Articles | Volume 15, issue 1 
            
                
                    
            
            
            https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-283-2021
                    © Author(s) 2021. This work is distributed under 
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
                the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-283-2021
                    © Author(s) 2021. This work is distributed under 
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
                the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Passive seismic recording of cryoseisms in Adventdalen, Svalbard
                                            Department of Geosciences, University of Tromsø – The Arctic
University of Norway, 9037 Tromsø, Norway
                                        
                                    
                                            Research Centre for Arctic Petroleum Exploration (ARCEx), 9037 Tromsø, Norway
                                        
                                    Alfred Hanssen
                                            Department of Geosciences, University of Tromsø – The Arctic
University of Norway, 9037 Tromsø, Norway
                                        
                                    
                                            Research Centre for Arctic Petroleum Exploration (ARCEx), 9037 Tromsø, Norway
                                        
                                    Bent Ole Ruud
                                            Research Centre for Arctic Petroleum Exploration (ARCEx), 9037 Tromsø, Norway
                                        
                                    
                                            Department of Earth Science, University of Bergen, 5007 Bergen, Norway
                                        
                                    Helene Meling Stemland
                                            Research Centre for Arctic Petroleum Exploration (ARCEx), 9037 Tromsø, Norway
                                        
                                    
                                            Department of Earth Science, University of Bergen, 5007 Bergen, Norway
                                        
                                    Tor Arne Johansen
                                            Research Centre for Arctic Petroleum Exploration (ARCEx), 9037 Tromsø, Norway
                                        
                                    
                                            Department of Earth Science, University of Bergen, 5007 Bergen, Norway
                                        
                                    
                                            The University Centre in Svalbard (UNIS), 9171 Longyearbyen, Norway
                                        
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                                                We have investigated a long-term record of ground vibrations, recorded by a seismic array installed in Adventdalen, Svalbard. This record contains a large number of 
                                            
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                                                We have investigated a long-term record of ground vibrations, recorded by a seismic array installed in Adventdalen, Svalbard. This record contains a large number of 
                                            
                                        frost quakes, a type of ground shaking that can be produced by cracks that form as the ground cools rapidly. We use underground temperatures measured in a nearby borehole to model forces of thermal expansion and contraction that can cause these cracks. We also use the seismic measurements to estimate where these cracks occurred.
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                                                Air-coupled flexural waves are produced by the interaction between pressure waves in air and bending waves in a floating ice sheet. The frequency of these waves is related to the physical properties of the ice sheet, specifically its thickness and rigidity. We demonstrate the usefulness of air-coupled flexural waves for estimating ice thickness and give a theoretical description of the governing physics that highlights their similarity to related phenomena in other fields.
                                            
                                            
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                Short summary
            A series of unusual ground motion signatures were identified in geophone recordings at a frost polygon site in Adventdalen on Svalbard. By analysing where the ground motion originated in time and space, we are able to classify them as cryoseisms, also known as frost quakes, a ground-cracking phenomenon that occurs as a result of freezing processes. The waves travelling through the ground produced by these frost quakes also allow us to measure the structure of the permafrost in the near surface.
            A series of unusual ground motion signatures were identified in geophone recordings at a frost...
            
         
 
                        
                                         
                        
                                         
             
             
            