Classroom Questions

Questions for ‘A landslide in a Greenland fjord echoed around Earth for 9 days’ 

a photo of Dickson Fjord, a small iceberg is in ocean water close to steep snow covered cliffs

Dickson Fjord in Northeast Greenland National Park. A catastrophic landslide occurred here last year. Rocks and ice plunging into the water triggered a tsunami — and then a standing wave called a seiche that rang Earth like a seismic bell for nine days.

Rixipix/iStock/Getty Images Plus

By Science News Explores

‘To accompany ‘A landslide in a Greenland fjord echoed around Earth for 9 days’

SCIENCE

Before Reading:

  1. As a class, list as many types of natural disasters as you can in one minute. Then, individually, consider how climate change might affect the frequency or severity of different natural disasters. Identify three natural disasters that could get worse due to climate change. Briefly explain each answer.
  2. What is a tsunami? To the best of your knowledge, what generally causes tsunamis?

During Reading:

  1. What caused the tsunami on September 16, 2023?
  2. Name two other natural disasters besides tsunamis that can trigger the seismic signals described in this story.
  3. At first, scientists didn’t know what caused the mysterious seismic signals. Describe the early clue tourists observed on Ella Island.
  4. How did satellites help scientists determine what happened on September 16, 2023?
  5. What is a seiche?
  6. Describe how permafrost’s properties start to change at around -1 °C (30 °F).
  7. What were the names of two Tibetan glaciers that collapsed in 2016?
  8. What unique hazard do Himalayan glaciers present?
  9. Katherine Barnhart worries that an event like the Dickson Fjord tsunami could happen at Alaska’s Prince William Sound. Describe two similarities between these two regions that would be the cause of such concerns.
  10. What were scientists initially trying to learn by building 3-D sonar maps of the seafloor of the Vaigat strait?

After Reading:

  1. Imagine someone tells you that “studying landslides and other natural disasters that happened thousands of years ago is a waste of time.” Write a short response to this person to explain how studying natural disasters of the past might help people in the future. Refer to at least one study from this story to support your response.
  2. According to Kristian Svennevig, why had no one yet considered the possibility that the gouges observed in the 3-D seafloor maps could be due to landslides? How many thousands of years ago do scientists estimate these landslides likely took place? A preconception is an opinion or idea formed before you know much about the subject. How might preconceptions have contributed to people failing to recognize markers of an ancient landslide?