{"id":14811,"date":"2025-06-11T22:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-06-11T22:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/modernsciences.org\/staging\/4414\/?p=14811"},"modified":"2025-06-05T08:25:38","modified_gmt":"2025-06-05T08:25:38","slug":"greenland-fjord-seismic-signals-giant-waves-june-2025","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/modernsciences.org\/staging\/4414\/greenland-fjord-seismic-signals-giant-waves-june-2025\/","title":{"rendered":"Satellite Data Confirms Seismic Signals Linked to Giant Waves in Greenland Fjord"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div class=\"wp-block-group has-gray-200-background-color has-background\"><div class=\"wp-block-group__inner-container is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\">\n<h1 id=\"at-a-glance\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">At a Glance<\/h1>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li class=\"\">In September and October 2023, a strange seismic signal repeating every 90 seconds puzzled scientists, who suspected it originated from trapped tsunami-like waves in a Greenland fjord.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li class=\"\">Researchers used the SWOT satellite\u2019s advanced radar to detect high-resolution changes in water height, revealing back-and-forth wave motions consistent with seiches trapped inside the fjord.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li class=\"\">By correlating satellite water level data with global seismic signals, scientists confirmed the waves\u2019 presence and ruled out other causes, such as weather or tides.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li class=\"\">This study provided the first solid observational evidence that fjord seiches can trigger widespread seismic effects, linking ocean dynamics to crustal movement thousands of miles away.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li class=\"\">Researchers emphasized the role of climate change in creating these extreme events and highlighted the power of new satellite tools in monitoring Earth\u2019s most remote and dynamic environments.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">In September 2023, a strange seismic signal was detected worldwide, occurring every 90 seconds for nine days. This unusual pattern was repeated a month later, prompting scientists to investigate its origin. Researchers proposed that the signal could be caused by mega-tsunamis triggered by massive landslides in an East Greenland fjord. These tsunamis trapped waves in the fjord, forming standing waves known as <em>seiches<\/em>. These waves move back and forth and could explain the seismic anomalies. However, until now, no direct observations have confirmed this theory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">In a new study published in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nature.com\/articles\/s41467-025-59851-7\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><em>Nature Communications<\/em><\/a>, researchers from Oxford University used advanced satellite technology to gather data that could confirm the presence of these waves. The team utilized the <a href=\"https:\/\/swot.jpl.nasa.gov\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Surface Water Ocean Topography (SWOT)<\/a> satellite, launched in 2022, to measure the height of water across the Earth\u2019s surface with remarkable precision. Unlike previous satellites, SWOT uses a cutting-edge radar instrument that provides highly detailed 2.5-meter resolution data over a 30-mile-wide area. By analyzing this data, researchers could map water levels in the Greenland fjord and detect clear, back-and-forth motion of the water, which aligned with the patterns expected from seiches.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img  decoding=\"async\"  src=\"data:image\/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAEAAAABAQMAAAAl21bKAAAAA1BMVEUAAP+KeNJXAAAAAXRSTlMAQObYZgAAAAlwSFlzAAAOxAAADsQBlSsOGwAAAApJREFUCNdjYAAAAAIAAeIhvDMAAAAASUVORK5CYII=\"  alt=\"\"  class=\" pk-lazyload\"  data-pk-sizes=\"auto\"  data-pk-src=\"https:\/\/scx2.b-cdn.net\/gfx\/news\/hires\/2025\/first-direct-observati-1.jpg\" ><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">This <a href=\"https:\/\/dataspace.copernicus.eu\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Copernicus<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/dataspace.copernicus.eu\/explore-data\/data-collections\/sentinel-data\/sentinel-2\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Sentinel-2<\/a> satellite image of the Dickson Fjord in East Greenland shows overlaid sea-surface height measurements from the SWOT satellite, captured on October 11, 2023. These measurements, depicted by a color scale indicating water surface elevation, provide direct evidence of seiches\u2014standing waves caused by mega-tsunamis\u2014linked to unusual seismic signals detected globally. They also offer a glimpse into extreme natural phenomena in the Arctic as climate change drives new events. (Monahan et al., 2025)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">The researchers were able to link these observations to small shifts in Earth\u2019s crust measured by seismic data from thousands of miles away. This allowed them to reconstruct the properties of the waves, even during periods when the satellite did not capture the data. They also accounted for weather conditions and tidal movements, ruling out other