2024
Ref: SCART-2024-0158

A rockslide-generated tsunami in a Greenland fjord rang Earth for 9 days

Svennevig, K. ; Hicks, S.P. ; Forbriger, T. ; Lecocq, T. ; Widmer-Schnidrig, R. ; Mangeney, A. ; Hibert, C. ; Korsgaard, N.J. ; Lucas, A. ; Satriano, C. ; Anthony, R.E. ; Mordret, A. ; Schippkus, S. ; Rysgaard, S. ; Boone, W. ; Gibbons, S.J. ; Cook, K.L. ; Glimsdal, S. ; Løvholt, F. ; Van Noten, Koen ; Assink, J.D. ; Marboeuf, A. ; Lomax, A. ; Vanneste, K. ; Taira, T. ; Spagnolo, M. ; De Plaen, R. ; Koelemeijer, P. ; Ebeling, C. ; Cannata, A. ; Harcourt, W.D. ; Cornwell, D.G. ; Caudron, C. ; Poli, P. ; Bernard, P. ; Larose, E. ; Stutzmann, E. ; Voss, P.H. ; Lund, B. ; Cannavo, F. ; Castro-Díaz, M.J. ; Chaves, E. ; Dahl-Jensen, T. ; Pinho Dias, N.D. ; Déprez, A. ; Develter, R. ; Dreger, D. ; Evers, L.G. ; Fernández-Nieto, E.D. ; Ferreira, A.M.G. ; Funning, G. ; Gabriel, A.-A. ; Hendrickx, M. ; Kafka, A.L. ; Keiding, M. ; Kerby, J. ; Khan, S.A. ; Dideriksen, A.K. ; Lamb, O.D. ; Larsen, T.B. ; Lipovsky, B. ; Magdalena, I. ; Malet, J.-P. ; Myrup, M. ; Rivera, L. ; Ruiz-Castillo, E. ; Wetter, S. ; Wirtz, B.


published in Science, 385, pp. 1196–1205 (2024)

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.

Keyword(s): rockslide ; landslide ; seismology ; tsunami ; seiche ; polar regions
DOI: 10.1126/science.adm9247
Links: link
Funding: BRAIN/2/191/P1/GEOCAMB


The record appears in these collections:
Royal Observatory of Belgium > Seismology & Gravimetry
Science Articles > Peer Reviewed Articles



 Record created 2024-09-16, last modified 2024-09-16


Files:
Download fulltext
PDF