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

• DOI: 10.1126/science.adm9247
• Publication Date: 2024-09-12T18:00:07Z
• Authors: Kristian Svennevig; Stephen P. Hicks; Thomas Forbriger; Thomas Lecocq; Rudolf Widmer-Sch...; Anne Mangeney; Clément Hibert; Niels J. Korsgaard; Antoine Lucas; Claudio Satriano; Robert E. Anthony; Aurélien Mordret; Sven Schippkus; Søren Rysgaard; Wieter Boone; Steven J. Gibbons; Kristen L. Cook; Sylfest Glimsdal; Finn Løvholt; Koen Van Noten; Jelle D. Assink; Alexis Marboeuf; Anthony Lomax; Kris Vanneste; Taka’aki Taira; Matteo Spagnolo; Raphael De Plaen; Paula Koelemeijer; Carl Ebeling; Andrea Cannata; William D. Harcourt; David G. Cornwell; Corentin Caudron; Piero Poli; Pascal Bernard; Eric Larose; Eleonore Stutzmann; Peter H. Voss; Bjorn Lund; Flavio Cannavo; Manuel J. Castro-...; Esteban Chaves; Trine Dahl-Jensen; Nicolas De Pinho ...; Aline Déprez; Roeland Develter; Douglas Dreger; Läslo G. Evers; Enrique D. Fernán...; Ana M. G. Ferreira; Gareth Funning; Alice-Agnes Gabriel; Marc Hendrickx; Alan L. Kafka; Marie Keiding; Jeffrey Kerby; Shfaqat A. Khan; Andreas Kjær Dide...; Oliver D. Lamb; Tine B. Larsen; Bradley Lipovsky; Ikha Magdalena; Jean-Philippe Malet; Mikkel Myrup; Luis Rivera; Eugenio Ruiz-Cast...; Selina Wetter; Bastien Wirtz
• Keywords: Fjord; Seiche; Hydrosphere; Rockslide

Climate change is increasingly predisposing polar regions to large landslides. Tsunamigenic landslides have occurred recently in Greenland ( Kalaallit Nunaat ), but none been reported from the eastern fjords. In September 2023, we detected start of a 9-day-long, global 10.88-millihertz (92-second) monochromatic very-long-period (VLP) seismic signal, originating East Greenland. this study, demonstrate how event started with glacial thinning–induced rock-ice avalanche 25 × 10 6 cubic meters plunging into Dickson Fjord, triggering 200-meter-high tsunami. Simulations show that tsunami stabilized 7-meter-high long-duration seiche frequency (11.45 millihertz) and slow amplitude decay were nearly identical signal. An oscillating, fjord-transverse single force maximum 5 11 newtons reproduced amplitudes their radiation pattern relative fjord, demonstrating directly caused 9-day-long Our findings highlight climate causing cascading, hazardous feedbacks between cryosphere, hydrosphere, lithosphere.