Fibre optics detect the invisible waves that soften Greenland’s ice sheet

The breaking off of enormous chunks of ice from glaciers accelerates the melting of the Arctic ice sheet in Greenland. This has been measured for the primary time by a world analysis group utilizing fibre-optic expertise, which can be used to check Swiss glaciers. 

Greenland’s ice sheet is melting at an more and more speedy tempo. Since 2002, it has misplaced a median of round 270 billion tonnes of ice per yearExternal link, inflicting a sea-level rise of practically two centimetres. 

The calving of enormous ice blocks is without doubt one of the most seen results of ice-sheet mass loss attributable to local weather change. But it’s additionally a phenomenon that itself additional intensifies melting: when an iceberg collapses into the ocean, it brings hotter water to the floor, which in flip accelerates the melting course of. 

This is the invention made by a world analysis group led by the schools of Zurich and Washington, which for the primary time measured how ice break-up quickens the retreat of Greenland’s Arctic ice sheet. The research, a part of the Swiss Polar Institute’s GreenFjordExternal link mission, was printed on August 13 in NatureExternal link. 

“We now better understand what happens when ice falls into the sea: it not only breaks off, but also increases melting below the water’s surface,” Andreas Vieli, professor of glaciology on the University of Zurich and co-author of the research, informed Swissinfo. 

These observations assist enhance our understanding of Greenland’s ice sheet, which covers an space about 40 occasions the dimensions of Switzerland. It’s a fragile system whose full melting would have critical penalties for ocean currents, world local weather, and coastal areas all over the world. 

>> Glacier melting has world penalties: 

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Giant waves convey heat water to the floor

The Zurich and Washington researchers studied the results of iceberg calving on the Eqalorutsit Kangilliit Sermiat glacier, situated in a fjord in southern Greenland. Around 3.6 cubic kilometres of ice break off from the glacier every year – practically thrice the quantity of the Rhône Glacier within the Swiss Alps. 

The impression of ice falling into the ocean initially generates floor waves, just like tsunamis, that stir the higher a part of the water column. Later, it additionally causes deep waves, invisible to the human eye. These could be as tall as skyscrapers and carry heat water from the ocean ground to the floor, intensifying melting and erosion on the glacier entrance. 

>> Watch the spectacular footage of ice breaking off a glacier in Greenland: 

Dominik Gräff, a researcher on the University of Washington and lead writer of the research, compares the method to ice cubes melting in a sizzling drink. If you don’t stir the drink, a layer of chilly water kinds across the dice, insulating it from the hotter liquid. But in the event you stir it, that layer is disrupted and the dice melts a lot sooner. 

In the case of Greenland’s ice sheet, about half of the present mass loss is because of underwater melting and iceberg calving, says Vieli. 

Fibre optics on the seafloor

To measure what occurs at depth, the researchers laid a ten-kilometre-long fibre-optic cable on the seafloor. Using a expertise known as Distributed Acoustic Sensing (DAS), they have been capable of file modifications within the fibre – stretching or compression – attributable to underwater waves. 

“The fibre-optic cable allowed us to measure this incredible calving multiplier effect, which wasn’t possible before,” Gräff is quoted as saying in a University of Zurich press launch. 

The significance of seawater and iceberg calving dynamics has lengthy been identified. However, measuring these processes instantly on website presents appreciable challenges, as the massive variety of icebergs within the fjords poses a continuing threat from falling ice blocks. 

Moreover, standard satellite-based remote-sensing strategies can not penetrate beneath the water’s floor, the place glacier-seawater interactions happen, Vieli factors out. “Thanks to the fibre-optic cable, it’s as if we had a thousand sensors beneath the glacier front.” 

Technology used on Swiss glaciers

Using fibre optics to check glaciers is a comparatively latest method. Researchers in Switzerland and different mountainous areas like Alaska have begun utilizing it to detect micro-vibrations in glaciers and potential early indicators of instability. 

“Fiber optics allow us to detect extremely small seismic events, which other technologies could not measure,” mentioned Thomas Hudson, a seismologist on the Swiss federal expertise institute ETH Zurich, in an interview with Swissinfo. 

In 2023, Hudson put in 1.2 kilometres of fibre-optic cable on the Gorner Glacier in Switzerland, detecting hundreds of seismic waves. These vibrations can present insights into modifications inside the ice. 

>> Fibre optic analysis tasks in Switzerland are opening up new prospects for monitoring glaciers and pure hazards: 

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Fibre optics on glaciers open new frontiers for pure catastrophe predictions

This content material was printed on

Jun 29, 2025


The fibre-optic cables we use to surf the Internet and make telephone calls may assist us predict a landslide or the collapse of a glacier.

Read extra: Fibre optics on glaciers open new frontiers for pure catastrophe predictions

Fibre optics additionally provide details about the construction and composition of the ice. Compared to conventional seismic sensors, that are positioned at particular factors, fibre optics make it doable to observe a lot bigger areas because of their comparatively simple set up. This expertise may allow the monitoring of total glaciers, even in hard-to-reach areas. 

Edited by Reto Gysi von Wartburg/dos