Depth-dependence of the underwater noise emission from melting glacier ice

Abstract

Submarine-melting of ice at the glacier-ocean interface accounts for a large portion of the ice-loss at tidewater glaciers and produces sound via bubble-release. The sound production is dominant in the sub-surface region near the glacier-ocean interface. This depth-dependence of the sound is studied by melting ice blocks in a glacial bay at various depths up to 20 m and recording their acoustics over a large frequency range. The acoustic energy decreases with depth in line with expectations from the physics of the phenomenon and is fit to an exponentially decaying curve. The estimated variation will be useful for interpreting the sound in marine-terminating glaciers bays in terms of the submarine-melting activity.