November 04, 2025
Greenland Ice Melt Caused by Waves
Timothy Birdnow
Well isn't that special!
Invisible Skyscrape Sized Waves Found to be Eating Away at Greenland's Glaciers
These waves are supposedly caused by calving glaciers/ice shelves. So why are these glaciers calving? is it the 1* of ATMOSPHERIC warming? That seems highly doubtful.
Other factors contribue; increased volcanism and earthquakes can cause this, for instance.
FTA:
Calving of icebergs from glaciers can actually be a sign of MORE ice, not less; the greater weight leads more ice to the water's edge and when the waves hit they split off, much like a woman's fingernail after a certain point.
And as I say, volcanism under these glaciers changes over time and if Greenland is entering a more volcanic era it may be causing this ice loss.
Certainly Greenland was far less icy in times past. When Eric the Red settled the island there was a lot more farmable land. The Vikings left Greenland when the climate cooled and the ice piled up. We are now finding artifacts that were buried under ice since the time of the Vikings, so we may just be entering an interglacial for the big island.
if anything, this does not buttress the case for anthropogenic climate change so much as for natural variability.
Well isn't that special!
Invisible Skyscrape Sized Waves Found to be Eating Away at Greenland's Glaciers
These waves are supposedly caused by calving glaciers/ice shelves. So why are these glaciers calving? is it the 1* of ATMOSPHERIC warming? That seems highly doubtful.
Other factors contribue; increased volcanism and earthquakes can cause this, for instance.
FTA:
The researchers used a technology called Distributed Acoustic Sensing (DAS), which detects ground motion by monitoring cable strain caused by crevasses forming in the ice, falling ice blocks, ocean waves or changes in temperature. "This enables us to measure the many different types of waves that are generated after icebergs break off,” says lead author Dominik Gräff, a UW postdoctoral researcher affiliated with ETH Zurich.
Underwater waves amplify glacier melt and erosion
Following the initial impact, surface waves, known as calving-induced tsunamis, surge through the fjord, initially mixing the upper layers of water. As seawater in Greenland’s fjords is warmer and denser than glacial meltwater, it sinks to the bottom.
But the researchers also observed other waves propagating between density layers long after the splash, when the surface had stilled. These underwater waves, which can be as tall as skyscrapers, are not visible from the surface but prolong water mixing, bringing a steady supply of warmer water to the surface. This process increases melting and erosion at the glacier’s edge and drives ice calving.
"The fiber-optic cable allowed us to measure this incredible calving multiplier effect, which wasn’t possible before,” says Gräff. The data collected will help document iceberg calving processes and improve our understanding of the accelerating loss of ice sheets
Underwater waves amplify glacier melt and erosion
Following the initial impact, surface waves, known as calving-induced tsunamis, surge through the fjord, initially mixing the upper layers of water. As seawater in Greenland’s fjords is warmer and denser than glacial meltwater, it sinks to the bottom.
But the researchers also observed other waves propagating between density layers long after the splash, when the surface had stilled. These underwater waves, which can be as tall as skyscrapers, are not visible from the surface but prolong water mixing, bringing a steady supply of warmer water to the surface. This process increases melting and erosion at the glacier’s edge and drives ice calving.
"The fiber-optic cable allowed us to measure this incredible calving multiplier effect, which wasn’t possible before,” says Gräff. The data collected will help document iceberg calving processes and improve our understanding of the accelerating loss of ice sheets
Calving of icebergs from glaciers can actually be a sign of MORE ice, not less; the greater weight leads more ice to the water's edge and when the waves hit they split off, much like a woman's fingernail after a certain point.
And as I say, volcanism under these glaciers changes over time and if Greenland is entering a more volcanic era it may be causing this ice loss.
Certainly Greenland was far less icy in times past. When Eric the Red settled the island there was a lot more farmable land. The Vikings left Greenland when the climate cooled and the ice piled up. We are now finding artifacts that were buried under ice since the time of the Vikings, so we may just be entering an interglacial for the big island.
if anything, this does not buttress the case for anthropogenic climate change so much as for natural variability.
Posted by: Timothy Birdnow at
10:37 AM
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Eric had the huge good fortune to come along during the Medieval Warming Period. But of course he didn't know that, because nobody had named it that; indeed, there are idiots like Michael Mann today who are either unaware of it or who refuse to recognize it for what it was.
Eric was smarter than Michael and even gave the island its name.
Eric was smarter than Michael and even gave the island its name.
Posted by: Dana Mathewson at November 04, 2025 10:55 PM (7Hd0c)
2
Waaayyyy smarter than Mickey Mann.
Posted by: Timothy Birdnow at November 05, 2025 07:42 AM (eqlqi)
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