# Strange, catastrophic landslides are kicking off across the far north

- URL: https://talkfuse.com/story/strange-catastrophic-landslides-are-kicking-off-across-the-far-north/
- Published: 2026-10-30T08:45:00+00:00
- Updated: 2026-11-04T00:54:08+00:00
- Original publisher: Grist
- Original article: https://grist.org/science/strange-catastrophic-landslides-are-kicking-off-across-the-far-north/
- Topics: Americas, Offbeat, Research, Science, Weird & Viral, World

## Key points

- Scientists describe a newly recognised type of permafrost landslide.
- Two slides in Canada moved 30 million cubic yards of earth.
- A 1995 wildfire may have helped set the ground failure in motion.

## Summary

Researchers have identified two large permafrost detachment slides in Canada’s Northwest Territories, a newly described form of land collapse linked to thawing frozen ground. The events show how wildfire and Arctic warming can trigger abrupt, far-reaching changes to the landscape.

The slides occurred along the Johnson and Redstone rivers in 2017 and 2018, after a 1995 wildfire removed vegetation that had helped keep the permafrost cool. Together they moved about 30 million cubic yards of earth; one stretched three-quarters of a mile and the other two miles, with frozen blocks as long as 650 feet found at the sites.

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Summarised by TalkFuse (https://talkfuse.com/). Quote the original publisher for the reporting and link this page for the summary and discussion.