Greenland’s Rising Bedrock: A Surprising Result of Climate Change
In a surprising turn of events, Greenland, known for being one of the main contributors to rising sea levels due to melting ice, is actually experiencing a rise of its own. The bedrock beneath Greenland’s icy surface is gradually elevating, giving birth to new land formations such as islands and skerries. One such example is Uunartoq Qeqertaq, a 13-kilometer long landmass off the east coast of Greenland that was officially recognized and added to Greenland’s maps in 2005.
Scientists from the Technical University of Denmark (DTU) have been studying this phenomenon and have found that the land uplift in Greenland cannot be solely attributed to natural post-ice age development. “Greenland is rising significantly more,” explains Shfaqat Abbas Khan, a geodesist at DTU.
Greenland has been slowly rising since the last ice age 12,000 years ago, as its frozen water gradually melts into the sea. However, data collected from 58 GPS stations across the country reveal that this melting process has been accelerating in recent years. The researchers, led by DTU geodesist Danjal Longfors Berg, discovered that Greenland’s bedrock has risen up to 20 centimeters (7.9 inches) in the past decade alone, at a rate of about 2 meters (6.6 feet) per century.
“With our data from GNET, we can precisely isolate the part of land uplift caused by the current global climate changes,” says Khan.
Interestingly, while glaciers around Greenland’s periphery make up only 4 percent of the island’s ice cover, they contribute to almost 15 percent of its ice loss. This disproportionate decrease in ice also plays a significant role in the uplift of the land mass. Most of Greenland’s ice loss between 2003 and 2019 occurred along its coast, and the loss of mass from these outer glaciers is causing even greater uplift in certain areas, a process known as elastic rebound.
One notable example is the Kangerlussuaq glacier in southeast Greenland, which has retreated 10 kilometers since 1900 and has contributed to the largest uplift measured by the team, equivalent to 8 millimeters per year.
While previous studies had taken into account the uplift caused by the loss of the main ice sheet, the contribution of peripheral ice had not been fully considered until now. Understanding this uplift phenomenon will allow researchers to make more accurate predictions about sea level rise.
“These are quite significant land uplifts that we can now demonstrate. They indicate that local changes in Greenland are happening very rapidly, impacting life in Greenland,” explains Berg.
This unexpected occurrence adds to the growing list of astonishing physical transformations caused by climate change. From the shrinking of our atmosphere to the shifting of Earth’s axis, our world is being reshaped in ways we never imagined.
The research, published in Geophysical Research Letters, sheds light on the complex interactions between melting ice, rising sea levels, and the geological response of land masses. As scientists continue to study these phenomena, it becomes increasingly clear that climate change is not only affecting our environment but also reshaping the very foundations of our planet.