Application of towed geophone arrays in seismic exploration of Antarctic ice sheet

GuoFeng LIU, YaBing ZHANG, WenBo YUAN, YingYing LIU, YingChun CUI, Kai LU, Meng WANG

Prog Geophy ›› 2026, Vol. 41 ›› Issue (4) : 1844-1852.

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Prog Geophy ›› 2026, Vol. 41 ›› Issue (4) : 1844-1852. DOI: 10.6038/pg2026KK0185

Application of towed geophone arrays in seismic exploration of Antarctic ice sheet

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Abstract

The Antarctic ice sheet covers an extensive area and reaches enormous thicknesses, which has long severely constrained our understanding of its internal structure and the underlying lithosphere. Seismic exploration is an important approach for investigating the ice sheet and subglacial geological environment. However, due to the extreme environmental conditions and logistical constraints in Antarctica, conventional seismic acquisition methods suffer from low operational efficiency, high labor intensity, and difficulties in conducting large-scale surveys.This study introduces a towed geophone seismic acquisition system, which was preliminarily tested on the ice sheet of Larsemann Hills during the 42nd Chinese Antarctic Expedition. Towed by a snow vehicle and combined with an electromagnetic vibroseis source, the system enabled rapid and continuous seismic data acquisition.The acquired surface-wave data were successfully applied to Multichannel Analysis of Surface Waves (MASW), and a high-resolution near-surface shear-wave velocity structure of the ice sheet was obtained through inversion. Strong reflections from the ice-bedrock interface were clearly identified within the 100~155 Hz frequency band, and the reflection profiles revealed significant undulations in the subglacial topography beneath the Larsemann Hills ice sheet. The experimental results demonstrate that the towed geophone system is well suited for efficient and lightweight seismic exploration on the Antarctic ice sheet. This study provides a promising technical solution for future large-scale seismic investigations of Antarctic ice sheets and subglacial geological environments.

Key words

Antarctic / Ice Sheet / Seismic exploration / Towed geophone array / Surface wave / Ice-rock reflection

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GuoFeng LIU , YaBing ZHANG , WenBo YUAN , et al . Application of towed geophone arrays in seismic exploration of Antarctic ice sheet[J]. Progress in Geophysics. 2026, 41(4): 1844-1852 https://doi.org/10.6038/pg2026KK0185

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感谢中国第42次南极考察队对此次数据采集提供的后勤保障,感谢SmartSolo公司对测试工作的大力支持,感谢审稿专家的修改建议.

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