rapid circulation of warm subtropical waters in a major glacial fjord in east greenland the recent rapid increase in mass loss from the greenland ice sheet is primarily attributed to an acceleration of outlet glaciers oceanographic data obtained in summer 2008 show that subtropical waters that reside year round in the shelf ocean off greenland continuously enter a large glacial fjord in east greenland and contribute to melting at the glacier terminus the recent rapid increase in mass loss from the greenland ice sheet1 2 is primarily attributed to an acceleration of outlet glaciers3 4 5 one possible cause of this acceleration is increased melting at the ice ocean interface6 7 driven by the synchronous warming8 9 10 of subtropical waters offshore of greenland however because of the lack of observations from greenland s glacial fjords and our limited understanding of their dynamics this hypothesis is largely untested here we present oceanographic data collected in sermilik fjord east greenland by ship in summer 2008 and from moorings our data reveal the presence of subtropical waters throughout the fjord these waters are continuously replenished through a wind driven exchange with the shelf where they are present all year the temperature and renewal of these waters indicate that they currently cause enhanced submarine melting at the glacier terminus key controls on the melting rate are the volume and properties of the subtropical waters on the shelf and the patterns of along shore winds suggesting that the glaciers acceleration has been triggered by a combination of atmospheric and oceanic changes our measurements provide evidence for a rapid advective pathway for the transmission of oceanic variability to the ice sheet margins

subaqueous melting of store glacier west greenland from three dimensional high resolution numerical modeling and ocean observations we present three dimensional high resolution simulations of ice melting at the calving face of store glacier a tidewater glacier in west greenland using the massachusetts institute of technology general circulation model we compare the simulated ice melt with an estimate derived from oceanographic data the simulations show turbulent upwelling and spreading of the freshwater laden plume along the ice face and the vigorous melting of ice at rates of meters per day the simulated august 2010 melt rate of 2 0 0 3 m d is within uncertainties of the melt rate of 3 0 1 0 m d calculated from oceanographic data melting is greatest at depth above the subglacial channels causing glacier undercutting melt rates increase proportionally to thermal forcing raised to the power of 1 2 1 6 and to subglacial water flux raised to the power of 0 5 0 9 therefore in a warmer climate store glacier melting by ocean may increase from both increased ocean temperature and subglacial discharge key points simulated melt agrees with estimates from a hydrographic survey of the glacier with more runoff glaciers will melt faster at constant ocean temperature 2013 american geophysical union all rights reserved

submarine melting at the terminus of a temperate tidewater glacier leconte glacier alaska u s a heat fresh and sea water balances indicate that the late summer rate of submarine melting at the terminus of tidewater leconte glacier alaska u s a in 2000 was about 12md 1 w e averaged over the submerged face this is 57 of the estimated total ice loss at the terminus calving plus melting at this time submarine melting may thusprovidea significantcontributiontotheoverallablationofatidewaterglacier oceano graphic measurements conductivity temperature depth made 200 500m from the ter minus identified an isohaline 27ppt and isothermal 7 2 c layer extending from 130m depthto the fjord floor capping this is a 40mthick overflow plume distinguishedby high outflow rates low salinity 22 25ppt and lower temperatures 5 6 c mixing models indicate that fresh water comprised about11 of this plume it originates mostly as sub glacial discharge whose buoyancy drives convection at the terminus deep warm saline watersareincorporatedintotheplumeasitascends causingsubstantialmeltingoficealong the submarine face the calving terminus undergoes seasonal changes that coincide with changes in subglacial discharge and fjord water temperatures and we suggest that these fluctuations interminuspositionare directly relatedto changes in submarine melting

estimating ocean heat transports and submarine melt rates in sermilik fjord greenland using lowered acoustic doppler current profiler ladcp velocity profiles submarine melting at the ice ocean interface is a significant term in the mass balance of marine terminating outlet glaciers however obtaining direct measurements of the submarine melt rate or the ocean heat transport towards the glacier that drives this melting has been difficult due to the scarcity of observations as well as the complexity of oceanic flows here we present a method that uses synoptic velocity and temperature profiles but accounts for the dominant mode of velocity variability to obtain representative heat transport estimates we apply this method to the sermilik fjord helheim glacier system in southeastern greenland using lowered acoustic doppler current profiler ladcp and hydrographic data collected in summer 2009 we find a mean heat transport towards the glacier of 29 10 9 w implying a submarine melt rate at the glacier face of 650 m a 1 t he resulting adjusted velocity profile is indicative of a multilayer residual circulation where the meltwater mixture flows out of the fjord at the surface and at the stratification maximum

the effect of meltwater plumes on the melting of a vertical glacier face abstractfreshwater produced by the surface melting of ice sheets is commonly discharged into ocean fjords from the bottom of deep fjord terminating glaciers the discharge of the freshwater forms upwelling plumes in front of the glacier calving face this study simulates the meltwater plumes emanated into an unstratified environment using a nonhydrostatic ocean model with an unstructured mesh and subgrid scale mixing calibrated by comparison to established plume theory the presence of an ice face reduces the entrainment of seawater into the meltwater plumes so the plumes remain attached to the ice front in contrast to previous simple models ice melting increases with height above the discharge also in contrast to some simple models and the authors speculate that this overcutting may contribute to the tendency of icebergs to topple inwards toward the ice face upon calving the overall melt rate is found to increase with discharge flux only up to a critical value which depends on the channel size

