Landslide in Dickson Fjord Mega tsunami in Greenland was up to 200 meters high
Just under a year ago, researchers registered conspicuous seismic activity in East Greenland - and suspect a tsunami. But the actual size of this monster wave is only now becoming clear.
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- Almost a year ago, a mega tsunami occurred in the Dickson Fjord in East Greenland.
- It was caused by a landslide and was up to 200 meters high in places. This is suggested by the results of seismic data and satellite images.
- The research team warns that man-made global warming and the resulting melting of glaciers and permafrost will make events of this kind increasingly frequent in the future.
In September 2023, a mega-tsunami up to 200 meters high hit the Dickson Fjord in East Greenland. This is indicated by the results of an analysis that has now been published in the journal "The Seismic Record".
The trigger was a large landslide in the southern rear part of the fjord, as a team of researchers determined on the basis of seismic data and satellite images.
No one was injured in the event almost a year ago in the uninhabited Dickson Fjord; only the Sirius military base on the small island of Ella Ø at the end of the fjord, which was abandoned for the season, was destroyed.
Seismic signals 5000 km away
This devastated base also set the ball rolling. The science thriller began when a person on board the cruise ship "Ocean Albatros" contacted the Arctic Command of the Danish Armed Forces. The ship was passing Dickson Fjord when the person realized that something was wrong with the station.
Earthquake stations also registered seismic activity up to 5000 kilometers away - originating in eastern Greenland. The fact that signals were still being registered around a week later made the researchers even more suspicious.
So the Arctic Command set off in search of clues. What exactly had happened on the island of Ella Ø? Everything indicated that a tsunami had struck and washed a lot of material into the sea.
Wave sloshed back and forth for a week
First, the inspection ship Knud Radmussen arrived at Ella Ø. The ship was in the vicinity anyway, having dealt with the grounded cruise ship in Alpefjord the week before. Shortly afterwards, the crew of the Sirius also arrived.
In addition, Arctic Command launched an overflight with a Challenger aircraft, which took pictures of the area on September 19. Even then, there were many indications of a major landslide, which ultimately caused the tsunami.
Researchers have now fully analyzed the seismic data and presented their findings. According to the results, the tsunami was followed by a so-called standing wave, which continued to slosh back and forth in the narrow fjord for many days.
Mega-tsunamis more frequent due to climate change
Angela Carrillo Ponce from the German Research Centre for Geosciences in Potsdam analyzed the seismic data. She and her team found that the signals persisted long after the landslide on September 16, 2023.
With the help of satellite images and computer models, the researchers were able to confirm a so-called standing wave of around one meter in height. It lasted for more than a week.
In addition to the results of the analysis, Ponce's team also had a warning: events of this kind could soon occur more frequently.
Man-made climate change is accelerating the melting of Greenland's glaciers and permafrost, increasing the risk of landslides and subsequent mega-tsunamis.
Smaller events have been observed several times in recent years, such as the rock avalanche in the Karrat Fjord in western Greenland in 2017, which triggered a tsunami that flooded the village of Nuugaatsiaq, destroying eleven houses and killing four people.