration based on the traditional ice radar method combined with passive seismic methods, especially new technologies such as short-period dense array technology, unmanned aerial vehicles and artificial intelligence. This is expected to further promote Antarctic research.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S277246702200094XAntarctic ice sheetIntra- and subglacial structuresIce sheet mass balanceInterdisciplinaryIntegrated geophysical exploration
spellingShingle Jinkai An
Song Huang
Xiangyang Chen
Tao Xu
Zhiming Bai
Research progress in geophysical exploration of the Antarctic ice sheet
Earthquake Research Advances
Antarctic ice sheet
Intra- and subglacial structures
Ice sheet mass balance
Interdisciplinary
Integrated geophysical exploration
title Research progress in geophysical exploration of the Antarctic ice sheet
title_full Research progress in geophysical exploration of the Antarctic ice sheet
title_fullStr Research progress in geophysical exploration of the Antarctic ice sheet
title_full_unstemmed Research progress in geophysical exploration of the Antarctic ice sheet
title_short Research progress in geophysical exploration of the Antarctic ice sheet
title_sort research progress in geophysical exploration of the antarctic ice sheet
topic Antarctic ice sheet
Intra- and subglacial structures
Ice sheet mass balance
Interdisciplinary
Integrated geophysical exploration
url http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S277246702200094X
work_keys_str_mv AT jinkaian researchprogressingeophysicalexplorationoftheantarcticicesheet
AT songhuang researchprogressingeophysicalexplorationoftheantarcticicesheet
AT xiangyangchen researchprogressingeophysicalexplorationoftheantarcticicesheet
AT taoxu researchprogressingeophysicalexplorationoftheantarcticicesheet
AT zhimingbai researchprogressingeophysicalexplorationoftheantarcticicesheet