A rockslide-generated tsunami in a Greenland fjord rang the Earth for 9 days
Climate change is increasingly predisposing polar regions to large landslides. Tsunamigenic landslides have occurred recently in Greenland, but none have been reported from the eastern fjords. In September 2023, we detected the start of a 9-day-long global 10.88 mHz (92 s) monochromatic very long-pe...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Journal article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
American Association for the Advancement of Science
2024
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| _version_ | 1811141269241462784 |
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| author | Svennevig, K Hicks, SP Forbriger, T Lecocq, T Widmer-Schnidrig, R Mangeney, A Koelemeijer, P |
| author_facet | Svennevig, K Hicks, SP Forbriger, T Lecocq, T Widmer-Schnidrig, R Mangeney, A Koelemeijer, P |
| author_sort | Svennevig, K |
| collection | OXFORD |
| description | Climate change is increasingly predisposing polar regions to large landslides. Tsunamigenic landslides have
occurred recently in Greenland, but none have been reported from the eastern fjords. In September 2023, we
detected the start of a 9-day-long global 10.88 mHz (92 s) monochromatic very long-period (VLP) seismic
signal, originating from East Greenland. We demonstrate how this event started with a 25×106 m3 glacial
thinning-induced rock-ice avalanche plunging into Dickson Fjord, triggering a 200 m high tsunami.
Simulations show the tsunami stabilized into a 7 m-high long-duration seiche with a near-identical frequency
(11.45 mHz) and slow amplitude decay as the seismic signal. An oscillating, fjord-transverse single-force
with a maximum amplitude of 5×1011 N reproduces 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. |
| first_indexed | 2024-09-25T04:35:11Z |
| format | Journal article |
| id | oxford-uuid:842c8e73-1555-43fe-80d7-0fa9940d639c |
| institution | University of Oxford |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-09-25T04:35:11Z |
| publishDate | 2024 |
| publisher | American Association for the Advancement of Science |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | oxford-uuid:842c8e73-1555-43fe-80d7-0fa9940d639c2024-09-16T12:59:31ZA rockslide-generated tsunami in a Greenland fjord rang the Earth for 9 daysJournal articlehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_dcae04bcuuid:842c8e73-1555-43fe-80d7-0fa9940d639cEnglishSymplectic ElementsAmerican Association for the Advancement of Science2024Svennevig, KHicks, SPForbriger, TLecocq, TWidmer-Schnidrig, RMangeney, AKoelemeijer, PClimate change is increasingly predisposing polar regions to large landslides. Tsunamigenic landslides have occurred recently in Greenland, but none have been reported from the eastern fjords. In September 2023, we detected the start of a 9-day-long global 10.88 mHz (92 s) monochromatic very long-period (VLP) seismic signal, originating from East Greenland. We demonstrate how this event started with a 25×106 m3 glacial thinning-induced rock-ice avalanche plunging into Dickson Fjord, triggering a 200 m high tsunami. Simulations show the tsunami stabilized into a 7 m-high long-duration seiche with a near-identical frequency (11.45 mHz) and slow amplitude decay as the seismic signal. An oscillating, fjord-transverse single-force with a maximum amplitude of 5×1011 N reproduces 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. |
| spellingShingle | Svennevig, K Hicks, SP Forbriger, T Lecocq, T Widmer-Schnidrig, R Mangeney, A Koelemeijer, P A rockslide-generated tsunami in a Greenland fjord rang the Earth for 9 days |
| title | A rockslide-generated tsunami in a Greenland fjord rang the Earth for 9 days |
| title_full | A rockslide-generated tsunami in a Greenland fjord rang the Earth for 9 days |
| title_fullStr | A rockslide-generated tsunami in a Greenland fjord rang the Earth for 9 days |
| title_full_unstemmed | A rockslide-generated tsunami in a Greenland fjord rang the Earth for 9 days |
| title_short | A rockslide-generated tsunami in a Greenland fjord rang the Earth for 9 days |
| title_sort | rockslide generated tsunami in a greenland fjord rang the earth for 9 days |
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