rapid submarine melting of the calving faces of west greenland glaciers widespread glacier acceleration has been observed in greenland in the past few years oceanographic observations taken in summer 2008 show that ocean waters melted a substantial fraction of ice along the calving fronts of three west greenland glaciers indicating that submarine melting has a profound influence on grounding line stability widespread glacier acceleration has been observed in greenland in the past few years1 2 3 4 associated with the thinning of the lower reaches of the glaciers as they terminate in the ocean5 6 7 these glaciers thin both at the surface from warm air temperatures and along their submerged faces in contact with warm ocean waters8 little is known about the rates of submarine melting9 10 11 and how they may affect glacier dynamics here we present measurements of ocean currents temperature and salinity near the calving fronts of the eqip sermia kangilerngata sermia sermeq kujatdleq and sermeq avangnardleq glaciers in central west greenland as well as ice front bathymetry and geographical positions we calculate water mass and heat budgets that reveal summer submarine melt rates ranging from 0 7 0 2 to 3 9 0 8 m d 1 these rates of submarine melting are two orders of magnitude larger than surface melt rates but comparable to rates of iceberg discharge we conclude that ocean waters melt a considerable but highly variable fraction of the calving fronts of glaciers before they disintegrate into icebergs and suggest that submarine melting must have a profound influence on grounding line stability and ice flow dynamics

regional change of coda q in the oceanic lithosphere coda q of 22 local earthquakes recorded on islands located in young and old oceanic lithosphere areas has been measured we found that the q values at periods of from 1 to 2 seconds increase from young to old ocean lithosphere in the same way as for the continent where the intensity of current tectonic activity shows a strong negative correlation with the coda q the q values increase with frequency proportional to fn where n was found to be 0 46 0 61 with the higher values for younger oceanic lithosphere which is again similar to the continents where the active regions have higher n values

new constraints on relative motion between the pacific plate and baja california microplate mexico from gps measurements summary we present a new surface velocity field for baja california using gps data to test the rigidity of this microplate calculate its motion in a global reference frame determine its relative motion with respect to the north american and the pacific plates and compare those results to our estimate for pacific north america motion determination of pacific plate motion is improved by the inclusion of four sites from the south pacific sea level and climate monitoring project these analyses reveal that baja california moves as a quasi rigid block but at a slower rate in the same direction as the pacific plate relative to north america this is consistent with seismic activity along the western edge of baja california the baja california shear zone and may reflect resistance to motion of the eastern edge of the pacific plate caused by the big bend of the san andreas fault and the transverse ranges in southern california

modeling turbulent subglacial meltwater plumes implications for fjord scale buoyancy driven circulation abstractfjord scale circulation forced by rising turbulent plumes of subglacial meltwater has been identified as one possible mechanism of oceanic heat transfer to marine terminating outlet glaciers this study uses buoyant plume theory and a nonhydrostatic three dimensional ocean ice model of a typical outlet glacier fjord in west greenland to investigate the sensitivity of meltwater plume dynamics and fjord scale circulation to subglacial discharge rates ambient stratification turbulent diffusivity and subglacial conduit geometry the terminal level of a rising plume depends on the cumulative turbulent entrainment and ambient stratification plumes with large vertical velocities penetrate to the free surface near the ice face however midcolumn stratification maxima create a barrier that can trap plumes at depth as they flow downstream subglacial discharge is varied from 1 750 m3 s 1 large discharges result in plumes with positive temperature and salinity anomalies in the upper water column for

bath s law and its relation to the tectonic environment a case study for earthquakes in mexico abstract we studied 66 mainshocks and their largest aftershocks in the mexican subduction zone and in the gulf of california with magnitudes in the range of 5 2 m w

a bottom driven mechanism for distributed faulting in the gulf of california rift abstract observations of active faulting in the continent ocean transition of the northern gulf of california show multiple oblique slip faults distributed in a 200 70 km 2 area developed some time after a westward relocation of the plate boundary at 2 ma in contrast north and south of this broad pull apart structure major transform faults accommodate pacific north america plate motion here we propose that the mechanism for distributed brittle deformation results from the boundary conditions present in the northern gulf where basal shear is distributed between the cerro prieto strike slip fault southernmost fault of the san andreas fault system and the ballenas transform fault we hypothesize that in oblique extensional settings whether deformation is partitioned in a few dip slip and strike slip faults or in numerous oblique slip faults may depend on 1 bottom driven distributed extension and shear deformation of the lower crust or upper mantle and 2 the rift obliquity to test this idea we explore the effects of bottom driven shear on the deformation of a brittle elastic plastic layer with the help of pseudo three dimensional numerical models that include side forces strain localization results when the basal shear abruptly increases in a step function manner while oblique slip on numerous faults dominates when basal shear is distributed we further explore how the style of faulting varies with obliquity and demonstrate that the style of delocalized faulting observed in the northern gulf of california is reproduced in models with an obliquity of 0 7 and distributed basal shear boundary conditions consistent with the interpreted obliquity and boundary conditions of the study area

nonlinear stress dependence of permeability a mechanism for episodic fluid flow in accretionary wedges recent studies of the hydrogeology of accretionary wedges demonstrate that permeability is a dynamic property that depends upon the scale of observation and the prevailing stress state during measurement we present results of laboratory geotechnical tests on sediments cored from the costa rica convergent margin during ocean drilling program leg 170 by measuring the permeability of samples of differing lithology before during and after shearing we show that hydrological behavior is linked to the consolidation state of the sediment at the onset of shear and to the formation or reactivation of deformation fabrics one sample obtained from a fault zone displayed a high permeability effective stress dependence after being deformed at a high overconsolidation ratio under these conditions shear zones in fine grained sediments can dilate and thereby act as efficient fluid flow conduits such stress dependent permeability typifies the cyclic pressure build up and release mechanisms valving invoked for many tectonic settings we infer that a fracture permeability opened up at high fluid pressures is several times to several orders of magnitude greater than the matrix permeability our results help quantify the degree to which hydromechanical coupling can enhance flow in the actively deforming parts of accretionary wedges

