Seismology Gets Under the Skin of the Antarctic Ice Sheet.

The compacted firn layer skin of an ice sheet protects it from surface melting. Vibrations of the firn layer measured with seismometers Chaput et al. (2018, https://doi.org/10.1029/2018GL079665) can portray how the firn layer melts, absorbs water, and refreezes, thus giving a sense of how ice sheets are resisting being denuded of their firn layer skin by climate warming. Plain Language Summary: This highlight discusses, in plain language, the paper by Chaput et al. (2018). The main point is that seismology provides a way to continuously observe melting processes in firn. The importance of firn to an ice sheet's health is described in the commentary, and a simple schematic figure showing how the seismological method works is provided. Key Points: Firn layers protect ice sheetsSeismology provides a way to observe melting, meltwater percolation, and refreezing within firn layersFirm layers are found to vibrate, buzz from wind forcing; but when they fill with meltwater, the vibration stops [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]