Italy
Projects
- Seismic Observatories in the region of subglacial lakes between Concordia and Vostok to study lithospheric and deep Earth structure. (SISCO)
- Permanent seismic observatories in Antarctica
- continuous, year-round very broadband seismographic recording at MZS and Concordia;
- continuation of operation of remote autonomous station at Starr Nunatak;
- studies of earth structure by seismic tomography and analysis of seismic noise;
- continuation of studies on ice stream dynamics and seismicity interactions, on the basis of data recorded during previous campaigns in the area of David Glacier;
- numerical studies of the effects of seismic wave propagation in glacial environments;
- analysis of Starr Nunatak winter-over data;
- compilation of seismic data reports and transmission to relevant data banks (FDSN) following international protocols.
Project Name and Acronym:
Seismic Observatories in the region of subglacial lakes between Concordia and Vostok to study lithospheric and deep Earth structure. (SISCO)
Principal Contacts for Data
Stefania Danesi
c/o INGV Sezione di Bologna
Via Donato Creti 12
40128 Bologna
tel +39 051 4151472
email danesi@bo.ingv.it
Project Scientists
Stefania Danesi (PI), Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia (Bologna), danesi@bo.ingv.it
Andrea Morelli, Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia (Bologna), morelli@bo.ingv.it
Alberto Delladio, Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia (Roma), alberto.delladio@ingv.it
Simone Salimbeni, Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia (Bologna), salimbeni@bo.ingv.it
Martina Demartin, Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia (Roma), martina.demartin@ingv.it
Francesco Pongetti, Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia (Roma), francesco.pongetti@ingv.it
Project Locations
East Antarctica, 5 stations to be sited between Concordia and Vostok
Project Activities
We propose a temporary deployment of broadband seismographic stations between Concordia and Vostok bases to record earthquake data and image deep crustal and lithospheric structure. We plan to run 5 stations that will be installed during the 2010-2011 field campaign, and will be removed during the 2011-12 campaign. The deployment will be jointly done with the French team with the logistic support of a French terrestrial vehicle, which is scheduled to move from Concordia to Vostok on November 2010.
Principal Science Objectives
The proposed activity is part of a project to collect a broad range of geophysical data (AGAP, #67) that will provide information on the sub-ice structure of East Antarctica centred on Gamburtsev Mts. The objectives of the project fall in two main categories. The main impulse, that promped the creation of the AGAP IPY Activity, is to understand the sub-ice geological structure of the East Antarctic craton, of which today very little is known. Sub-ice highlands and lithospheric structure in the region played an decisive role for ice sheet initiation and evolution, and still are very important as they influence ice sheet dynamics. The second broad objective is to improve seismographic coverage of the worst instrumented sector of Earth – in accordance with objectives of IPY.
Research Highlights
This would be the first seismic station coverage of the area between Concordia and Vostok and would provide an improvement of resolution of the regional lithospheric structure.
Project Name and Acronym:
Permanent seismic observatories in Antarctica
http://antartica.bo.ingv.it/
Principal Contacts for Data
Stefania Danesi
c/o INGV Sezione di Bologna
Via Donato Creti 12
40128 Bologna
tel +39 051 4151472
email danesi@bo.ingv.it
Project Scientists
Andrea Morelli (PI), Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia (Bologna), morelli@bo.ingv.it
Stefania Danesi, Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia (Bologna), danesi@bo.ingv.it
Alberto Delladio, Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia (Roma), alberto.delladio@ingv.it
Diego Sorrentino, Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia (Roma), diego.sorrentino@ingv.it
Silvia Pondrelli, Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia (Bologna), pondrelli@bo.ingv.it
Simona Carannante, Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia (Bologna), carannante@bo.ingv.it
Project Locations
Mario Zucchelli Station - Victoria Land
Concordia Station - East Antarctica
Starr Nunatak - David Glacier, Victoria Land
Project Activities
We propose to maintain and consolidate existing permanent seismographic observatories at Mario Zucchelli Station (MZS) and Concordia Station, in continuity with past activities. The main goal for the next two years for the MZS observatory consists of the use of the planned continuous satellite channel, that will become available as a new base infrastructure. In Concordia we aim at reaching, in spite of prohibitive environmental conditions, the same efficiency and quality standard already achieved at MZS. We also propose to continue the scientific and technological test on course with the autonomous remote station at Starr Nunatak, in the vicinity of MZS. Such as for the past, all data will be validated and made available to the broad scientific community. We will improve the structure and accessibility of the database and will continue distribution to international centers.
Principal Science Objectives
We propose to consolidate the existing permanent observatories, installed at the Italian bases Mario Zucchelli and Concordia, through continued maintenance and upgrade during the next two years. Goals of the operations are:
Research Highlights
Antarctica represents an extraordinary interesting laboratory to study and understand the structural and climatic evolution of our planet. As a result, significant efforts have been carried out in the past decades for the realization of permanent observatories, needed to put the continent within the reach of global instrumental networks. Nevertheless, a remarkable disparity still remains between Antarctica and the other regions of the world, in terms of distribution of geophysical observational sites. The scarcity of seismographic observational networks in the southernmost cap of the Earth, causes a significant gap in the knowledge of the internal structure of the planet and the Antarctic continent itself. Installation, and further maintenance, of seismographic stations in Antarctica is therefore significant for the contribution their data will give to global seismology, on one side, as well as to the study of the Antarctic continent itself.
Published Papers / Abstracts
Faccenna, C., Rossetti, F., Becker, T. W., Danesi, S., Morelli, A., 2008, Recent extension driven by mantle upwelling at craton edge beneath the Admiralty Mountains (Ross Sea, East Antarctica), Tectonics, 27, doi:10.1029/2007TC002197
Danesi, S., M. Dubbini, A. Morelli and L. Vittuari, 2008, Joint geophysical observations of ice stream dynamics, in: Geodetic and Geophysical Observations in Antarctica, Overview in IPY Perspective, Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg, ISBN 987-3-540-74881-6, pp. 281-298
Danesi, S., S. Bannister, and A. Morelli, 2006, Repeating earthquakes from rupture of an asperity under an Antarctic outlet glacier, Earth Planet. Sci. Lett., doi:10.1016/j.epsl.2006.10.023
Morelli A., and S. Danesi, 2004, Seismological imaging of the Antarctic continental lithosphere: a review, Global Planet. Change, 42, 155-165.
Danesi S., and A. Morelli, 2001, Structure of the upper mantle under the Antarctic Plate from surface wave tomography, Geophys. Res. Lett., 28, 4395-4398.
Danesi, S., A. Morelli, and N. M. Pagliuca, 2001, Lithospheric structure of the Antarctic region revealed by Rayleigh wave tomography, Terra Antartica, 8, 63-66.
Institutes / Agencies that provided project support
PNRA Programma Nazionale di Ricerca in Antartide
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