Satellite image caught by the Operational Land Imager -2 on Landsat 9 on August 3, 2023.
Satellite image caught by the Operational Land Imager -2 on Landsat 9 on August 3, 2023.
Scientists have some concepts about what may have triggered a thin arc that covered a fjord in Western Greenland.
In summertime, the fjords around Greenland are frequently cluttered with angular pieces of ice that have actually sloughed off from the island’s many outlet glaciers. But on August 3, 2023, the ice on a fjord in western Greenland was signed up with by a strange arc.
The arc shows up in the comprehensive variation (top) of these images, obtained on August 3 by Landsat 9’s Operational Land Imager -2 (OLI-2). The thin, white function covers much of Itilliarsuup Kangerlua, a tributary fjord of the Uummannaq Fjord system in WesternGreenland It extends about 2.6 kilometers (1.6 miles) from the front of Kangilleq glacier.
The origin of the function stays rather of a secret, however satellite pictures of the arc at first released on Planet Snapshots motivated conversation about some possible causes. The leading hypothesis preferred by Dan Shugar, a geomorphologist at the University of Calgary, is that the arc is the outcome of a big iceberg that broke off from the front of the glacier.
An iceberg breaking from the glacier– above or listed below the water’s surface area– would displace water, producing a wave. Josh Willis, an oceanographer at < period class ="glossaryLink" aria-describedby ="tt" data-cmtooltip ="<div class=glossaryItemTitle>NASA</div><div class=glossaryItemBody>Established in 1958, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is an independent agency of the United States Federal Government that succeeded the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA). It is responsible for the civilian space program, as well as aeronautics and aerospace research. Its vision is "To discover and expand knowledge for the benefit of humanity." Its core values are "safety, integrity, teamwork, excellence, and inclusion." NASA conducts research, develops technology and launches missions to explore and study Earth, the solar system, and the universe beyond. It also works to advance the state of knowledge in a wide range of scientific fields, including Earth and space science, planetary science, astrophysics, and heliophysics, and it collaborates with private companies and international partners to achieve its goals.</div>" data-gt-translate-attributes="[{"attribute":"data-cmtooltip", "format":"html"}]" > NASA‘sJetPropulsionLaboratory, andMikeWood, a glaciologist atMossLandingMarine Laboratories, concur that a freshly formed iceberg is a most likely description.“It’s such a perfect circle. To me, it does look like a wave caused by a calving event,”(****************************************************************************************************************************************** )stated.He likewise supplied an aerial picture, revealed listed below, of a comparable circular wave brought on by a portion of ice falling off of an iceberg that he saw inSeptember2021 throughout NASA’sOceansMeltingGreenland( OMG) objective.
September 3,2021
Both researchers kept in mind, nevertheless, that another phenomenon is likewise understood to displace water in the fjords aroundGreenland“There could also be water pushing ice away from the glacier face caused by an underwater 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 on satellite images alone, it may never ever be understood with certainty what triggered ephemeral function. The arc has actually because dissipated, returning the fjord to its more typical, less geometric look.
NASA Earth Observatory images by Wanmei Liang, utilizing Landsat information from the U.S. GeologicalSurvey NASA picture, a still from this video, was supplied by Josh Willis (NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory).
