The arc is noticeable in the comprehensive variation (top) of these images, gotten on August 3 by Landsat 9s Operational Land Imager-2 (OLI-2). The thin, white feature spans much of Itilliarsuup Kangerlua, a tributary fjord of the Uummannaq Fjord system in Western Greenland. Both scientists noted, nevertheless, that another phenomenon is likewise understood to displace water in the fjords around Greenland. That is, fresh meltwater from listed below a glacier that goes into salted fjord water will increase up in a “plume,” displacing the water around it.
Satellite image recorded by the Operational Land Imager-2 on Landsat 9 on August 3, 2023.
Satellite image recorded by the Operational Land Imager-2 on Landsat 9 on August 3, 2023.
Researchers have some ideas about what may have caused a thin arc that covered a fjord in Western Greenland.
In summer season, the fjords around Greenland are frequently littered with angular pieces of ice that have sloughed off from the islands many outlet glaciers. However on August 3, 2023, the ice on a fjord in western Greenland was joined by a strange arc.
The arc shows up in the comprehensive version (top) of these images, acquired on August 3 by Landsat 9s Operational Land Imager-2 (OLI-2). The thin, white function spans much of Itilliarsuup Kangerlua, a tributary fjord of the Uummannaq Fjord system in Western Greenland. It extends about 2.6 kilometers (1.6 miles) from the front of Kangilleq glacier.
The origin of the function remains rather of a mystery, but satellite images of the arc initially released on Planet Snapshots motivated discussion about some possible causes. The leading hypothesis preferred by Dan Shugar, a geomorphologist at the University of Calgary, is that the arc is the result of a big iceberg that broke off from the front of the glacier.
An iceberg breaking from the glacier– above or listed below the waters surface– would displace water, producing a wave. Josh Willis, an oceanographer at NASAs Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and Mike Wood, a glaciologist at Moss Landing Marine Laboratories, concur that a freshly formed iceberg is a most likely explanation. “Its such an ideal circle. To me, it does appear like a wave triggered by a calving event,” Willis said. He likewise provided an aerial photograph, revealed listed below, of a similar circular wave brought on by a portion of ice falling off of an iceberg that he saw in September 2021 throughout NASAs Oceans Melting Greenland (OMG) mission.
September 3, 2021
Both scientists noted, nevertheless, that another phenomenon is likewise understood to displace water in the fjords around Greenland. “There might likewise be water pushing ice far from the glacier face triggered by an undersea plume,” Willis stated. That is, fresh meltwater from listed below a glacier that goes into salted fjord water will rise in a “plume,” displacing the water around it.
Based upon satellite images alone, it may never be understood with certainty what triggered ephemeral function. The arc has considering that dissipated, returning the fjord to its more typical, less geometric appearance.
NASA Earth Observatory images by Wanmei Liang, using Landsat information from the U.S. Geological Survey. NASA photo, a still from this video, was offered by Josh Willis (NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory).