First measurement of ice-bedrock interface of alpine glaciers by cosmic muon radiography

Nishiyama, Ryuichi; Ariga, A.; Ariga, T.; Käser, S.; Lechmann, Alessandro; Mair, David; Scampoli, P.; Vladymyrov, Mykhailo; Ereditato, Antonio; Schlunegger, F. (2017). First measurement of ice-bedrock interface of alpine glaciers by cosmic muon radiography. Geophysical Research Letters, 44(12), pp. 6244-6251. American Geophysical Union 10.1002/2017GL073599

Preview	Text Cosmic Ray Radiography to Measure the ice-bedrock interface.pdf - Accepted Version Available under License Publisher holds Copyright. Download (9MB) | Preview
Preview	Text Nishiyama_et_al-2017-Geophysical_Research_Letters.pdf - Published Version Available under License Publisher holds Copyright. Download (4MB) | Preview

The shape of the bedrock underneath Alpine glaciers bears vital information on the erosional mechanism related to the flow of ice. So far, several geophysical exploration methods have been proposed to map the bedrock topography though with limited accuracy. Here, we illustrate the first results from a technology, called cosmic-ray muon radiography, newly applied in glacial geology to investigate the bedrock geometry beneath the Aletsch glacier situated in the Central Swiss Alps. For this purpose we installed new cosmic muon detectors made of emulsion films at three sites along the Jungfrau railway tunnel and measured the shape of the bedrock under the uppermost part of Aletsch glacier (Jungfraufirn). Our results constrain the continuation of the bedrock-ice interface up to a depth of 50 m below the surface, where the bedrock underneath the glacier strikes NE-SW and dips at 45°± 5°. This documents the first successful application of this technology to a glaciated environment.

Interest & Impact

Downloads

572 since deposited on 02 Aug 2017
168 in the past 12 months

Citations

5 Citations in Web of Science ®
6 Citations in Scopus

Search

in Google Scholar™

Services

Actions (login required)

Edit item

Actions (login required)

Edit item