We use time-lapse photography, MODIS satellite imagery, ocean wave measurements and
regional broadband seismic data to demonstrate that icebergs that calve from Jakobshavn Isbræ,
Greenland, can generate ocean waves that are detectable over 150 km from their source.We use time-lapse photography, MODIS satellite imagery, ocean wave measurements and
regional broadband seismic data to demonstrate that icebergs that calve from Jakobshavn Isbræ,
Greenland, can generate ocean waves that are detectable over 150 km from their source. The waves,
which are recorded seismically, have distinct spectral peaks, are not dispersive and persist for several
hours. On the basis of these observations, we suggest that calving events at Jakobshavn Isbræ can
stimulate seiches, or basin eigenmodes, in both Ilulissat Icefjord and Disko Bay. Our observations
furthermore indicate that coastal, land-based seismometers located near calving termini (e.g. as part
of the new Greenland Ice Sheet Monitoring Network (GLISN)) can aid investigations into the largely
unexplored, oceanographic consequences of iceberg calving.Funding for this project was provided by NASA’s Cryospheric
Sciences Program (NNG06GB49G), the US National
Science Foundation (ARC0531075, ARC0909552 and
ANT0944193), the Swiss National Science Foundation
(200021-113503/1) and a Cooperative Institute for Arctic
Research (CIFAR) International Polar Year (IPY) student
fellowship under US National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration (NOAA) cooperative agreement NA17RJ1224
with the University of Alaska. The seismic data were col-
lected and distributed by the Greenland Ice Sheet Monitoring
Network (GLISN) federation and its members: data from
GDH were collected by the Geological Survey of Denmark
and Greenland (GEUS); data from ASI, ILU and SUMG were
collected by GEOFON; data from SFJ/SFJD were collected
by GEUS, GEOFON, Incorporated Research Institutions for
Seismology (IRIS) and the Comprehensive Test-Ban Treaty
Organization (CTBTO); and data from ILULI were collected
by ETH. We thank J. Brown and D. Podrasky for assistance
with fieldwork and D.R. MacAyeal and E.A. Okal for
discussions that led to and improved the manuscript. The
manuscript benefited from the comments of O. Sergienko,
an anonymous reviewer and editor P. Christoffersen.Ye
