Effectiveness of different shooting techniques in Antarctic firn

The British Antarctic Survey has commenced a programme of multichannel seismic reflection work over the Antarctic continental ice sheet and surrounding ice shelves. This is part of an integrated geophysical investigation of the crustal development and plate tectonic history of West Antarctica. The data presented here were acquired in the first field season in January and February 1989. Snow absorbs a higher proportion of shot energy than any other common shooting medium, so experimentation was necessary to establish the most efficient type and deployment configuration of explosives. This paper presents the results of the experiments, which have application in other areas with similar surface conditions, such as may be found elsewhere in Antarctica and on the Greenland Ice Cap.