Characterization of seawater properties and ocean heat content in Kongsfjorden, Svalbard Archipelago

Aliani, Stefano; Sciascia, Roberta; Conese, Ilaria; D’Angelo, Alessandra; Bianco, Fabrizio Del; Giglio, Federico; Langone, Leonardo; Miserocchi, Stefano

doi:10.1007/s12210-016-0544-4

Cited by 16 publications

(24 citation statements)

References 24 publications

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“…The environmental variables discussed in the text (i.e. meteorological and oceanographic variables) are included in the discussion although a complete analysis of these parameters will be shown elsewhere (Aliani et al, 2018).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…1b). This process modifies the WSC characteristics, producing the Transformed Atlantic Water (TAW, 1-3 • C) (Svendsen et al, 2002;Cottier et al, 2005;Aliani et al, 2016). Recent changes in the relative inflow of Atlantic and Arctic waters have resulted in significant variability in environmental conditions along the western Spitsbergen shelf (Majewski et al, 2009).…”

Section: Study Areamentioning

confidence: 99%

“…3a) force the surface water to move out of the fjord (Aliani et al, 2016). It results that water circulation in the innermost part of Kongsfjorden is of an estuarine-like type with cold freshwater on top of warm saline water (Svendsen et al, 2002;Cottier et al, 2005;Trusel et al, 2010;Aliani et al, 2016;Sundfjord et al, 2017). This type of circulation implies that the glacially derived sediment will spread at the surface through hypopycnal sediment-rich plumes dispersed by winds over the fjord.…”

Section: Lateral Advection Of Clastic Particles: Temporal Variabilitymentioning

confidence: 99%

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Multi-year particle fluxes in Kongsfjorden, Svalbard

et al. 2018

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Abstract. High-latitude regions are warming faster than other areas due to reduction of snow cover and sea ice loss and changes in atmospheric and ocean circulation. The combination of these processes, collectively known as polar amplification, provides an extraordinary opportunity to document the ongoing thermal destabilisation of the terrestrial cryosphere and the release of land-derived material into the aquatic environment. This study presents a 6-year time series (2010–2016) of physical parameters and particle fluxes collected by an oceanographic mooring in Kongsfjorden (Spitsbergen, Svalbard). In recent decades, Kongsfjorden has been experiencing rapid loss of sea ice coverage and retreat of local glaciers as a result of the progressive increase in ocean and air temperatures. The overarching goal of this study was to continuously monitor the inner fjord particle sinking and to understand to what extent the temporal evolution of particulate fluxes was linked to the progressive changes in both Atlantic and freshwater input. Our data show high peaks of settling particles during warm seasons, in terms of both organic and inorganic matter. The different sources of suspended particles were described as a mixing of glacier carbonate, glacier siliciclastic and autochthonous marine input. The glacier releasing sediments into the fjord was the predominant source, while the sediment input by rivers was reduced at the mooring site. Our time series showed that the seasonal sunlight exerted first-order control on the particulate fluxes in the inner fjord. The marine fraction peaked when the solar radiation was at a maximum in May–June while the land-derived fluxes exhibited a 1–2-month lag consistent with the maximum air temperature and glacier melting. The inter-annual time-weighted total mass fluxes varied by 2 orders of magnitude over time, with relatively higher values in 2011, 2013, and 2015. Our results suggest that the land-derived input will remarkably increase over time in a warming scenario. Further studies are therefore needed to understand the future response of the Kongsfjorden ecosystem alterations with respect to the enhanced release of glacier-derived material.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Study Areamentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Lateral Advection Of Clastic Particles: Temporal Variabilitymentioning

confidence: 99%

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Multi-year particle fluxes in Kongsfjorden, Svalbard

et al. 2018

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“…In August, the temperature had reached 3-4 • C and the upper 100 m increased particularly to reach 5-6 • C towards the end of the season. Fjord bathymetry (Howe et al, 2003;Aliani et al, 2016) and bed topography under the glacier systems ) reveal a glacier terminus thickness of about 150 m at the discharge locations with 100 m of submerged column (see Fig. 1).…”

Section: Study Areamentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of undercutting and sliding on calving: a global approach applied to Kronebreen, Svalbard

et al. 2018

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Abstract. In this paper, we study the effects of basal friction, sub-aqueous undercutting and glacier geometry on the calving process by combining six different models in an offlinecoupled workflow: a continuum-mechanical ice flow model (Elmer/Ice), a climatic mass balance model, a simple subglacial hydrology model, a plume model, an undercutting model and a discrete particle model to investigate fracture dynamics (Helsinki Discrete Element Model, HiDEM). We demonstrate the feasibility of reproducing the observed calving retreat at the front of Kronebreen, a tidewater glacier in Svalbard, during a melt season by using the output from the first five models as input to HiDEM. Basal sliding and glacier motion are addressed using Elmer/Ice, while calving is modelled by HiDEM. A hydrology model calculates subglacial drainage paths and indicates two main outlets with different discharges. Depending on the discharge, the plume model computes frontal melt rates, which are iteratively projected to the actual front of the glacier at subglacial discharge locations. This produces undercutting of different sizes, as melt is concentrated close to the surface for high discharge and is more diffuse for low discharge. By testing different configurations, we show that undercutting plays a key role in glacier retreat and is necessary to reproduce observed retreat in the vicinity of the discharge locations during the melting season. Calving rates are also influenced by basal friction, through its effects on near-terminus strain rates and ice velocity.

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“…Fjord bathymetry (Howe et al, 2003;Aliani et al, 2016) and bed topography under the glacier systems have been collected by (Lindbäck et al, 2017) and reveal a glacier terminus height of about 150 m at the discharge locations with 100 m of submerged column (see Fig. 1).…”

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confidence: 99%

Effects of undercutting and sliding on calving: a coupled approach applied to Kronebreen, Svalbard

Vallot¹,

Åström²,

Zwinger³

et al. 2017

Preprint

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Abstract.In this paper, we study the effects of basal friction, sub-aqueous undercutting and glacier geometry on the calving process with six different models: a continuum-mechanical ice flow model (Elmer/Ice), a climatic mass balance model, a simple subglacial hydrology model, a plume model, an undercut model and a discrete particle model to investigate fracture dynamics (Helsinki Discrete Element Model, HiDEM). We also demonstrate the feasibility of reproducing the observed calving retreat 5 at the front of Kronebreen, a tidewater glacier in Svalbard, during a melt season. Basal sliding and glacier motion is addressed using Elmer/Ice while calving is modelled by HiDEM. An hydrology model calculates subglacial drainage paths and indicates two main outlets at relatively different rates. Depending on the discharge, the plume model computes frontal melt rates, which are iteratively projected to the actual front of the glacier at subglacial discharge locations. This produces undercutting of different sizes, as melt is concentrated close to the surface for high discharge and is more diffuse for low discharge. By testing 10 different configurations, we show that the geometry (frontal position and topography) controls the calving location while basal sliding controls the calving rate. Undercutting plays a key role in glacier retreat and is necessary to reproduce observed retreat in the vicinity of the discharge location.

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Characterization of seawater properties and ocean heat content in Kongsfjorden, Svalbard Archipelago

Cited by 16 publications

References 24 publications

Multi-year particle fluxes in Kongsfjorden, Svalbard

Multi-year particle fluxes in Kongsfjorden, Svalbard

Effects of undercutting and sliding on calving: a global approach applied to Kronebreen, Svalbard

Effects of undercutting and sliding on calving: a coupled approach applied to Kronebreen, Svalbard

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