Seismic attenuation in Antarctic firn

Abstract

We estimate the seismic attenuation of P and S waves in the polar firn and underlying ice by spectral analysis of diving, refracted, and reflected waves from active-source three-component seismic signals obtained in 2010 on the Whillans Ice Stream (WIS), a fast-flowing ice stream in West Antarctica. The resulting quality factors are then successfully modeled using a rock-physics theory of wave propagation that combines White's mesoscopic attenuation theory of interlayer flow with that of Biot/squirt flow. The first theory describes an equivalent viscoelastic medium consisting of a stack of two alternating thin porous layers, both of which have thicknesses that are much greater than the pore size but smaller than the wavelength. On the other hand, in the so-called Biot/squirt-flow model, there are two loss mechanisms, namely the global Biot flow and the local flow from fluid-filled microcracks (or grain contacts) to the pore space and back, where the former is dominant over the latter. The fluid saturating the pores is assumed to be fluidized snow, defined as a mixture of snow particles and air, such as powder, with a rigidity modulus of zero.