{"id":683676,"date":"2025-08-07T01:15:19","date_gmt":"2025-08-06T22:15:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/nasa-supercomputers-take-on-life-near-greenlands-most-active-glacier\/"},"modified":"2025-08-07T01:15:19","modified_gmt":"2025-08-06T22:15:19","slug":"nasa-supercomputers-take-on-life-near-greenlands-most-active-glacier","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/nasa-supercomputers-take-on-life-near-greenlands-most-active-glacier\/","title":{"rendered":"NASA supercomputers take on life near Greenland&#8217;s most active glacier"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_85 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a3ca688ac03a\" class=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-label\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/label><input type=\"checkbox\"  id=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a3ca688ac03a\" checked aria-label=\"Toggle\" \/><nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/nasa-supercomputers-take-on-life-near-greenlands-most-active-glacier\/#Sea_of_data\" >Sea of data<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/nasa-supercomputers-take-on-life-near-greenlands-most-active-glacier\/#More_changes_in_store\" >More changes in store<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"article-gallery lightGallery\">\n<div data-thumb=\"https:\/\/scx1.b-cdn.net\/csz\/news\/tmb\/2025\/nasa-supercomputers-ta.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/scx2.b-cdn.net\/gfx\/news\/2025\/nasa-supercomputers-ta.jpg\" data-sub-html=\"Ocean currents swirl around North America (center left) and Greenland (upper right) in this data visualization created using NASA\u2019s ECCO model. Advanced computing is helping oceanographers decipher hot spots of phytoplankton growth. Credit: NASA\u2019s Scientific Visualization Studio\">\n<figure class=\"article-img\">\n            <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/scx1.b-cdn.net\/csz\/news\/800a\/2025\/nasa-supercomputers-ta.jpg\" alt=\"NASA supercomputers take on life near Greenland\u2019s most active glacier\" title=\"Ocean currents swirl around North America (center left) and Greenland (upper right) in this data visualization created using NASA\u2019s ECCO model. Advanced computing is helping oceanographers decipher hot spots of phytoplankton growth. Credit: NASA\u2019s Scientific Visualization Studio\" width=\"800\" height=\"404\"\/><figcaption class=\"text-darken text-low-up text-truncate-js text-truncate mt-3\">\n                Ocean currents swirl around North America (center left) and Greenland (upper right) in this data visualization created using NASA\u2019s ECCO model. Advanced computing is helping oceanographers decipher hot spots of phytoplankton growth. Credit: NASA\u2019s Scientific Visualization Studio<br \/>\n            <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>As Greenland&#8217;s ice retreats, it&#8217;s fueling tiny ocean organisms. To test why, scientists turned to a computer model from JPL and MIT that&#8217;s been called a laboratory in itself.<\/p>\n<p>Runoff from Greenland&#8217;s ice sheet is kicking nutrients up from the ocean depths and boosting phytoplankton growth, a new study has found. <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nature.com\/articles\/s43247-025-02599-1\" target=\"_blank\">Reporting<\/a> in <i>Nature Communications: Earth &amp; Environment<\/i>, the scientists used state-of-the-art computing to simulate marine life and physics colliding in one turbulent fjord. Oceanographers are keen to understand what drives the tiny plant-like organisms, which take up carbon dioxide and power the world&#8217;s fisheries.<\/p>\n<p>Greenland&#8217;s mile-thick ice sheet is shedding some 293 billion tons (266 billion metric tons) of ice per year. During peak summer melt, more than 300,000 gallons (1,200 cubic meters) of fresh water drain into the sea every second from beneath Jakobshavn Glacier, also known as Sermeq Kujalleq, the most active glacier on the ice sheet. The waters meet and tumble hundreds of feet below the surface.<\/p>\n<p>The meltwater plume is fresh and more buoyant than the surrounding saltwater. As it rises, scientists have hypothesized, it may be delivering nutrients like iron and nitrate\u2014a key ingredient in fertilizer\u2014to phytoplankton floating on the surface.<\/p>\n<p>Researchers track these microscopic organisms, because though they&#8217;re smaller by far than a pinhead, they&#8217;re titans of the ocean food web. Inhabiting every ocean from the tropics to the polar regions, they nourish krill and other grazers that in turn support larger animals, including fish and whales.<\/p>\n<p>Previous work using NASA satellite data had found that the rate of phytoplankton growth in Arctic waters surged 57% between 1998 and 2018 alone. An infusion of nitrate from the depths would be especially pivotal to Greenland&#8217;s phytoplankton in summer, after most nutrients have been consumed by prior spring blooms. But the hypothesis has been hard to test along the coast, where the remote terrain and icebergs as big as city blocks complicate long-term observations.