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SAMS has joined an international collaboration of Antarctic researchers in an effort to discover how underwater tsunamis are triggered by glacier calving around Antarctica.

The £3.7 million research project, called POLOMINTS, is led by British Antarctic Survey (BAS) and will analyse how these underwater tsunamis contribute to the mixing of ocean waters, a process that plays a critical role in shaping global climate systems, the Antarctic Ice Sheet, and marine ecosystems.

This week, POLOMINTS scientists are meeting at the BAS headquarters in Cambridge to finalise plans for the project, which promises to shed light on this newly discovered phenomenon.

SAMS has undertaken similar work on these underwater tsunamis in the Arctic regions of Greenland and Svalbard, using a combination of underwater robotic vehicles and modelling. The team hopes to carry out similar work, this time in the southern hemisphere.

As part of the research effort, a SAMS scientist will be based in Antarctica for a field season.

The project builds on recent findings that challenge traditional beliefs about the forces driving mixing in Antarctic waters.

Historically, winds, tides, and heat loss were thought to be the primary drivers of oceanic mixing around the continent. However, the team recently identified that calving glaciers can initiate underwater tsunamis—multi-metre waves that travel rapidly from the ice, breaking and generating powerful bursts of ocean mixing. Initial calculations suggest these tsunamis could rival the impact of wind-driven mixing and play a larger role than tides in redistributing ocean heat.

SAMS oceanographer Prof Mark Inall, who is part of the research team, said: "Whilst we have many images of icebergs calving from glaciers, and have studied internal waves within the ocean interior, we know next to nothing about how calving generates these large waves hidden from sight below ocean’s surface.

"POLOMINTS will break new ground in our knowledge of how crumbling ice sheets stir the coastal oceans of polar regions.”

To investigate the extent and effects of these underwater tsunamis, the team will deploy advanced technology, including robotic underwater vehicles and remotely piloted aircraft, to gather data near calving glaciers.

They will also employ deep-learning algorithms to analyse satellite data, and computer simulations to model the generation and spread of these tsunamis.

These cutting-edge methods will allow the researchers to assess the impacts of intense mixing on factors critical to climate and ecosystems, such as ocean temperature, nutrients, and marine productivity.

Professor Mike Meredith from BAS, who leads the project, said: "We're excited to explore this uncharted scientific territory. By learning more about underwater tsunamis and their influence on ocean mixing, we can refine ocean models, which in turn will help project future climate scenarios more accurately. This knowledge is crucial for the global community as we all grapple with the complex impacts of climate change."

POLOMINTS is a collaboration led by British Antarctic Survey, and includes SAMS, the University of Southampton, the University of Leeds, the National Oceanography Centre, the University of Exeter, and Bangor University. International partners are from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, the Institute of Geophysics of the Polish Academy of Sciences, the University of Delaware, and Rutgers University.

POLOMINTS is funded by the Natural Environment Research Council (nerc.ac.uk).