surficial glaciology of jakobshavns isbrae west greenland part i surface morphology jakobshavns isbrae is a large fast moving ice stream outlet glacier in west greenland which ends at a floating calving front it drains about 6 5 of the area of the greenland ice sheet studies of its surface morphology are described in this paper the surface is relatively steep 0 01 0 03 and the thickness is large up to 2600 m along the center line clarke and echelmeyer 1989 indicating very high driving stresses 200 300 kpa the ice stream is about 6 km wide and 85 90 km long all of which is in an area of surface melting the base of the ice stream and of much of the drainage area is below sea level marginal crevasse zones have a width on the order of the width of the ice stream itself unique surficial features are ice blisters and lakes the latter have a sequence of ogive like features on their floating ice cover which can be used to determine velocity there is a pinning point near the terminus which may act as a stabilizing influence possibly playing a role in halting at least temporarily a recent retreat of the terminus ice thickness estimates at the terminus lead to a flux which is less than previously assumed by others e g bindschadler 1984 pelto and others 1989 when estimating jakobshavns isbrae s drainage basin to be nearly in balance the driving stresses on jakobshavns isbrae are an order of magnitude higher than those of the ice streams of west antarctica its crevasse patterns are much less localized its relatively unconfined terminus is more comparable to that of relatively unbuttressed ice streams such as pine island and thwaites glaciers than it is to other west antarctic ice streams which terminate in large confined ice shelves

new kinematic models for pacific north america motion from 3 ma to present i evidence for steady motion and biases in the nuvel 1a model we use velocities derived from 2 4 5 years of continuous gps observations at 21 sites on the pacific and north american plates along with a subset of the nuvel 1a data to examine the steadiness of pacific north america motion since 3 16 ma the transfer of baja california to the pacific plate and the magnitude of biases in the nuvel 1a estimate of pacific north america motion we find that pacific north america motion has remained steady since 3 16 ma but at rates significantly faster than predicted by nuvel 1a in the vicinity of baja california our gps derived model and recent seafloor spreading rates in the southern gulf of california both indicate that the nuvel 1a model underestimates pacific north america rates by 4 2 mm yr 1 steady pacific north america motion since 3 16 myr and increasing seafloor spreading rates since 3 58 myr in the gulf of california imply that pacific north america motion was partitioned between seafloor spreading in the gulf of california and decelerating slip along faults in or offshore from the baja peninsula

north atlantic warming and the retreat of greenland s outlet glaciers mass loss from the greenland ice sheet quadrupled over the past two decades contributing a quarter of the observed global sea level rise increased submarine melting is thought to have triggered the retreat of greenland s outlet glaciers which is partly responsible for the ice loss however the chain of events and physical processes remain elusive recent evidence suggests that an anomalous inflow of subtropical waters driven by atmospheric changes multidecadal natural ocean variability and a long term increase in the north atlantic s upper ocean heat content since the 1950s all contributed to a warming of the subpolar north atlantic this led in conjunction with increased runoff to enhanced submarine glacier melting future climate projections raise the potential for continued increases in warming and ice mass loss with implications for sea level and climate

westward migration of extension in the northern gulf of california mexico interpretation of industry seismic lines indicates that the eastern margin of the northern gulf of california contains the inactive adair tepoca and upper tiburon basins the western margin is active and includes the wagner consag upper delfin and lower delfin basins these basin systems are separated by a wide basement high across which the upper strata in the inactive basins correspond to the middle and lower strata in the active basins recording the westward migration of strain and subsidence during late pliocene time our results illustrate the formation of an abandoned rift margin along the eastern gulf of california

rapid submarine melting driven by subglacial discharge leconte glacier alaska 1 we show that subglacial freshwater discharge is the principal process driving high rates of submarine melting at tidewater glaciers this buoyant discharge draws in warm seawater entraining it in a turbulent upwelling flow along the submarine face that melts glacier ice to capture the effects of subglacial discharge on submarine melting we conducted 4 days of hydrographic transects during late summer 2012 at leconte glacier alaska a major rainstorm allowed us to document the influence of large changes in subglacial discharge we found strong submarine melt fluxes that increased from 9 1 1 0 to 16 8 1 3 m d 1 ice face equivalent frontal ablation as a result of the rainstorm with projected continued global warming and increased glacial runoff our results highlight the direct impact that increases in subglacial discharge will have on tidewater outlet systems these effects must be considered when modeling glacier response to future warming and increased runoff

rayleigh wave dispersion measurements reveal low velocity zones beneath the new crust in the gulf of california rayleigh wave tomography provides images of the shallow mantle shear wave velocity structure beneath the gulf of california low velocity zones lvzs are found on axis between 26 and 50 km depth beneath the guaymas basin but mostly off axis under the other rift basins with the largest feature underlying the ballenas transform fault we interpret the broadly distributed lvzs as regions of partial melting in a solid mantle matrix the pathway for melt migration and focusing is more complex than an axis centered source aligned above a deeper region of mantle melt and likely reflects the magmatic evolution of rift segments we also consider the existence of solid lower continental crust in the gulf north of the guaymas basin where the association of the lvzs with asthenospheric upwelling suggests lateral flow assisted by a heat source these results provide key constraints for numerical models of mantle upwelling and melt focusing in this young oblique rift

