“Calving-driven fjord dynamics resolved by seafloor fibre sensing” – GreenFjord’s new article in Nature
Dr Dominik Gräff and colleagues from the GreenFjord team just published an article in the leading scientific magazine Nature. The article describes coupled iceberg calving and underwater glacier melting processes within a fjord ecosystem in southwestern Greenland. The researchers employed a novel technology of distributed fibre on the seabed at the glacier calving front that allows sensing along a space-time continuum. They describe their work as
“a leap forward in how we observe ice-ocean interactions —placing the fibre-optic sensor right where the future of Greenland’s ice is being decided”.
Publication:
Dominik Gräff et al. Calving-driven fjord dynamics resolved by seafloor fibre sensing. Nature. 13 August 2025. DOI: 10.1038/s41586-025-09347-7
More information:
- https://www.news.uzh.ch/en/articles/media/2025/iceberg-calving.html
- https://actu.epfl.ch/news/scientists-deployed-an-innovative-fiber-optics-in-/
- https://ethz.ch/en/news-and-events/eth-news/news/2025/08/falling-ice-drives-glacial-retreat-in-greenland.html
- https://www.washington.edu/news/2025/08/13/fiber-sensing-reveals-how-falling-ice-drives-glacial-retreat/
- https://communities.springernature.com/posts/from-cracks-to-currents-resolving-iceberg-calving-with-laser-light
Illustration photo: The research vessel Adolf Jensen lays a fibre optic cable in the fjord. To the left is the 80-meter-high vertical ice front of the glacier. (Image: Dominik Gräff, University of Washington)