Greenland’s unique underground potential for energy transitions and climate insights

Greenland is a widely discussed part of the world today, attracting attention from multiple perspectives. What exactly is it that makes the largest island on our planet (pop. 56,000) so popular?

A large part of Greenland's current prominence can be explained by the role it plays (or could play) in two highly topical areas.

Firstly, the ground contains lots of rare minerals that are crucial for the energy transition, among other things, and warrant targeted and responsible exploration.

Secondly, studying Greenland's geological properties can enhance our understanding of – and improve predictions about – climate change.

Critical mineral deposits

Greenland has a land surface of 216,600 square kilometres - about 80 per cent of which is covered by ice. As a result, not much is known about the underlying lithosphere - the Earth's rigid outer layer, consisting of the crust and upper mantle.

This knowledge gap hasn't prevented mining from being carried out in Greenland since the late 18th century, especially in the 400,000 square kilometres where the ice sheet is not predominant.

Greenland's unique geological diversity has provided ideal conditions for the formation of mineral and ore deposits. These deposits include many of the minerals now deemed critical by the European Union and many other organisations worldwide.

The energy transition

The global demand for these critical minerals is growing at an unprecedented rate. In order to meet these demands, increased mining will be necessary. For the energy transition, certain critical minerals are needed to develop innovative technologies that support the shift to noncarbon-based energy sources.

For instance, cobalt, nickel and graphite are essential raw materials for batteries; certain rare earth elements (REEs) are indispensable for building wind turbines, and platinum group metals (PGMs) such as platinum and palladium are used in hydrogen technology.

Greenland’s potential

As it turns out, all of the above and more can be found in Greenland. A report published in 2023 by the Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland (GEUS) confirms that Greenland has significant potential for a large number of critical raw materials.

However, much of the country remains underexplored due to challenging terrain and harsh climate.

To fully assess Greenland's potential, better mapping and more comprehensive mineral exploration are needed.

A strategic partnership

No doubt inspired by this potential, the European Union formed a strategic partnership with the Greenlandic government in November 2023 with the aim of developing sustainable raw materials value chains.

A key aspect of this agreement was the pursuit of sustainable exploitation of mineral resources in close dialogue with Greenlandic society and respecting the unique nature of Greenland's pristine lands.

Climate change predictions

In addition to the energy transition, Greenland could also be an important factor in developing climate models and making predictions about events like climate change and rising sea levels.

A crucial aspect in this regard is the fact that Greenland’s ice sheet has experienced increasing mass loss since the 1990s. This phenomenon is expected to significantly slow the Atlantic overturning circulation, which helps regulate the climate by moving warm water north and cold water south. A severe slowdown could trigger abrupt climate changes worldwide.

Above and below ground

The melting of the ice in Greenland is partly caused by rising air temperatures and other surface conditions.

However, conditions beneath the ice can accelerate the process - for example, through geothermal heat flow, which is the movement of heat from the Earth's interior to its surface. By warming the base of the ice cap from below, geothermal heat flow causes the ice to melt and makes it easier to slide, which can speed up ice loss (incidentally, geothermal heat can also be utilised as a source of green energy, which makes Greenland’s position all the more interesting).

Another factor is glacial isostatic adjustment (GIA), which is the way the solid Earth and the oceans respond to those melting ice sheets. GIA can contribute to rising sea levels just as much as the melting ice itself.

More thorough knowledge is needed

Greenland remains a very poorly explored landmass. Therefore, there's a lot of uncertainty over its lithospheric structure. A deeper understanding of Greenland’s lithosphere and substructure dynamics will serve to better inform mineral exploration policy and efforts.

Being able to pinpoint critical mineral deposits more accurately will benefit the energy transition, make resource use more efficient and sustainable, and secure the supply chain for the EU.

Additionally, better data will enable Earth and climate scientists to come up with better predictions of phenomena such as ice sheet changes and sea level rise, as well as their broader global impact.

An international workshop

In this context, a workshop took place in March 2024 in Copenhagen, Denmark. Coordinated by, amongst others, Juan Carlos Afonso of ITC's Applied Earth Sciences department, it allowed scientists from across Europe, the United States, and Canada who study Greenland's lithosphere to review the past and current state of knowledge in the context of mineral exploration and climate change.

The workshop concluded with a call for continued international collaboration and interdisciplinary research to further refine understanding of Greenland’s natural systems.

Header image by amanderson2 via Wikimedia Commons, Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic