Glaciers around the world are melting rapidly against climate change and the unpredictable changes brought about by weather. Alaska’s glaciers are also melting. Now, a scientific model indicates that the unprecedented melting of glaciers could be behind earthquakes in the area.
As glaciers melt, land below rises again, but large levels of pressure and strain are involved in this process.
Researchers looked at records of ice loss and seismic records in the early 1920s and found that most earthquakes were associated with melting ice. As a result of changes in glacial mass caused by melting ice, at least 23-30 earthquakes with magnitudes above 5.0 have disturbed the area.
The Glacier Bay ice rink near Lituya Bay has lost more than 3,000 kilometers of ice since 1770. This has thinned the ice rink up to 1.5 kilometers.
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Even though tectonic changes and movements have been cited as a major cause of earthquakes in the area, authors believe the loss of glaciers causes significant damage.
As glaciers melt, the pressure over large masses is released. This in turn makes it easier for plates below to slide and move. Scientists believe this could cause invisible earthquakes in the future. The research was conducted by Chris Rollins, a seismic hazard scientist at the University of Alaska in Fairbanks.
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“There are two parts to the rise … That’s called the ‘elastic effect’, when the earth recovers immediately after a mass of ice is removed. Then the long impact from the mantle flows back up under the empty space, ”Rollins said in a message on the university’s website.
But there is a catch – melting glaciers may not affect earthquakes. In fact, only places where tectonic pressures under ice are already high are most vulnerable to an earthquake. These include Alaska – especially in the southwestern regions, along with Greenland.