Kavan, J., Szczypińska, M., Kochtitzky, W. et al.
Granelândia has already gained 1600 kilometers of coastal line with the retreat of the glaciers. It is almost double the coastal line of mainland Portugal. What can happen?
Almost 2500 kilometers of coastal line have already emerged as a result of the retreat from glaciers to earth. Two -thirds (1600 km) of these appeared in Granelândia. For reference, mainland Portugal has 943 km of coast.
These were the discoveries of a new based on satellite images and published this month in the Nature.
The problem is that these new coastal lines are very fragile and can arise landslides that culminates in tsunamis, which severely threatens communities and economic activity, highlights the
“The recently exposed coastline Not consolidated“, Says one of the authors, Jan Kavan.“ It is not cemented with ice, the permafrost is not there, so It is very easy to suffer erosion. These coastal lines are probably the most dynamic in the world. ”
“When the glacier disappears, the slopes become unstable because they are no longer supported by the mass of ice,” he explains. “These slopes are sensitive to lands or rock falls, or to this type of catastrophic eventswhich can trigger tsunamis. ”
By 2023, an episode of this type has already happened: a 200 meter high tsunami was caused by a landslide. In 2017, a tsunami really arrived at the population: destroyed 11 houses and killed 4 people.
Arctic resources are coveted by the United States, as the area is rich in essential minerals, rare land deposits and unexplored oil and gas reserves. However, the new study is a warning to the fragility of coastal lines.
“On the one hand, there is new lands to be exposed With these potential natural resources, ”says Kavan.“ But at the same time, these natural risks, such as landslides and tsunamis, can threaten infrastructures, that usually are on the coast. ”