thermal evolution of monte blanco dome low angle normal faulting during gulf of california rifting and late eocene denudation of the eastern peninsular ranges footwall rocks of the canada david detachment fault northeastern baja california record late eocene earliest oligocene and late neogene cooling events previously unrecognized in the region biotite 40 ar 39 ar ages of 65 ma reflect slow cooling through 350 c 5 to 10 m y later than is typical in the region multiple diffusion domain modeling of k feldspar 40 ar 39 ar release spectra shows very slow cooling 1 c m y from 65 to 45 ma accelerated cooling from 315 c to 215 c between 45 and 33 ma records at least 3 4 km of denudation that we relate to east side up reactivation of late cretaceous structures that generally follow the oceanic continental suture previously established rivers flowing west from mainland mexico apparently became further entrenched during this uplift and continued to supply distinctive rhyolitic detritus to the coast ultimately surface uplift disrupted and rerouted the extraregional rivers some 2 to 6 m y before the cooling event ended footwall rocks remained nearly isothermal from 30 to 15 10 ma when renewed rapid cooling 33 17 c m y began in response to footwall exhumation by top to the west low angle normal faulting that accommodated rift related extension in what finally became the gulf of california apatite fission track and u th he ages of 5 ma and 4 ma respectively record final detachment related cooling through 110 c to 70 c thermal kinematic modeling suggests that 5 7 km of late neogene tectonic denudation and 10 12 km of horizontal extension were necessary in order to unroof the samples by 2 ma additional extension of unknown magnitude has probably occurred subsequently geodetically measured horizontal extension rates are considerably higher than the long term extension rate that can be attributed to detachment faulting

mode of extension and rifting history of upper tiburon and upper delfin basins northern gulf of california 1 the crustal structure of the northern gulf of california transtensional margin has been investigated by a 280 km long nw se profile including deep multichannel seismic reflection and densely sampled refraction wide angle reflection seismic information combined with gravity modeling the seismic and gravity modeling constrains two thinned crustal areas corresponding to the upper delfin and the upper tiburon basins on both sides of the profile toward the baja california peninsula and the mexico mainland a progressive thickening of the continental crust is observed our results indicate that the crustal thickness is 19 km below the coastline and it decreases to 14 and 17 km below the upper delfin and upper tiburon basins respectively in the area between both basins the crust thickens to 19 5 km there are significant lateral thickness variations for the different levels of the crust the interpreted structure is consistent with the existence of an aborted rift below the upper tiburon basin prominent dipping reflections in the multichannel data under upper tiburon basin and the ridge between upper tiburon and upper delfin basins can be explained as a mylonite like zone related to a detachment fault this interpretation suggests that the structural evolution of upper tiburon basin could be controlled by a major fault that cuts through the upper crust and merges into a zone of subhorizontal reflections in the lower crust the mode and locus of extension have evolved from a core complex in upper tiburon to a narrow rift mode in upper delfin basin

rapid localization of pacific north america plate motion in the gulf of california correlation of late miocene volcaniclastic strata across the northern gulf of california shows that the pacific north america plate boundary localized east of the baja california peninsula ca 6 ma dextral offset of the 12 6 ma tuff of san felipe and a pair of overlying ca 6 3 ma pyroclastic flows indicate at least 255 10 km of displacement along an azimuth of 310 isopach and facies trends of the tuff of san felipe support no more than a few tens of kilometers of additional dextral displacement between 12 6 and 6 3 ma these constraints indicate that nearly all of the dextral displacement between the pacific and north american plates prior to 6 3 ma was accommodated outside of the gulf region and by 4 7 ma the plate boundary motion was localized in the gulf of california although continental extension has accounted for a component of plate boundary motion in northwestern mexico since cessation of subduction offshore of southern baja california at 12 5 ma transfer of baja california to the pacific plate was delayed by at least 6 7 m y

local and regional p wave spectral attenuation model for iran a robust frequency dependent local and regional p wave attenuation model is estimated for continental paths in the iranian plateau in order to calculate the average attenuation parameters 46 337 vertical component waveforms related to 9267 earthquakes which are recorded at the iranian seismological center irsc stations have been selected in the distance range 10 1000 km the majority of the event s magnitudes are less than 4 5 this collection of records provides high spatial ray path coverage results indicate that the shape of attenuation p wave curve versus distance is not uniform and has three distinct sections with hinges at 90 and 175 km a trilinear model for attenuation of p wave amplitude in the frequency range 1 10 hz is proposed in this study fourier spectral amplitudes are found to decay as r 1 2 where r is hypocentral distance corresponding to geometric spreading within 90 km from the source there is a section from 90 to 175 km where the attenuation is described as r 0 8 and the attenuation is described well beyond 175 km by r 1 3 moreover the average quality factor for pg and pn waves qpg and qpn related to anelastic attenuation is obtained as qpg 54 2 2 6 f 1 0096 0 07 and qpn 306 8 7 4 f 0 51 0 05 there is a good agreement between the results of the model and observations also the attenuation model shows compatibility with the recent regional studies from the results it turns out that the amplitude of p waves attenuates more rapidly in comparison with the global models in local distances

active continental rifting in southern baja california mexico implications for plate motion partitioning and the transition to seafloor spreading in the gulf of california three major earthquake series have occurred during the past 30 years on fault systems that are spatially and kinematically distinct from oceanic spreading centers and transform faults in the southern gulf of california focal mechanism solutions for earthquakes of the april 1969 and june 1995 series indicate nearly pure normal displacement across nnw striking planes this seismicity falls along different strands of a major system of normal faults that extends at least 300 km along strike and defines the western limit of the gulf extensional province the dominant normal faults control distribution of neogene basins and have been active since middle to late miocene time epicenters of the august 1969 earthquake series lie south of the baja california peninsula and focal mechanism solutions indicate strike slip displacement this seismic activity is likely related to active wnw striking faults in the continental borderland which isolate baja california as a microplate within the pacific north american plate boundary therefore modern pacific north america plate motion is partitioned into at least three distinct fault systems oceanic spreading centers and transforms in the gulf of california normal faults along the western margin of the gulf of california and faults along the pacific margin of the baja california peninsula kinematic partitioning of plate motion is required to accommodate the strongly three dimensional strain of transtensional rifting continental rifting and seafloor spreading have overlapped in time for the past 3 6 myr which also is likely attributed to the highly oblique kinematics of rifting