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;We were faced with this classic problem of trying to understand a system that is so remote and buried beneath ice,&#8221; said Dustin Carroll, an oceanographer at San Jos\u00e9 State University who is also affiliated with NASA&#8217;s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California. &#8220;We needed a gem of a computer model to help.&#8221;<\/p>\n<div class=\"article-gallery lightGallery\">\n<div data-thumb=\"https:\/\/scx1.b-cdn.net\/csz\/news\/tmb\/2025\/nasa-supercomputers-ta-1.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/scx2.b-cdn.net\/gfx\/news\/2025\/nasa-supercomputers-ta-1.jpg\" data-sub-html=\"Teal-colored phytoplankton bloom off the Greenland coast in this satellite image captured in June 2024 by NASA\u2019s PACE (Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Ecosystem) mission. Credit: NASA\">\n<figure class=\"article-img text-center\">\n            <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/scx1.b-cdn.net\/csz\/news\/800a\/2025\/nasa-supercomputers-ta-1.jpg\" alt=\"NASA supercomputers take on life near Greenland\u2019s most active glacier\" title=\"Teal-colored phytoplankton bloom off the Greenland coast in this satellite image captured in June 2024 by NASA\u2019s PACE (Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Ecosystem) mission. Credit: NASA\"\/><figcaption class=\"text-left text-darken text-truncate text-low-up mt-3\">\n                Teal-colored phytoplankton bloom off the Greenland coast in this satellite image captured in June 2024 by NASA\u2019s PACE (Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Ecosystem) mission. Credit: NASA<br \/>\n            <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Sea_of_data\"><\/span>Sea of data<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>To re-create what was h<a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/download-scripts-themes-apps\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"9\" title=\"Download Scripts &amp; Themes &amp; Apps\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">app<\/a>ening in the waters around Greenland&#8217;s most active glacier, the team harnessed a model of the ocean developed at JPL and the Massachusetts Institute of <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/technology\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"4\" title=\"Technology\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Technology<\/a> in Cambridge. The model ingests nearly all available ocean measurements collected by sea- and satellite-based instruments over the past three decades. That amounts to billions of data points, from water temperature and salinity to pressure at the seafloor. The model is called <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/ecco-group.org\/\" target=\"_blank\">Estimating the Circulation and Climate of the Ocean-Darwin<\/a> (ECCO-Darwin for short).<\/p>\n<p>Simulating &#8220;biology, chemistry, and physics coming together&#8221; in even one pocket along Greenland&#8217;s 27,000 miles (43,000 kilometers) of coastline is a massive math problem, noted lead author Michael Wood, a computational oceanographer at San Jos\u00e9 State University. To break it down, he said the team built a &#8220;model within a model within a model&#8221; to zoom in on the details of the fjord at the foot of the glacier.<\/p>\n<p>Using supercomputers at NASA&#8217;s Ames Research Center in Silicon Valley, they calculated that deepwater nutrients buoyed upward by glacial runoff would be sufficient to boost summertime phytoplankton growth by 15 to 40% in the study area.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"More_changes_in_store\"><\/span>More changes in store<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Could increased phytoplankton be a boon for Greenland&#8217;s marine animals and fisheries? Carroll said that untangling impacts on the ecosystem will take time. Melt on the Greenland ice sheet is projected to accelerate in coming decades, affecting everything from sea level and land vegetation to the saltiness of coastal waters.<\/p>\n<div class=\"ads w-100 my-4 article-main__more bg-light p-3 border\" aria-hidden=\"true\">\n<p class=\"mb-3\">\n        Discover the latest in <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/sciencee\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"5\" title=\"Science\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">science<\/a>, tech, and space with over <strong>100,000 subscribers<\/strong> who rely on Phys.org for daily insights.<br \/>\n        Sign up for our <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/sciencex.com\/help\/newsletter\/\" target=\"_blank\">free newsletter<\/a> and get updates on breakthroughs,<br \/>\n        innovations, and research that matter\u2014<strong>daily or weekly<\/strong>.