Glacial Ice-Front Calving: Internal Wave Generation and Melting

Small, frequent calving events dominate the behavior of most Arctic marine-terminating glaciers, yet their oceanographic impacts remain largely unquantified. We present the first direct observations of internal waves generated by modest ice-fall calving at Kronebreen, Svalbard. High-resolution current meter and microstructure measurements show that each event excites weakly nonlinear multi-modal internal wave packets with ∼4 m vertical displacements and mode 1 propagation speeds of 0.35–0.42 ms−1. These waves enhance shear and turbulence in the upper 15 m and modify local stratification. Idealized numerical simulations reproduce the observed wave characteristics and confirm their sensitivity to fjord stratification. Given the high frequency of small calving events across Arctic glaciers, calving-generated internal waves may represent an under-recognized mechanism contributing to submarine melt and fjord-scale mixing.

Authors:

Inall MI, Fraser NJ, Sundfjord A, Meredith MP

Geophysical Research Letters 53 (11)
06, 3, 2026
Pages: e2026GL122121
DOI: 10.1029/2026GL122121Digital Object Identifier (DOI)