modeling the impact of glacial runoff on fjord circulation and submarine melt rate using a new subgrid scale parameterization for glacial plumes the injection at depth of ice sheet runoff into fjords may be an important control on the frontal melt rate of tidewater glaciers here we develop a new parameterization for ice marginal plumes within the massachusetts institute of technology general circulation model mitgcm allowing three dimensional simulation of large 500 km2 glacial fjords on annual or longer time scales we find that for an idealized fjord without shelf driven circulation subglacial runoff produces a thin strong and warm down fjord current in the upper part of the water column balanced by a thick and slow up fjord current at greater depth although submarine melt rates increase with runoff due to higher melt rates where the plume is in contact with the ice front we find that annual submarine melt rate across the ice front is relatively insensitive to variability in annual runoff better knowledge of the spatial distribution of runoff controls on melt rate in those areas not directly in contact with plumes and feedback mechanisms linking submarine melting and iceberg calving are necessary to more fully understand the sensitivity of glacier mass balance to runoff driven fjord circulation

on the seasonal freshwater stratification in the proximity of fast flowing tidewater outlet glaciers in a sub arctic sill fjord 1 the greenland ice sheet releases large amounts of freshwater into the fjords around greenland and many fjords are in direct contact with the ice sheet through tidewater outlet glaciers here we present the first seasonal hydrographic observations from the inner part of a sub arctic fjord relatively close to and within 4 50 km of a fast flowing tidewater outlet glacier this region is characterized by a dense glacial and sea ice cover freshwater from runoff subglacial freshwater sgfw discharge glacial and sea ice melt are observed above 50 90 m depth during summer sgfw and subsurface glacial melt mixed with ambient water are observed as a layered structure in the temperature profiles below the low saline summer surface layer 1 c intermediate water mass is a significant subsurface heat source for ice melt we analyze the temperature and salinity profiles observed in late summer with a thermodynamic mixing model and determine the total freshwater content in the layer below the summer surface layer to be between 5 and 11 the total freshwater contribution in this layer from melted glacial ice was estimated to be 1 2 while the corresponding sgfw was estimated to be 3 10 the winter measurements in the subsurface halocline layer showed a total freshwater content of about 1 and no significant contribution from sgfw

heat sources for glacial melt in a sub arctic fjord godthabsfjord in contact with the greenland ice sheet 1 recent warming of subpolar mode water off greenland has been suggested to accelerate the mass loss from tidal outlet glaciers of the greenland ice sheet we present a comprehensive analysis of water masses dynamics and interannual hydrographic variability in godthabsfjord a sill fjord in contact with tidal outlet glaciers on the west coast of greenland through seasonal observations we recognize an intermediate baroclinic circulation mode driven by tidal currents and an associated important local heat source for the fjord during summer this results in significant warming and freshening of the intermediate layer of the main fjord and the increase in heat content is equivalent to melting of 2 1 km3 of glacial ice this is comparable to 8 km3 glacial ice discharge estimated from the kangiata nun ta sermia calving front per year during winter the external heat source in the west greenland current enters the fjord as intermittent inflows of either cold 2 c dense water in pulses of 1 to 3 months duration four distinct circulation modes are observed in the fjord of which all can contribute to glacial ice melt an important aspect of the ice distribution in the fjord is that only a minor fraction is exported out of the fjord

an attenuation study of body waves in the south central region of the gulf of california mexico abstract we studied the seismic attenuation of body waves in the south central region of the gulf of california goc with records from the network of autonomously recording seismographs of baja california nars baja from the centro de investigacion cientifica y de educacion superior de ensenada s broadband seismological network of the goc resban and from the ocean bottom seismographs obs deployed as part of the sea of cortez ocean bottom array experiment scooba we examine 27 well located earthquakes reported in sumy et al 2013 that occurred from october 2005 to october 2006 with magnitudes m w between 3 5 and 4 8 we estimated s wave site effects by calculating horizontal to vertical spectral ratios and determined attenuation functions with a nonparametric model by inverting the observed spectral amplitudes of 21 frequencies between 0 13 and 12 59 hz for the scooba obs stations and 19 frequencies between 0 16 and 7 94 hz for nars baja and resban stations we calculated the geometrical spreading and the attenuation 1 q factors for two distance intervals 10 120 and 120 220 km respectively for each frequency considered the estimates of q obtained with the scooba obs records for the interval 10 120 km indicate that the p waves attenuate more than s waves q p 34 1 2 f 0 82 0 10 q s 59 1 1 f 0 90 0 03 for frequencies between 0 6 and 12 6 hz whereas for the 120 220 km interval where ray paths travel deeper s waves attenuate more than p waves q p 117 1 3 f 0 44 0 19 q s 51 1 2 f 1 12 0 11 the estimates of q obtained using nars baja and resban records within 10 120 km indicate that p waves attenuate more than s waves q p 69 1 2 f 0 87 0 16 q s 176 1 4 f 0 61 0 26 at frequencies between 0 3 and 6 3 hz whereas at the 120 220 km distance interval s waves attenuate slightly more than p waves q p 39 1 1 f 0 64 0 06 q s 48 1 1 f 0 37 0 07 at high frequencies f 3 hz these results based on a unique obs dataset provide an indirect mean to constrain future models of the thermal structure beneath the goc

