Honors Theses and Capstones

Date of Award

Spring 2024

Project Type

Senior Honors Thesis

College or School

CEPS

Department

Physics

Program or Major

Physics

Degree Name

Bachelor of Science

First Advisor

Dawn Meredith

Second Advisor

Mong-Han Huang

Third Advisor

Nicholas C. Schmerr

Abstract

This report provides an introduction to the ARROW project and seismic behavior on ice shelves. We catalogged icequakes using seismic analysis code (SAC) and located prominent icequakes using WAVES from a seismic dataset collected from December 2nd, 2023 and January 5th, 2024. The analysis of this dataset will be used to model similar deformation systems found in icy ocean worlds in the outer Solar System like the Tiger Stripe rifts found on Enceladus. We looked into the deformation of rift zone WR4, why and how these icequakes occur along WR4, and the rift's interior material make up. Particular hotspots of icequake activity tell us where WR4 is expanding, the strain across WR4, the diurnal tidal cycle underneath the Ross Ice Shelf, and the number of icequakes show correlation, and the calculation of wave velocity travelling across WR4 provides insight into the material make up of the mélange. The possible relationship between strain, tidal cycle, and seismicity provides a valuable tool for modelling seismicity in similar systems in other ice shelves. These events will be relocated using hypo-DD to increase the accuracy of modelling for similar rift zones across the Antarctic and on icy ocean worlds.

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