Simultaneous teleseismic and geodetic observations of the stick-slip motion of an Antarctic ice stream

Long-period seismic sources associated with glacier motion have been recently discovered, and an increase in ice flow over the past decade has been suggested on the basis of secular changes in such measurements. Their significance, however, remains uncertain, as a relationship to ice flow has not been confirmed by direct observation. Here we combine long-period surface-wave observations with simultaneous Global Positioning System measurements of ice displacement to study the tidally modulated stick-slip motion of the Whillans Ice Stream in West Antarctica. The seismic origin time corresponds to slip nucleation at a region of the bed of the Whillans Ice Stream that is likely stronger than in surrounding regions and, thus, acts like an 'asperity' in traditional fault models. In addition to the initial pulse, two seismic arrivals occurring 10-23 minutes later represent stopping phases as the slip terminates at the ice stream edge and the grounding line. Seismic amplitude and average rupture velocity are correlated with tidal amplitude for the different slip events during the spring-to-neap tidal cycle. Although the total seismic moment calculated from ice rigidity, slip displacement, and rupture area is equivalent to an earthquake of moment magnitude seven (M(w) 7), seismic amplitudes are modest (M(s) 3.6-4.2), owing to the source duration of 20-30 minutes. Seismic radiation from ice movement is proportional to the derivative of the moment rate function at periods of 25-100 seconds and very long-period radiation is not detected, owing to the source geometry. Long-period seismic waves are thus useful for detecting and studying sudden ice movements but are insensitive to the total amount of slip.     

Gallium-Catalyzed Silicon Oxide Nanowire Growth

Silicon oxide nanowires tend to assemble into various complex morphologies through a metalcatalyzed vapor-liquid-solid （VLS） growth process. This article summarizes our recent efforts in the controlled growth of silicon oxide nanowire assemblies by using molten gallium as the catalyst and silicon wafer, SiO powder, or silane （Sill4） as the silicon sources. Silicon oxide nanowire assemblies with morphologies of carrotlike, cometlike, gourdlike, spindlelike, badmintonlike, sandwichlike, etc. were obtained. Although the morphologies of the nanowire assemblies are temperatureand silicon source-dependent, they share similar structural and compositional features： all the assemblies contain a microscale spherical liquid Ga ball and a highly aligned, closely packed amorphous silicon oxide nanowire bunch. The Ga-catalyzed silicon oxide nanowire growth reveals several interesting new nanowire growth phenomena that expand our knowledge of the conventional VLS nanowire growth mechanism.