effect of near terminus subglacial hydrology on tidewater glacier submarine melt rates submarine melting of greenlandic tidewater glacier termini is proposed as a possible mechanism driving their recent thinning and retreat we use a general circulation model mitgcm to simulate water circulation driven by subglacial discharge at the terminus of an idealized tidewater glacier we vary the spatial distribution of subglacial discharge emerging at the grounding line of the glacier and examine the effect on submarine melt volume and distribution we find that subglacial hydrology exerts an important control on submarine melting under certain conditions a distributed system can induce a factor 5 more melt than a channelized system with plumes from a single channel inducing melt over only a localized area subglacial hydrology also controls the spatial distribution of melt which has the potential to control terminus morphology and calving style our results highlight the need to constrain near terminus subglacial hydrology at tidewater glaciers if we are to represent ocean forcing accurately

coda q in different tectonic areas influence of processing parameters abstract published results of coda q show a large variation in values these variations are often claimed to be related to different tectonics whereas they might just be related to using different assumptions in the processing leading to different input parameters for the analysis in this study the effect of using different processing parameters is investigated and significant differences particularly at low frequencies are observed we find a new set of optimal parameters which we recommend using in future studies using a short lapse time of 30 s and optimal parameters data from both similar and very different tectonic regions are used to calculate coda q using the same program and the same parameters the regions considered are eastern anatolia the azores jan mayen northwestern and central argentina the shanxi rift system in china and southwestern norway we obtain the following relations eastern anatolia q 88 f 0 66 azores q 86 f 0 70 jan mayen q 90 f 0 72 northwestern and central argentina q 89 f 0 94 shanxi rift system q 99 f 0 89 and southwestern norway q 124 f 0 91 the results show that coda q is very similar for regions of similar tectonics and significantly different for regions with varying tectonics using alternative more common parameters gives different q but the regional differences remain so which parameters to use to get correct coda q values is still uncertain however coda q can clearly distinguish different tectonic areas provided identical processing parameters are used even if they are not optimal

seismic attenuation effects of pore fluids and frictional sliding seismic wave attenuation in rocks was studied experimentally with particular attention focused on frictional sliding and fluid flow mechanisms sandstone bars were resonated at frequencies from 500 to 9000 hz and the effects of confining pressure pore pressure degree of saturation strain amplitude and frequency were studied observed changes in attenuation and velocity with strain amplitude are interpreted as evidence for frictional sliding at grain contacts since this amplitude dependence disappears at strains and confining pressures typical of seismic wave propagation in the earth we infer that frictional sliding is not a significant source of seismic attenuation in situ partial water saturation significantly increases the attenuation of both compressional p and shear s waves relative to that in dry rock resulting in greater p wave than s wave attenuation complete saturation maximizes s wave attenuation but causes a reduction in p wave attenuation these effects can be interpreted in term

modeling ice shelf cavities in a z coordinate ocean general circulation model 1 processes at the ice shelf ocean interface and in particular in ice shelf cavities around antarctica have an observable effect on the solutions of basin scale to global coupled ice ocean models despite this these processes are not routinely represented in global ocean and climate models it is shown that a new ice shelf cavity model for z coordinate models can reproduce results from an intercomparison project of earlier approaches with vertical or isopycnic coordinates as a proof of concept ice shelves are incorporated in a 100 year global integration of a z coordinate model in this simulation glacial meltwater can be traced as far as north as 15 s the observed effects of processes in the ice shelf cavities agree with previous results from a coordinate model notably the increase in sea ice thickness however melt rates are overestimated probably because the parameterization of basal melting does not suit the low resolution of this configuration

structural controls on the continent ocean transition in the northern gulf of california in the gulf of california the pacific north america plate boundary changes character from an oceanic type spreading center and transform fault system to the south to a region of diffuse continental deformation to the north the presence of spreading centers commonly inferred in the northernmost gulf is not supported by bathymetric heat flow gravity or seismic data which indicate significant differences north and south of latitude 30 n we suggest instead that north of 30 n a continent ocean transition begins which we name the wagner transition zone wtz diffuse deformation characterizes the wtz where slip occurs along reactivated north to nnw striking normal faults developed during late miocene or pliocene ene directed extension transtensional deformation varies from ene directed extension along dip slip faults in the west to dextral shear along the coast to dextral oblique slip along inferred north to nnw striking faults submerged in the northern gulf by accounting for rotational and extensional plate motion deformation in northeastern baja california vector constraints require that submerged structures accommodate 30 mm yr of slip in a direction slightly clockwise of the relative plate motion direction the juxtaposition of the discrete spreading center system in the central gulf with the diffuse wtz appears to have been a stable configuration since 4 6 ma perhaps controlling the evolution of spreading center jumps between upper and lower tiburon and delfin basins due to the juxtaposition of kinematically partitioned structural domains different histories of prerift extension and subduction related arc magmatism along the length of the gulf partly related to the migration of the rivera triple junction may explain the location of the continent ocean transition

site response attenuation and source spectra of s waves along the guerrero mexico subduction zone acceleration spectra from nine earthquakes and up to 11 stations per earthquake are inverted to find the source spectra the site response and the quality factor q of s waves this method is applied to moderate earthquakes 4 0 0 8 hz does not follow a simple linear relation as observed in previous studies of attenuation in other regions when the source spectra are interpreted in terms of brune s model the stress drops obtained are less than 20 bars for the four larger events analyzed the site functions obtained indicate that although all the stations used are on rock the effect of the near surface geology caused important amplifications at some stations

spatial and temporal melt variability at helheim glacier east greenland and its effect on ice dynamics this is the publisher s version also available electronically from http onlinelibrary wiley com

