Where do the icebergs drift?

In June, Lars H. Smedsrud, Linda Latuta and Angela Muhmenthaler from UiB and the Bjerknes Centre travelled to Greenland to measure icebergs. Curious how? Take a look at the video.

Publisert 08. September 2025

Written by Tori Pedersen

They went out with a small boat and deployed instruments that measure currents and the icebergs themselves. They also placed sensors on top of icebergs. The information they gather will be given to those who model this, so they can improve the forecasting of iceberg drift. "It is also important for biology, because when it melts, meltwater and nutrients flow into the mixed layer, which otherwise would not happen. Additionally, it brings sediments into the fjord, which is important for paleostudies. They are wondering why there are so many variations in the sediments", says Smedsrud. "There is no place where global warming is happening faster than in the Arctic. Therefore, this is an important area to research," Smedsrud adds. In addition, climate models are less accurate in the Arctic than in other places because most of the measurements used by the models are taken much further south. There are many processes that are not included in the models. "Icebergs are not included in any ocean models, so how far from the coast they melt is information that is currently not included in the projections we have from the IPCC." — They went out with a small boat and deployed instruments that measure currents and the icebergs themselves. They also placed sensors on top of icebergs.
The information they gather will be given to those who model this, so they can improve the forecasting of iceberg drift.
"It is also important for biology, because when it melts, meltwater and nutrients flow into the mixed layer, which otherwise would not happen. Additionally, it brings sediments into the fjord, which is important for paleostudies. They are wondering why there are so many variations in the sediments", says Smedsrud.
"There is no place where global warming is happening faster than in the Arctic. Therefore, this is an important area to research," Smedsrud adds.
In addition, climate models are less accurate in the Arctic than in other places because most of the measurements used by the models are taken much further south. There are many processes that are not included in the models.
"Icebergs are not included in any ocean models, so how far from the coast they melt is information that is currently not included in the projections we have from the IPCC."

The research expedition to Illulissat was in corporation with

Cy Keener from the University of Maryland, who has developed the “ice spiders”
The interdisciplinary project hashtag#ClimateNarratives, Universitetet i Bergen (UiB)
John Davidsen from Authentic Greenland, the guide and captain with in-depth knowledge about the local fjord
The International Buoy Programme at the University of Washington by coordinator Ignatius Igor