‘Revolutionary’ seafloor fiber sensing reveals how falling ice drives glacial retreat in Greenland
As glaciers melt, huge chunks of ice break free and splash into the sea, generating tsunami-size waves and leaving behind a powerful wake as they drift away. This process, called calving, is important for researchers to understand. But the front of a glacier is a dangerous place for data collection.
To solve this problem, a team of researchers from the University of Washington and collaborating institutions used a fiber-optic cable to capture calving dynamics across the fjord of the Eqalorutsit Kangilliit Sermiat glacier in South Greenland. Data collected from the cable allowed them to document — without getting ...