Application of constitutive friction laws to glacier seismicity

While analysis of glacial seismicity continues to be a widely-used method for interpreting glacial processes, the underlying mechanics controlling glacial stick-slip seismicity remain speculative. Here, we report on laboratory shear experiments of debris-laden ice slid over a bedrock asperity under carefully controlled conditions. By modifying the elastic loading stiffness, we generated the first laboratory icequakes. Our work represents the first comprehensive lab observations of unstable ice-slip events, and replicates several seismological field observations of glacier slip, such as slip velocity, stress drop, and the relationship between stress drop and recurrence interval. We also observe that stick-slips initiate above a critical driving velocity, and that stress drop magnitude decreases with further increases in velocity, consistent with friction theory and rock-on-rock friction laboratory experiments. Our results demonstrate that glacier slip behavior can be accurately predicted by the constitutive rate-and-state friction laws that were developed for rock friction.

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Work Title Application of constitutive friction laws to glacier seismicity
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Open Access
Creators
  1. Lucas Zoet
  2. Matt Ikari
  3. RICHARD B ALLEY
  4. Chris Marone
  5. Sridhar Anandakrishnan
  6. Brett Carpenter
  7. Marco Maria SCUDERI
Keyword
  1. constitutive law
  2. glacier seismicity
License CC BY 4.0 (Attribution)
Work Type Article
Acknowledgments
  1. This research was funded by the Office of Polar Programs, US National Science Foundation (NSF 0424589). Partial support provided by the US National Science Foundation through grants 0424589, 0538195, 0907178, 0944286, and 1738934), and the Sloan Program. We thank Fabian Walter and two anonymous reviewers whose comments improved the clarity of the manuscript. We are grateful for laboratory assistance from Lana Zoet and Peter Burkett. The data are available at the UW@MINDS repository with the following link https://minds.wisconsin.edu/handle/1793/80316.
Publisher
  1. American Geophysical Union
Publication Date October 19, 2020
Subject
  1. Constitutive laws and glacier seismicity
Language
  1. English
Publisher Identifier (DOI)
  1. https://doi.org/10.1029/2020GL088964
Source
  1. Geophysical Research Letters, 47(21), e2020GL088964
Deposited March 07, 2021

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  • Created
  • Added Creator RICHARD B ALLEY
  • Updated Acknowledgments Show Changes
    Acknowledgments
    • This research was funded by the Office of Polar Programs, US National Science Foundation (NSF 0424589). Partial support provided by the US National Science Foundation through grants 0424589, 0538195, 0907178, 0944286, and 1738934), and the Sloan Program. We thank Fabian Walter and two anonymous reviewers whose comments improved the clarity of the manuscript. We are grateful for laboratory assistance from Lana Zoet and Peter Burkett. The data are available at the UW@MINDS repository with the following link https://minds.wisconsin.edu/handle/1793/80316.
  • Added Creator Lucas Zoet
  • Updated Creator RICHARD B ALLEY
  • Added Creator Matt Ikari
  • Added Creator Chris Marone
  • Added Creator Sridhar Anandakrishnan
  • Added Creator Brett Carpenter
  • Added Creator Marco Maria SCUDERI
  • Added Zoet_sliding.pdf
  • Updated License Show Changes
    License
    • https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
  • Updated
  • Published
  • Updated
  • Updated