EAGER: Pilot Fiber Seismic Networks at the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station

This technology may provide a scalable and affordable way to deploy dense seismic networks. Experimental Distributed Acoustic Sensing equipment will be tested in the Antarctic exploiting unused (dark) strands in the existing fiber-optic cable that connects the U.S. Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station to the Remote Earth Science and Seismological Observatory (SPRESSO) located about 7.5-km from the main station.

Upon processing the seismic signals, the Distributed Acoustic Sensing may provide a new tool to structurally image firn, glacial ice, and glacial bedrock. Learning how Distributed Acoustic Sensing would work on the ice sheet, scientists can then check seismological signals propagating through the Earth's crust and mantle variously using natural icequakes and earthquakes events in the surrounding area. The investigators propose to convert at least 8 km of pre-existing fiber optic cable at the Amundsen-Scott South Pole station into more than 8000 sensors to explore the potential of Distributed acoustic sensing (DAS) as a breakthrough data engine for polar seismology.