Greenland Runoff Monitoring using Passive Seismics

Nuuk Fieldwork update, July 2025

Dorthe Petersen on successful fieldwork in south-west Greenland

GRuMPS team members from Asiaq – Greenland Survey and Université Grenoble Alpes established three new passive seismic stations near Nuuk in early July 2025. The team gathered in Nuuk a week ahead of the field days providing time for fruitful discussions, planning of the last details and checking of equipment and stations after they had been shipped from the UK to Greenland.

Passive seismic station at Tasersuaq
Assembling the first passive seismic station near Tasersuaq.

Two stations were established by the river from Lake Tasersuaq; one station approximately 0.5 km and the other around 1 km from the river. With this setup we are testing how well the method works at different distances. The flow in the river from Lake Tasersuaq peaks in summer at between 1000 and 2000 cubic metres per second, depending on how warm the summer is, as the river mainly carries meltwater from the Greenland Ice Sheet.

The river from lake Tasersuaq
The river from lake Tasersuaq on 9 July 2025. Here the river is around 60 meters wide and on this day the flow is 650 cubic metres per second.

The three stations were established during two busy field days, that also provided sightings of reindeer and stunning views of the beautiful Greenlandic landscapes.

Typical Greenlandic landscape with mountains, glaciers and lakes
Typical Greenlandic landscape with mountains, glaciers and lakes: "To me, these landscapes are the most beautiful".