&imwidth=800&imheight=600&format=webp&quality=medium "1,000 feet under Greenland's ice sheet, lies something that can dissuade Trump from taking over the island")
Donald Trump is aggressively pursuing his plans to take over Greenland, an island that remained out of the news for the majority of its life. But things have changed, and now the world's biggest island is making the biggest headlines today. While Trump says he must have Greenland for the safety of the United States, he might be eyeing something else - its natural resources. This is being seen as one of the reasons for the American president's insistence on gaining control of the territory. However, scientists have found that a major flaw in Greenland could become a hurdle in accessing the minerals and other items stored beneath the ice sheet. Scientists have discovered a hidden layer of sediment, composed of soft dirt and sand, that makes the Greenland ice sheet far less stable. According to the study, this layer has caused the glaciers to melt and break apart since the sheet isn't directly rooted into hard bedrock. Friction is reduced because of the sediment, which happens even more when meltwater seeps downward. Massive ice sheets are unable to withstand this movement, and this results in them crashing into the waters.
This makes mining precious rare earth elements and other resources, such as oil, gold, and graphite, extremely difficult. The study, published in Geology, states that the sediment layer makes the process tricky as the ice sheet is already unstable. When it is drilled through to reach the metals and other items, the glaciers could collapse, making it extremely dangerous. According to a 2022 study in The Cryosphere, mining through glaciers requires a stable, frozen bedrock base.
Also Read: Do you think Greenland is bigger than India? Look again. Here's why the island looks huge
Why Greenland ice sheet cannot be mined?
The sediment layer is not small, further complicating matters. Researchers say that it goes up to 1,000 feet deep in some portions under the Greenland ice sheet. However, in some places it is only about 15 feet deep. It is also a problem for offshore oil rigs as the number of icebergs calving into nearby waters is steadily increasing. A 2024 study in Annals of Glaciology cited similar problems faced in Antarctica, where drilling could not be carried out due to instability.
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Greenland ice sheet and climate change
The thicker portions of the layer are located where the bottom of the ice is warmer and wetter, while the thinner layers are present in colder, frozen zones. Yang warned, "If more meltwater reaches the bed, these sediments may further reduce strength, speed up ice flow, and increase ice loss to the ocean." He added that this means that climate change will prove to be more disastrous in some select areas of Greenland. This sediment layer is also believed to be speeding up the rise of sea levels around the world.
Trump has been repeatedly calling for control of Greenland, claiming he needs it to keep Russia and China away. On Monday, he said that Denmark can't protect it from Russia and China, and so it should be handed to the US immediately.
