According to a research paper published in the journal Science, a landslide in a remote part of Greenland caused a mega-tsunami that sloshed back and forth across a fjord for nine days, generating vibrations throughout Earth.
Key points
- As per the research, the glacier at the base of a huge mountain towering nearly 4,000 feet above Dickson Fjord had been melting for years, as many glaciers are in the rapidly warming Arctic.
- As the glacier thinned, the mountain became increasingly unstable before it eventually collapsed on September 16, 2023 sending enough rock and debris tumbling into the water to fill 10,000 Olympic-sized swimming pools.
- The subsequent mega-tsunami set off a wave which became trapped in the bendy, narrow fjord for more than a week, sloshing back and forth every 90 seconds.
- The phenomenon is called a “seiche.” A seiche is a standing wave oscillating in a body of water. refers to the rhythmic movement of a wave in an enclosed space, similar to water splashing backwards and forwards in a bathtub or cup.
- The landslide and tsunami were the first observed in eastern Greenland.
- This is the first time that water sloshing has been recorded as vibrations through the Earth’s crust, travelling the world over and lasting several days.
- The mysterious seismic signal — coming from a vibration through the Earth’s crust — was detected by seismometers all over the globe, from the Arctic to Antarctica.
- It looked completely different to frequency-rich ‘rumbles’ and ‘pings’ from earthquake recordings, as it contained only a single vibration frequency, like a monotonous-sounding hum.
About Fjord
- A fjord is a long, deep, narrow body of water that reaches far inland. Fjords are often set in a U-shaped valley with steep walls of rock on either side.
- Fjords are found mainly in Norway, Chile, New Zealand, Canada, Greenland, and the U.S. state of Alaska.
