A savage 'ice tsunami' in Alaska buried alive a whole herd of musk oxen leaving all but one 'wholly submerged', researchers have found.

With blizzards raging at between 60 to 100mph (128 - 160km/h), the pack of more than 50 were buried alive, leaving only a few tufts of hair poking out.

During the violent storm, these hardy creatures - whose ancestors managed to survive the last Ice Age - descended to the water but were quickly trapped and frozen by the rising tide.

Scroll down for video

During the dramatic event, the water rose rapidly and chunks of sea ice were driven up to a mile inland. The pack of more than 50 were were buried alive (pictured)

A savage 'ice tsunami' in Alaska buried alive a whole herd of musk oxen (pictured) leaving all but one 'wholly submerged', researchers have found

WHAT HAPPENED? During the violent storm, these hardy creatures - which managed to survive the last Ice Age - descended to the water but were quickly trapped and frozen by the rising tide. As the water rose, chunks of sea ice were driven up to a mile inland. 'Accompanied by a fusion of shattered shore ice with plates up to 50cm [1.6 feet] thick and 5m [15 feet] long, the tidal surge trapped at least 52 animals', researchers wrote in their paper published in Scientific Reports. Historical records give details of sea ice trapping 150 narwhals, 170 belugas in southern Beringia and 100 in the eastern Artctic. Advertisement

'We looked down out of the plane, and all there was was white,' biologist Marci Johnson who works at the US National Park Service told The Atlantic.

'It was just ice. There was normally a group of 50-plus black dots', she said, talking about a lagoon area at the northern coast of the Bering Land Bridge.

'We got a little closer and realised there were little tufts of hair sticking out or a horn sticking out. We were looking at 52 on the ground that had been trapped in the ice'.

During the dramatic event, the water rose rapidly and chunks of sea ice were driven up to a mile inland.

'Accompanied by a fusion of shattered shore ice with plates up to 50cm [1.6 feet] thick and 5m [15 feet] long, the tidal surge trapped at least 52 animals', researchers wrote in their paper published in Scientific Reports.

'All but one was wholly submerged', they said.

'Known as an ivu or ivuniq in Iñupiaq, the language of indigenous northern-coastal Alaskans, these wind-driven polar ice-override surges pile ice to 4m [13 feet] high'.

'It was in May when the ice thawed that the bodies could be seen better', Dr Berger told MailOnline, having happened three months previously.

Despite their name, these creatures are in fact more closely related to wild sheep and mountain goats than cattle.

In this image, a female musk ox shelters in a snow hole. Despite their name, these creatures are in fact more closely related to wild sheep and mountain goats than cattle

With blizzards raging at between 60 to 100mph (128 - 160km/h), the pack of more than 50 were were buried alive, leaving only a few tufts of hair poking out (pictured)

Despite their name, these creatures are in fact more closely related to wild sheep and mountain goats than cattle. Pictured in the foreground is a bit of hair from one of the musk oxen buried below the snow

CLIMATE CHANGE AND MUSK OXEN YOUNG Researchers also believe climate change could be harming musk oxen young. Their research has shown that babies born during rain-on-snow events gave birth to smaller and less healthy babies. 'When the mother is gestating, if she can't get food, then it has a long-term effect on the well-being of her growing fetus', one of the researchers, Joel Berger from Colorado State University, told the Atlantic. In the Canadian arctic these rain-on-snow events have become three times more common in recent years. The US government warned the Arctic showed 'no sign of returning to [the] reliably frozen region of recent past decades.' In 2003 around 20,000 musk oxen died in the Canadian Arctic after a severe rain-on-snow event. Advertisement

Weighing at around 800 pounds (360kg) they are the Arctic's largest land mammal and were extinct in Russia for centuries until 1975.

'Our results illustrate how once unusual, but increasingly frequent Arctic weather events affect some cold-adapted mammals', researchers wrote.

Historical records give details of sea ice trapping 150 narwhals, 170 belugas in southern Beringia and 100 in the eastern Arctic.

Researchers also believe climate change could be harming musk oxen young.

Their research has shown that babies born during rain-on-snow events gave birth to smaller and less healthy babies.

'When rain-on-snow events occur, then basically [a musk-ox mother] doesn't have access to her salad bowl for a long period of time because it's frozen,' Joel Berger from Colorado State University, told the Atlantic.

'When the mother is gestating, if she can't get food, then it has a long-term effect on the well-being of her growing fetus', he said.

'Think about an undernourished kid—if you're born small, then you may be impacted for most of your life.'

Their research showed these events reduced the size of the musk oxen head from birth to puberty at around the age of four.

Pictured (a) is a herd of musk oxen in Bering Land Bridge, Alaska on February 14, 2011; (b) and (c) the two most visible carcasses after the 'ice tsunami'. Pictured (d) is a normal tidal flow at NOAA's Red Dog station, along with predicted and observed water levels before and after the wind-whipped tidal surge

Weighing at around 800 pounds (360kg) they are the Arctic's largest land mammal and were extinct in Russia for centuries until 1975 (stock image)

In the Canadian arctic these rain-on-snow events have become three times more common in recent years.

The US government warned the Arctic showed 'no sign of returning to [the] reliably frozen region of recent past decades.'

Although the ice tsunami was not necessarily caused by climate change researchers believe it was an unusual event.

According to studies by Nasa and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration 2016 was the third year in a row to set a new record for global average surface temperatures.

'Warming patterns are most extreme in the polar regions, particularly in the Arctic', said Dr Berger, writing for the Conversation.

Researchers looked at extreme events in three study sites: Bering land Bridge (BLB), Cape Thompson (CT), and Wrangel Island (WI). Yellow circles and figurines denote locations and species/taxa affected by extreme icing events

Climate change could also be harming musk oxen young. They found that babies born during rain-on-snow events gave birth to smaller and less healthy babies (pictured)

'In 2002 a winter rain-on-snow event on Canada’s Banks Island encased the ground in ice and prevented musk oxen from reaching their food supply. Some 20,000 animals died', he said.

Dr Berger notes that although we know a lot about enormous changes in the polar environments, we know less about how these changes are affecting individual populations.

Researchers measured the size of these creatures using a technique called photogrammetry, which involves making measurements from photos.

They take a number of photos at known distances and angles and use thse shots to develop algorithms and estimate their size.

'By comparing our estimates with data on the growth and size of captive animals, we can explore how factors like winter and summer temperatures, availability and health of vegetation, and rain-on-snow events affect wild musk oxen’s growth and size', Dr Berger said.

'Cold-adapted species have figured out how to survive across thousands of generations.

'To dampen climatic challenges, we humans need to modify our behaviour in a far shorter time frame'