Landslides in a changing climate: geohazards and benthic habitats in West Greenland

The increased incidence of landslides on nearshore slopes in high latitude areas may be linked with the ongoing climatic warming. In addition to the threat to human life, landslides drastically change the environmental physical properties causing long lasting effects on the local economy. While global warming is consistently reflected both in observation data and in modelled future projections, any link between climate and landslide occurrence remains to be evaluated in observations that extend beyond the instrumental time period. The nearshore sedimentary record preserves the deposits of landslides from coastal slopes in the form of mass transport deposits (MTDs). The Geocenter Danmark project ‘Landslides in a changing climate’ is implementing detailed studies on the MTDs found in the sedimentary record of Karrat Fjord and Vaigat Strait, both located in West Greenland. The distribution of MTDs across the stratigraphic succession shows spatial and temporal variability in the occurrence of landslides. Further investigation is required to assess the preconditioning factors and triggers of these events.