Two landslides hit famed Møns Klint cliffs in Denmark
Møns Klint, the white cliffs that are one of Denmark's tourist hot spots, have been hit by the biggest landslide in more than 15 years.
The landslides, one at the Forchhammers Pynt viewpoint, and the other at the Sommerspirpynten, probably happened on January the 4th or 5th, although no one observed them happening. They have sent large amounts of the white chalk into the sea, replacing the cliff with a gradual slope.
"It's quite unusual. We had a big landslide back in 2007, and that was a little bigger than the one we have seen now this year," Jane Skov Lind, a forester at the Danish Nature Agency, told The Local. "It's quite rare we have landslides as big as this one."
The landslide viewed from the beach. Photo: Jane Skov Lind
The cliffs are ranked fifth in the Tripadvisor travel site's ranking of top outdoor activities for tourists in Denmark and first in the list of things to do on the island of Møns, two hours' drive south of Copenhagen. The surrounding landscape has been listed as a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve.
Lind said that the Sommerspirpynten landslide was so large that it had formed a shallow peninsula extending 200 meters into the sea, and had made several clifftop paths impassable, blaming the landslides on recent weather.
"We know that in period with lots of rain we see big landslides more often, and in the last few months we've seen extreme amounts of rain in Denmark, and we also know that when temperatures go into minus we see landslides," she said.
"Then in October, we had a big storm affecting the eastern parts of Denmark, and that actually washed away the foots of the cliffs at Møn, so maybe that has also influenced this, but we don't know."
The new peninsular stretches out 200m iunto the sea. Photo:
Jane Skov Lind
Lind said that landslides at Møns Klint were nothing new, and in fact helped keep the cliffs white.
"Maybe not the big slides, but the small slides we see every year make the cliffs look white, because little pieces of the chalk fall off every winter," she said.
Even bigger landslides like the ones last week, she added, did not pose a near-term threat to the cliffs, even with the heavier rainfall and increased number of storms expected due to climate change.
"The cliffs are eight kilometres long and this is just a little bit. They are getting smaller every year, but it's so slow that I guess for the next 10,000 years, we will still have the white cliffs."
The landslide has ripped away the main clifftop path. Photo: Jane Skov Lind
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The landslides, one at the Forchhammers Pynt viewpoint, and the other at the Sommerspirpynten, probably happened on January the 4th or 5th, although no one observed them happening. They have sent large amounts of the white chalk into the sea, replacing the cliff with a gradual slope.
"It's quite unusual. We had a big landslide back in 2007, and that was a little bigger than the one we have seen now this year," Jane Skov Lind, a forester at the Danish Nature Agency, told The Local. "It's quite rare we have landslides as big as this one."
The cliffs are ranked fifth in the Tripadvisor travel site's ranking of top outdoor activities for tourists in Denmark and first in the list of things to do on the island of Møns, two hours' drive south of Copenhagen. The surrounding landscape has been listed as a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve.
Lind said that the Sommerspirpynten landslide was so large that it had formed a shallow peninsula extending 200 meters into the sea, and had made several clifftop paths impassable, blaming the landslides on recent weather.
"We know that in period with lots of rain we see big landslides more often, and in the last few months we've seen extreme amounts of rain in Denmark, and we also know that when temperatures go into minus we see landslides," she said.
"Then in October, we had a big storm affecting the eastern parts of Denmark, and that actually washed away the foots of the cliffs at Møn, so maybe that has also influenced this, but we don't know."
Jane Skov Lind
Lind said that landslides at Møns Klint were nothing new, and in fact helped keep the cliffs white.
"Maybe not the big slides, but the small slides we see every year make the cliffs look white, because little pieces of the chalk fall off every winter," she said.
Even bigger landslides like the ones last week, she added, did not pose a near-term threat to the cliffs, even with the heavier rainfall and increased number of storms expected due to climate change.
"The cliffs are eight kilometres long and this is just a little bit. They are getting smaller every year, but it's so slow that I guess for the next 10,000 years, we will still have the white cliffs."
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