attenuation tomography in the western central andes a detailed insight into the structure of a magmatic arc high quality data from 1498 local earthquakes recorded by the pisco 94 proyecto de investigation sismologica de la cordillera occidental 1994 and ancorp 96 andean continental research project 1996 temporary seismological networks allowed the detailed determination of the three dimensional 3 d attenuation structure qp 1 beneath the recent magmatic arc in the western central andes 20 to 24 s assuming a frequency independent qp 1 in a frequency band between 1 and 30 hz whole path attenuation t was estimated from the amplitude spectra of the p waves using spectral ratios and a spectral inversion technique the damped least squares inversion tomography of the data reveals a complex attenuation structure crust and mantle of the forearc and subducting slab are generally characterized by low attenuation qp 1000 crust and mantle beneath the magmatic arc show elevated attenuation the strongest anomaly of extremely low qp is found in the crust between 22 and 23 s beneath the recent volcanic arc qp 100 n s variations can be observed the western flank of the crustal attenuation anomaly follows the curved course of the volcanic front north of 21 s the attenuation is less developed in the northern part of the study area the low qp zone penetrates in the forearc mantle down to the subducting slab in the south a deeper zone of high attenuation is resolved between 23 and 24 s directly above the subducting slab low qp in the mantle correlates with earthquake clusters the strong crustal attenuation is confined to the distribution of young ignimbrites and silicic volcanism and is interpreted as a thermally weakened zone with partial melts the attenuation pattern in the upper mantle might reflect the variable extent of the asthenosphere and maps variations of subduction related hydration processes in the mantle wedge from slab derived fluids

the mechanisms of earthquakes and faulting in the southern gulf of california abstract accurate earthquake locations and their focal mechanisms can illuminate the distribution and mode of deformation at rifted continental margins the pacific north america pa na plate boundary within the gulf of california goc provides an excellent opportunity to explore the evolution and kinematics of rifting as continental extension in the north transitions to seafloor spreading in the south from october 2005 to october 2006 an array of eight four component ocean bottom seismographs deployed in the goc recorded seismicity as part of the sea of cortez ocean bottom array scooba experiment by combining the data with those from the onshore network of autonomously recording seismographs nars baja array we detect and locate 700 earthquakes m w 2 2 6 6 mainly along the northwest southeast striking transform faults that delineate the plate boundary for 36 events m w 3 5 6 6 with high signal to noise ratio in a long period 10 20 s band we determine deviatoric moment tensors and associated double couple focal mechanisms by regional waveform inversion many focal mechanisms are consistent with right lateral strike slip faulting along the pa na transform fault system which suggests that the transform faults primarily accommodate seismic deformation within the gulf in addition we capture a swarm of events on baja california along the right lateral northwest southeast striking las viboras el azufre fault which may be related to ongoing geothermal activity and volcanic deformation within the peninsula the combination of high resolution earthquake locations and focal mechanisms improves our understanding of the distribution of seismic deformation within the greater extensional zone in the southern goc online material earthquake catalog of the 695 events detected and located during our combined on offshore deployment of seismometers

source functions and path effects from earthquakes in the farallon transform fault region gulf of california mexico that occurred on october 2013 we determined source spectral functions q and site effects using regional records of body waves from the october 19 2013 m w 6 6 earthquake and eight aftershocks located 90 km east of loreto baja california sur mexico we also analyzed records from a foreshock with magnitude 3 3 that occurred 47 days before the mainshock the epicenters of this sequence are located in the south central region of the gulf of california goc near and on the farallon transform fault this is one of the most active regions of the goc where most of the large earthquakes have strike slip mechanisms based on the distribution of the aftershocks the rupture propagated northwest with a rupture length of approximately 27 km we calculated 3 component p and s wave spectra from ten events recorded by eleven stations of the broadband seismological network of the goc resban these stations are located around the goc and provide good azimuthal coverage the average station gap is 39 the spectral records were corrected for site effects which were estimated calculating average spectral ratios between horizontal and vertical components hvsr method the site corrected spectra were then inverted to determine the source functions and to estimate the attenuation quality factor q the values of q resulting from the spectral inversion can be approximated by the relations q text p 48 1 pm 1 1 f 0 88 pm 0 04 and q text s 135 4 pm 1 1 f 0 58 pm 0 03 and are consistent with previous estimates reported by vidales basurto et al bull seism soc am 104 2027 2042 2014 for the south central goc the stress drop estimates obtained using the 2 model are below 1 7 mpa with the highest stress drops determined for the mainshock and the aftershocks located in the ridge zone we used the values of q obtained to recalculate source and site effects with a different spectral inversion scheme we found that sites with low s wave amplification also tend to have low p wave amplification except for stations bahb guyb and sfqb located on igneous rocks where the p wave site amplification is higher

the 4 january 2006 mw 6 6 san pedro martir earthquake example of an earthquake for calibrating excitation and attenuation studiesthe mw 6 6 san pedro martir earthquake for calibrating excitation and attenuation studies