\n    <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>&#8220;We reconstructed what&#8217;s happening in one key system, but there&#8217;s more than 250 such glaciers around Greenland,&#8221; Carroll said. He noted that the team plans to extend their simulations to the whole Greenland coast and beyond.<\/p>\n<p>Some changes appear to be impacting the carbon cycle both positively and negatively. The team calculated how runoff from the glacier alters the temperature and chemistry of seawater in the fjord, making it less able to dissolve carbon dioxide. That loss is canceled out, however, by the bigger blooms of phytoplankton taking up more carbon dioxide from the air as they photosynthesize.<\/p>\n<p>Wood added, &#8220;We didn&#8217;t build these tools for one specific application. Our approach is applicable to any region, from the Texas Gulf to Alaska. Like a Swiss Army knife, we can apply it to lots of different scenarios.&#8221;<\/p>\n<div class=\"article-main__more p-4\">\n<p><strong>More information:<\/strong><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tMichael Wood et al, Increased melt from Greenland&#8217;s most active glacier fuels enhanced coastal productivity, <i>Communications Earth &amp; Environment<\/i> (2025). <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" data-doi=\"1\" href=\"https:\/\/dx.doi.org\/10.1038\/s43247-025-02599-1\" target=\"_blank\">DOI: 10.1038\/s43247-025-02599-1<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<!-- print only --><\/p>\n<div class=\"d-none d-print-block\">\n<p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<strong>Citation<\/strong>:<br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tNASA supercomputers take on life near Greenland&#8217;s most active glacier (2025, August 6)<br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tretrieved 6 August 2025<br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tfrom https:\/\/phys.org\/<a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/news\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"2\" title=\"News\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">news<\/a>\/2025-08-nasa-supercomputers-life-greenland-glacier.html\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t <\/p>\n<p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t This document is subject to copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private study or research, no<br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t part may be reproduced without the written permission. The content is provided for information purposes only.\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><script id=\"facebook-jssdk\" async=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/connect.facebook.net\/en_US\/sdk.js\"><\/script><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><strong><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">If you liked the article, do not forget to share it with your friends. Follow us on\u00a0<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><a style=\"color: #ff0000;\" href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/publications\/CAAqBwgKMN63nwsw68G3Aw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">Google News<\/a><\/span>\u00a0too, click on the star and choose us from your favorites.<\/span><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>If you want to read more Like this articles, you can visit our <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/sciencee\/\" target=\"_blank\" >Science category.<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"color: black;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/phys.org\/news\/2025-08-nasa-supercomputers-life-greenland-glacier.html\" target=\"_blank\" >Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Ocean currents swirl around North America (center left) and Greenland (upper right) in this data visualization created using NASA\u2019s ECCO model. Advanced computing is helping oceanographers decipher hot spots of phytoplankton growth. Credit: NASA\u2019s Scientific Visualization Studio As Greenland&#8217;s ice retreats, it&#8217;s fueling tiny ocean organisms. To test why, scientists turned to a computer model&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":683677,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/scx2.b-cdn.net\/gfx\/news\/2025\/nasa-supercomputers-ta.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-683676","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sciencee"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/683676","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=683676"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/683676\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/683677"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=683676"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=683676"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=683676"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}