USGS · 70267245
A rockslide-generated tsunami in a Greenland fjord rang Earth for 9 days
Abstract
Climate change is increasingly predisposing polar regions to large landslides. Tsunamigenic landslides have occurred recently in Greenland (Kalaallit Nunaat), but none have been reported from the eastern fjords. In September 2023, we detected the start of a 9-day-long, global 10.88-millihertz (92-second) monochromatic very-long-period (VLP) seismic signal, originating from East Greenland. In this study, we demonstrate how this event started with a glacial thinning–induced rock-ice avalanche of 25 × 106 cubic meters plunging into Dickson Fjord, triggering a 200-meter-high tsunami. Simulations show that the tsunami stabilized into a 7-meter-high long-duration seiche with a frequency (11.45 millihertz) and slow amplitude decay that were nearly identical to the seismic signal. An oscillating, fjord-transverse single force with a maximum amplitude of 5 × 1011 newtons reproduced the seismic amplitudes and their radiation pattern relative to the fjord, demonstrating how a seiche directly caused the 9-day-long seismic signal. Our findings highlight how climate change is causing cascading, hazardous feedbacks between the cryosphere, hydrosphere, and lithosphere.
Explore related subjects
Keep this discovery
Explore connections, maps & timelines
Kristian Svennevig, Steven P. Hicks, Thomas Forbriger, Thomas Lecocq, Ruedi Widmer-Schnidrig, Anne Mangeney, Clément Hibert, Niels J. Korsgaard, Antoine S. Lucas, Claudio Satriano, Robert E. Anthony, Aurélien Mordret, Sven Schippkus, Søren Rysgaard, Wieter Boone, Steven Gibbons, Kristen L. Cook, Sylfest Glimsdal, Finn Løvholt, Koen Van Noten, Jelle D. Assink, Alexis Marboeuf, Anthony Lomax, Kris Vanneste, Taka’aki Taira, Matteo Spagnolo, Raphael de Plaen, Paula Koelemeijer, Carl Ebeling, Andrea Cannata, William D. Hardcourt, David G. Cornwell, Corentin Caudron, Piero Poli, Pascal Bernard, Eric Larose, Eleonore Stutzmann, Peter H. Voss, Bjorn Lund, Flavio Cannavo, Manuel J. Castro-Díaz, Esteban J. Chaves, Trine Dahl-Jensen, Nicolas De Pinho Dias, Aline Deprez, Roeland Develter, Douglas Dreger, Laslo G. Evers, Enrique D. Fernández-Nieto, Ana M.G. Ferreira, Gareth J. Funning, Alice-Agnes Gabriel, Marc Hendrickx, Alan L. Kafka, Marie Keiding, Jeffrey T. Kerby, Shfaqat A. Khan, Andreas Kjær Dideriksen, Oliver D. Lamb, Tine B. Larsen, Bradley Lipovsky, Ikha Magdalena, Jean-Philippe Malet, Mikkel Myrup, Luis Rivera, Eugenio Ruiz-Castillo, Selina Wetter, Bastien Wirtz. 2024. A rockslide-generated tsunami in a Greenland fjord rang Earth for 9 days. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.adm9247
Cite the original work for its findings. Save a collection to share your selection of sources.