Exploring the Argentière Glacier Using Seismic Waves



Figure 1. (a) Overview of the Argentière glacier on a satellite image with the glacier flow. The red dot on the map of France shows the location of the glacier. The red rectangle shows the area where the network was deployed.


The PhD research of Arthur Grange made it possible to explore and characterize the Argentière Glacier through the analysis of seismic waves recorded over one month in spring 2018, as part of the RESOLVE project.







From a catalogue of seismic events (icequakes) and their relocation, Arthur’s PhD made it possible to carry out a precise and systematic study of source mechanisms, relying on 3D elastic modelling and inversion tools developed within the SEISCOPE research project hosted at the laboratory.

The more than 10,000 reconstructed mechanisms show a predominance of opening in a direction perpendicular to the crevasses where icequakes are generated, which is consistent with interpretations by glaciologists and ice mechanics specialists.

This work provided an opportunity to create synergy between seismologists, numerical modelers, and glaciologists around the data acquired on the glacier within the framework of the RESOLVE project.

They constitute the first published part of the PhD thesis of Arthur Grange. The second part, which combines the reconstruction of source mechanisms with that of the glacier’s 3D mechanical properties, is currently being finalized.
Figure 1. (b) Zoom on the lower part of the glacier showing the deployed seismic network (yellow dots), the glacier flow direction (white arrow), bedrock elevation on the glacier margins (contour lines and colour map), and crevasse locations (black dots) derived from a snow-free drone survey conducted on 2018 September 5. The crevasses surrounding the network are separated into three crevasse clusters : the South-West (SW), the North-East (NE) and the Downstream (DS) clusters .


The full study is published in : Geophysical Journal International


References :

Grange, A., Brossier, R., Gimbert, F., Métivier, L., Roux, P. & Thurin, J. (2026) Characterization of icequake mechanisms on the Argentière glacier by 3-D elastic full waveform inversion (Open Access). Geophysical Journal International 245(2), ggag103.

Scientific contacts :

  • Arthur Grange – ISTerre, Université Grenoble Alpes, CNRS, Grenoble, France
  • Romain Brossier – ISTerre, Université Grenoble Alpes, CNRS, Grenoble, France
  • Philippe Roux – ISTerre, Université Grenoble Alpes, CNRS, Grenoble, France
  • Florent Gimbert – IGE, Université Grenoble Alpes, CNRS, Grenoble, France
  • Julien Thurin – Geophysical Institute, University of Alaska, Fairbanks, USA