The catastrophic breakup of the Larsen B Ice Shelf in the Weddell Sea in 2002 paints a vivid portrait of the effects of glacier-climate interactions. This event, along with other unexpected episodes of rapid mass loss from marine-terminating glaciers (i.e., tidewater glaciers, outlet glaciers, ice streams, ice shelves) sparked intensified study of the boundaries where marine-terminating glaciers interact with the ocean. These dynamic and dangerous boundaries require creative methods of observation and measurement. Toward this effort, we take advantage of the exceptional sound-propagating properties of seawater to record and interpret sounds generated at these glacial ice-ocean boundaries from distances safe for instrument deployment and operation.

Pettit, E.C., J.A. Nystuen, and S. O’Neel. 2012. Listening to glaciers: Passive hydroacoustics near marine-terminating glaciers. Oceanography 25(3):104–105, https://doi.org/10.5670/oceanog.2012.81.

Burton, J.C., J.M. Amundson, D.S. Abbot, A. Boghosian, L.M. Cathles, S. Correa-Legisos, K.N. Darnell, N. Guttenberg, D.M. Holland, and D.R. MacAyeal. 2011. Laboratory investigations of iceberg capsize dynamics, energy dissipation and tsunamigenesis. Journal of Geophysical Research 117, F01007, https://doi.org/10.1029/2011JF002055.
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