Svennevig Kristian, Keiding Marie, Korsgaard Niels Jákup, Lucas Antoine, Owen Matthew, Poulsen Majken Djurhuus, Priebe Janina, Sørensen Erik Vest, Morino Costanza
GEUS, Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland, Copenhagen, Denmark.
GEUS, Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland, Copenhagen, Denmark.
Sci Total Environ. 2023 Feb 10;859(Pt 1):160110. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.160110. Epub 2022 Nov 9.
On December 15th 1952, at approximately 14:00 local time a mass of 5.9 × 10 m of permafrozen talus deposits failed in a landslide close to the Niiortuut mountain on the south coast of the Nuussuaq peninsula, central West Greenland. Between 1.8 and 4.5 × 10 m of the material entered the sea and generated a tsunami that propagated through the Vaigat strait (Sullorsuaq). Here we describe this catastrophic event for the first time by analysis of historical material supplemented by recent fieldwork and discuss the implications for the state of contemporary permafrozen slopes. The tsunami killed a fisherman working on the shore of southern Nuussuaq, 10 km south-east of the landslide. In the mining town of Qullissat, 30 km south of the landslide, it had a runup height of 2.2-2.7 m and caused minor material damage. Morphological evidence show that the basal surface of rupture was 80 m inside the permafrost cemented talus slope, whose degradation was a dynamic conditioning factor for the landslide. The 1952 Niiortuut landslide is the first historically recorded event of permafrost degradation induced landslide-tsunamis in the Arctic. We infer that the landslide and its cascading consequences occurred due to the early-twentieth century warming that started in the late 1910's in the Arctic. Warming is now increasingly affecting this region, as shown by an enhanced recent landslide activity.
1952年12月15日当地时间约14:00，格陵兰岛中西部努斯萨克半岛南岸靠近尼奥尔图特山处，5.9×10立方米的永久冻土堆积岩屑发生滑坡。1.8至4.5×10立方米的物质入海并引发海啸，海啸穿过韦加特海峡（苏洛苏阿克海峡）。在此，我们首次通过分析历史资料并辅以近期实地考察来描述这一灾难性事件，并讨论其对当代永久冻土斜坡状况的影响。海啸致使一名在滑坡东南10公里处努斯萨克半岛南岸岸边作业的渔民丧生。在滑坡以南30公里处的采矿城镇库利萨特，海啸浪高2.2 - 2.7米，造成了轻微物质损坏。形态学证据表明，破裂基面位于永久冻土胶结岩屑斜坡内80米处，其退化是滑坡的一个动态制约因素。1952年尼奥尔图特滑坡是北极地区有历史记录的首例因永久冻土退化引发的滑坡 - 海啸事件。我们推断，此次滑坡及其连锁后果是由20世纪初始于1910年代后期的北极变暖所致。如今，变暖对该地区的影响日益加剧，近期滑坡活动增加就表明了这一点。
