A tsunami, triggered by last year's Hunga-Tonga Hunga-Ha’apai volcanic eruption caused the collapse of the front of a sea glacier called the Drygalski ice tongue in Antarctica, according to a research article published in the journal Science Bulletin recently.

“The powerful explosion that occurred on 15 January 2022 resulted in a tsunami that travelled over 6,000 km before hitting the coast of Victoria Land, Antarctica,” stated the article.

Less than two hours after the tsunami had hit Victoria Land, a crack formed in front of the ice tongue. A subsequent remote sensing image showed that an iceberg measuring about 45 square kilometres had apparently broken off from the front of the tongue, reported the China Daily.

The Drygalski Ice Tongue, Drygalski Barrier, or Drygalski Glacier Tongue is a glacier in Antarctica, on the Scott Coast, in the northern McMurdo Sound of Ross Dependency, 240 kilometres (150 mi) north of Ross Island. The Drygalski Ice Tongue is thought to be at least 4,000 years old, according to Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drygalski_Ice_Tongue [2]

Previous studies of the impact of the volcano eruption focused on atmospheric disturbances, while the researchers believed that its effects could extend far beyond that.

The Drygalski ice tongue section has a length of 140 km, with a thickness between 300 and 700 meters, according to the researchers from the School of Geospatial Engineering and Science, Sun Yat-sen University. It experienced two major calving events in the past 70 years.

The study provided detailed observational evidence and confirmed the connection between the tsunami and the iceberg calving, said professor Cheng Xiao, with the School of Geospatial Engineering and Science. Adding that the research implies the stability of ice shelves in Antarctica may be influenced by extreme events outside the polar regions.