A scientific expedition to the west coast of Greenland has ended, as part of the University of Wrocław’s project ‘GLAVE – transformation of paraglacial coasts by tsunamis’. A group of scientists documented the effects of large sea waves on the island of Disko and landslides on the opposite side of the Vaigat Strait.

Every year, tsunamis hit Arctic coasts, increasing the destruction of shorelines and often posing an immediate threat to human life. These waves can be caused by the calving of glaciers and the rotation of icebergs, whose combined surface and underwater heights sometimes reach several hundred metres. 

The research was carried out on sections of the coast of Disko Island where tsunamis were not found and on those beaches that were repeatedly affected by them. Damage caused by the 2000 tsunami in the mining town of Qullissat was also observed. The final stage of the work was the mapping of landslides on the opposite shore of the Vaigat Strait.

Read more: https://uwr.edu.pl/ekspedycja-naukowa-na-grenlandii/