potential causes such as wind or tides. This combination of satellite data and seismic information provided solid evidence for the seiche theory, offering a rare glimpse into this natural phenomenon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">Lead author <a href=\"https:\/\/eng.ox.ac.uk\/people\/thomas-monahan\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Thomas Monahan<\/a>, a DPhil student at <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ox.ac.uk\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Oxford<\/a>, emphasized this research\u2019s significance, highlighting how climate change is driving new, extreme events, particularly in remote areas like the Arctic. This study shows how new satellite technologies, such as SWOT, can be leveraged to study oceanic processes in regions where traditional methods struggle. <a href=\"https:\/\/eng.ox.ac.uk\/people\/thomas-adcock\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Professor Thomas Adcock<\/a>, co-author of the study, added that these advancements would provide new insights into extreme ocean events like tsunamis, storm surges, and freak waves. With further innovations in data analysis, researchers can continue to unlock the mysteries of our planet\u2019s most extreme natural occurrences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h1 id=\"references\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">References<\/h1>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li class=\"\">Monahan, T., Tang, T., Roberts, S., & Adcock, T. A. A. (2025). Observations of the seiche that shook the world. <em>Nature Communications<\/em>, <em>16<\/em>(1), 4777. <a href=\"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1038\/s41467-025-59851-7\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1038\/s41467-025-59851-7<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li class=\"\">University of Oxford. (2025, June 3). <em>Greenland\u2019s mega tsunamis: First direct observation of the trapped waves that shook the world<\/em>. Phys.Org; University of Oxford. <a href=\"https:\/\/phys.org\/news\/2025-06-greenland-mega-tsunamis-shook-world.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">https:\/\/phys.org\/news\/2025-06-greenland-mega-tsunamis-shook-world.html<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\"><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Satellite data has confirmed that mysterious global seismic signals were caused by seiche waves from landslide-triggered tsunamis in a Greenland fjord, linking surface water motion to deep-Earth vibrations for the first time.\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":14813,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/images.pexels.com\/photos\/13830252\/pexels-photo-13830252.jpeg?auto=compress&cs=tinysrgb&w=1260&h=750&dpr=2","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[11781,11772,11770,11777,11774,11769,11776,11782,11764,11766,11779,11773,11783,11778,11768,11771,11767,11775,11765,11780],"class_list":{"0":"post-14811","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-earth","8":"tag-arctic-climate-driven-wave-events","9":"tag-climate-change-arctic-waves","10":"tag-east-greenland-landslide-tsunami","11":"tag-extreme-wave-events-greenland","12":"tag-fjord-hydrodynamics-satellite-tracking","13":"tag-fjord-standing-waves","14":"tag-fjord-wave-back-and-forth-motion","15":"tag-fjord-wave-height-satellite-analysis","16":"tag-greenland-fjord-seiches","17":"tag-mega-tsunamis-in-greenland","18":"tag-new-ocean-observation-technology","19":"tag-oxford-fjord-wave-research","20":"tag-oxford-university-tsunami-research","21":"tag-radar-altimetry-fjord-monitoring","22":"tag-satellite-detection-of-seiches","23":"tag-seismic-anomalies-explained-by-waves","24":"tag-seismic-signals-from-giant-waves","25":"tag-surface-water-ocean-topography-satellite","26":"tag-swot-satellite-ocean-data","27":"tag-tsunami-detection-via-seismic-data","28":"cs-entry","29":"cs-video-wrap"},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/modernsciences.org\/staging\/4414\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14811","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/modernsciences.org\/staging\/4414\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/modernsciences.org\/staging\/4414\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/modernsciences.org\/staging\/4414\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/modernsciences.org\/staging\/4414\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14811"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/modernsciences.org\/staging\/4414\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14811\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14812,"href":"https:\/\/modernsciences.org\/staging\/4414\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14811\/revisions\/14812"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/modernsciences.org\/staging\/4414\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14813"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/modernsciences.org\/staging\/4414\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14811"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/modernsciences.org\/staging\/4414\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14811"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/modernsciences.org\/staging\/4414\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14811"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}