前進北極：台灣地球科學探索先導計畫

Ongoing global warming and environment change have an instant impact on Earth surface, especially in the areas as Arctic Circle. In August 2021, three members of the Department of Earth Sciences from National Central University took part in an expedition to the arctic circle in Svalbard to the polar station of Nicolaus Copernicus University (Torun, Poland) that was established in 1975. The conducted preliminary fieldtrip in Svalbard in August and September 2021 showed a large potential for earth scientific surveys in the area. One month of geophysical, structural geology and geomorphological surveys, brought very interesting initial results showing large scale impact on the environment but also giving opportunities for conducting future pioneering tectonic surveys in the Arctic areas. In present, within three years, the glacier exposes almost 200 meters of a new surface with vast outcrops that has never been studied before. Such new topography also characterizes new geomorphic systems with instant impact of subaerial processes that lead to rapid landscape reorganization. In this work, we installed 40 seismometers installed in August 2021 for monitoring vast number of icequakes triggered by glaciers’ retreats, supported by structural geological mapping, aid to survey not only the glaciers behavior, but also seismic waves allow to acquire subsurface tectonics and local geology. Moreover, the retreating glaciers expose new topography with new outcrops, that can significantly contribute improving geological mapping and understanding of tectonic processes in much higher resolution of the area.