In September 2023, scientists monitoring seismic actions worldwide detected an uncommon sign. This sign, distinct from the everyday earthquake rumble, resonated as a steady hum, sustaining a singular frequency. For 9 consecutive days, this hum echoed throughout the globe, spanning from the Arctic to Antarctica, leaving researchers baffled. Initially labeled as a “USO” — an unidentified seismic object — the supply of the sign was ultimately recognized. A colossal landslide in Greenland‘s Dickson Fjord was accountable for the mysterious hum. The occasion concerned an enormous quantity of rock and ice, sufficient to fill roughly 10,000 Olympic-sized swimming swimming pools, plummeting into the fjord. This brought on a mega-tsunami, with waves towering as much as 200 metres, double the peak of London’s iconic Massive Ben.
The Landslide’s Supply
The landslide was straight linked to the continuing results of local weather change. As a result of thinning of a close-by glacier, the fjord’s stability had been compromised. The glacier had misplaced tens of metres in thickness over many years, resulting in a weakened construction. When the mountain lastly gave method, the sheer drive of the collapse generated seismic waves that reverberated across the planet.
Implications of the Occasion
Of their examine published in Science, the analysis staff famous that the sign was created by standing waves inside the fjord brought on by the rockslide. These findings underscore the cascading and dangerous suggestions loops between the Earth’s ice, water, and land programs because the local weather continues to heat.
As international temperatures rise, landslides, tsunamis, and comparable occasions in polar areas may turn into extra frequent.