regionalization of crustal coda q in the continental united states a contour map of crustal q sub 0 values for the entire united states is presented based on a scattering model to explain the coda waves of local and near regional earthquakes these coda q sub 0 values are in good agreement with q of lg waves data are obtained from over 250 local earthquakes with most magnitudes between 3 0 and 5 0 recorded by 25 wwssn and 27 lrsm stations throughout the continental united states these two sets of data provide a range of frequencies from 0 5 to 3 5 hz a frequency dependence of q is observed in the range of frequencies considered a power law dependence of the form q q sub 0 f f sub 0 sup eta is assumed the value of frequency dependence eta is found to be maximum in the tectonically active western united states and least in the stable regions of the central and south central united states the lowest q sub 0 values are obtained in the western united states with values ranging from 140 to 200 in the coastal plains average crustal q sub 0 values for the basin and range province vary from 200 to 300 increasing gradually to 400 in the colorado plateau region q sub 0 valuesmore in the columbia plateau vary from 200 to 400 q sub 0 values increase very rapidly along the central and southern rocky mountains from 400 to 800 east of the rocky mountains q sub 0 values increase gradually in the interior plains to a maximum value of around 1300 in the mississippi embayment region farther east q sub 0 values decrease gradually to an almost constant value of 1000 along the appalachian mountains coastal regions of eastern and northeastern united states have a crustal q sub 0 value between 900 to 700 regions of north central and gulf coastal plains show low q sub 0 values ranging from 600 to 400 and less the source factor b f sub p a measure of the intensity of scattering was obtained for several different regions of the continental united states regions of high q sub 0 values exhibit low intensity of scattering less

evolution of drainage system morphology at a land terminating greenlandic outlet glacier 1 the influence of meltwater on the dynamics and geomorphic impact of the greenland ice sheet is strongly controlled by the morphology of the ice sheet s drainage system however this system and its evolution through the melt season remain poorly understood here we present the results of an intensive programme of dye tracing experiments undertaken along the lower 14 km of a land terminating greenlandic outlet glacier over a period of four months during the 2010 melt season these data are interpreted in conjunction with observations of proglacial discharge englacial water storage surface melt rates and ice velocity to produce a detailed picture of the changing hydrology of the glacier following the onset of melt in the spring inputs to the drainage system regularly exceed outputs causing the englacial water level to rise to the ice sheet surface during this time there is a rapid transition from distributed to channelized drainage in those parts of the drainage system closed by ice deformation over winter as the melt season progresses channel efficiency increases and englacial storage and ice velocity decrease high velocity events continue to be observed following the channelization of the drainage system however indicating that hydrological forcing of ice velocity occurs despite the existence of channels during periods when meltwater inputs exceed the capacity of the subglacial drainage system

seasonal variability of submarine melt rate and circulation in an east greenland fjord 1 the circulation in a glacial fjord driven by a large tidewater glacier is investigated using a nonhydrostatic ocean general circulation model with a melt rate parameterization at the vertical glacier front the model configuration and water properties are based on data collected in sermilik fjord near helheim glacier a major greenland outlet glacier the approximately two layer stratification of the fjord s ambient waters causes the meltwater plume at the glacier front to drive a double cell circulation with two distinct outflows one at the free surface and one at the layers interface in summer the discharge of surface runoff at the base of the glacier subglacial discharge causes the circulation to be much more vigorous and associated with a larger melt rate than in winter the simulated double cell circulation is consistent in both seasons with observations from sermilik fjord seasonal differences are also present in the vertical structure of the melt rate which is maximum at the base of the glacier in summer and at the layers interface in winter simulated submarine melt rates are strongly sensitive to the amount of subglacial discharge to changes in water temperature and to the height of the layers they are also consistent with those inferred from simplified one dimensional models based on the theory of buoyant plumes our results also indicate that to correctly represent the dynamics of the meltwater plume care must be taken in the choice of viscosity and diffusivity values in the model

externally forced fluctuations in ocean temperature at greenland glaciers in non summer months the factors that control the submarine melt rate at greenland s glaciers are uncertain and largely inferred from brief summer surveys in the fjords where glaciers terminate continuous records of water properties and velocity for the months september to may from two large greenland fjords reveal strong variability on 3 to 10 day timescales as a result of pulses of water that are propagated from the shelf ocean

pre pliocene extension around the gulf of california and the transfer of baja california to the pacific plate late miocene 12 5 ma extension around the edges of the gulf of california has been alternatively attributed to basin and range extension back arc extension or development of the pacific north america plate boundary this extension was ene directed and similar in structural style to extension in the basin and range province timing constraints permit nearly synchronous onset of this deformation in a belt extending sse from northernmost baja california to the mouth of the gulf where this extensional faulting continued through pliocene time to the present synchronous with motion on the modern transform plate boundary in the gulf of california no change in direction of extension can be resolved revised constraints on pacific north america plate motion support the development of this late miocene extension as a component of pacific north america displacement that could not be accommodated by strike slip displacement along the existing plate boundary west of the baja california peninsula this scenario implies that transfer of baja california from the north america plate to the pacific plate was a gradual process beginning about 12 10 ma when motion of the pacific plate relative to north america was partitioned into separate regimes of strike slip and dip slip displacement on opposite sides of baja california

impact of periodic intermediary flows on submarine melting of a greenland glacier the submarine melting of a vertical glacier front induced by an intermediary circulation forced by periodic density variations at the mouth of a fjord is investigated using a nonhydrostatic ocean general circulation model and idealized laboratory experiments the idealized configurations broadly match that of sermilik fjord southeast greenland a largely two layers system characterized by strong seasonal variability of subglacial discharge consistent with observations the numerical results suggest that the intermediary circulation is an effective mechanism for the advection of shelf anomalies inside the fjord in the numerical simulations the advection mechanism is a density intrusion with a velocity which is an order of magnitude larger than the velocities associated with a glacier driven circulation in summer submarine melting is mostly influenced by the discharge of surface runoff at the base of the glacier and the intermediary circulation induces small changes in submarine melting in winter on the other hand submarine melting depends only on the water properties and velocity distribution at the glacier front hence the properties of the waters advected by the intermediary circulation to the glacier front are found to be the primary control of the submarine melting when the density of the intrusion is intermediate between those found in the fjord s two layers there is a significant reduction in submarine melting on the other hand when the density is close to that of the bottom layer only a slight reduction in submarine melting is observed the numerical results compare favorably to idealized laboratory experiments with a similar setup