Airborne and ground-based TEM mapping in polar regions — Antarctica cases

Abstract

Summary We present transient electromagnetics (TEM) mapping results from different geological targets in polar environments, primary from two airborne TEM surveys and one ground -based TEM mapping campaign conducted in the McMurdo Dry Valleys and on the Ross Ice Shelf in Antarctica. With the different cases, we demonstrate that the TEM methods are well suited to image different subsurface structures in polar regions as they can provide valuable information on ice thicknesses and discriminate between e.g. glacier ice/sea ice, frozen/unfrozen sea water, frozen/unfrozen water systems (permafrost), and bedrock/glacier ice. We further demonstrate that a high data and instrumentation quality, as the ground-based and airborne TEM data produces consistent results.