Decadal changes from a multi-temporal glacier inventory of Svalbard

Nuth, C.; Kohler, Jack; König, Max; Deschwanden, Angela von; Hagen, Jon Ove; Kääb, Andreas; Moholdt, Geir; Pettersson, R.

doi:10.5194/tc-7-1603-2013

Cited by 224 publications

(183 citation statements)

References 64 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

165

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…Kongsbreen had already retreated by 1.0-1.7 km between 1990 and 2000 (Nuth et al, 2013) but has been relatively stable since then.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…1) and together with its accumulation area Isachsenfonna, it encompasses an area of 378 km 2 and an elevation range of 0-1400 m a.s.l. (Nuth et al, 2013). It splits up into two branches, of which the fast-flowing northern branch ends in a deep fjord (∼ 140 m depth at the 2007 terminus position), and the slow-moving southern branch is partially land terminating.…”

Section: Kongsbreenmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Surface speed and frontal ablation of Kronebreen and Kongsbreen, NW Svalbard, from SAR offset tracking

et al. 2015

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Abstract. Kronebreen and Kongsbreen are among the fastest-flowing glaciers on Svalbard and, therefore, important contributors to the total dynamic mass loss from the archipelago. Here, we present a time series of area-wide surface velocity fields from April 2012 to December 2013 based on offset tracking on repeat high-resolution Radarsat-2 Ultrafine data. Surface speeds reached up to 3.2 m d−1 near the calving front of Kronebreen in summer 2013 and 2.7 m d−1 at Kongsbreen in late autumn 2012. Additional velocity fields from Radarsat-1, Radarsat-2 and TerraSAR-X data since December 2007 together with continuous GPS measurements on Kronebreen since September 2008 revealed complex patterns in seasonal and interannual speed evolution. Part of the ice-flow variations seem closely linked to the amount and timing of surface meltwater production and rainfall, both of which are known to have a strong influence on the basal water pressure and hence basal lubrication. In addition, terminus retreat and the associated reduction in back stress appear to have influenced the speed close to the calving front, especially at Kongsbreen in 2012 and 2013. Since 2007, Kongsbreen retreated up to 1800 m, corresponding to a total area loss of 2.5 km2. In 2011 the retreat of Kronebreen of up to 850 m, responsible for a total area loss of 2.8 km2, was triggered after a phase of stable terminus position since ~ 1990. Retreat is an important component of the mass balance of both glaciers, in which frontal ablation is the largest component. Total frontal ablation between April 2012 and December 2013 was estimated to 0.21–0.25 Gt a−1 for Kronebreen and 0.14–0.16 Gt a−1 for Kongsbreen.

show abstract

“…Kongsbreen had already retreated by 1.0-1.7 km between 1990 and 2000 (Nuth et al, 2013) but has been relatively stable since then.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Kongsbreenmentioning

confidence: 99%

Surface speed and frontal ablation of Kronebreen and Kongsbreen, NW Svalbard, from SAR offset tracking

et al. 2015

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…This is because the basal topography exerts a major control on the dynamic response of grounded ice (Schoof, 2007(Schoof, , 2010Favier et al, 2014). A reason for further concern is that grounded parts of the Antarctic Ice Sheet are assumed to respond to climatic warming primarily by outlet glacier acceleration as the floating ice shelves thin (Paolo et al, 2015) and lose their buttressing ability . As it is impractical to measure ice thickness for most glaciers, reconstruction approaches that can infer thickness fields from available geometric, climatic and ice-velocity information have been proposed.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Application of a two-step approach for mapping ice thickness to various glacier types on Svalbard

et al. 2017

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Abstract. The basal topography is largely unknown beneath most glaciers and ice caps, and many attempts have been made to estimate a thickness field from other more accessible information at the surface. Here, we present a two-step reconstruction approach for ice thickness that solves mass conservation over single or several connected drainage basins. The approach is applied to a variety of test geometries with abundant thickness measurements including marine-and landterminating glaciers as well as a 2400 km 2 ice cap on Svalbard. The input requirements are kept to a minimum for the first step. In this step, a geometrically controlled, non-local flux solution is converted into thickness values relying on the shallow ice approximation (SIA). In a second step, the thickness field is updated along fast-flowing glacier trunks on the basis of velocity observations. Both steps account for available thickness measurements. Each thickness field is presented together with an error-estimate map based on a formal propagation of input uncertainties. These error estimates point out that the thickness field is least constrained near ice divides or in other stagnant areas. Withholding a share of the thickness measurements, error estimates tend to overestimate mismatch values in a median sense. We also have to accept an aggregate uncertainty of at least 25 % in the reconstructed thickness field for glaciers with very sparse or no observations. For Vestfonna ice cap (VIC), a previous ice volume estimate based on the same measurement record as used here has to be corrected upward by 22 %. We also find that a 13 % area fraction of the ice cap is in fact grounded below sea level. The former 5 % estimate from a direct measurement interpolation exceeds an aggregate maximum range of 6-23 % as inferred from the error estimates here.

show abstract

“…They have retreated extensively since the end of the Little Ice Age (LIA; Rachlewicz, Szczuciński, & Ewertowski, 2007), in a manner similar to many other marine-and land-terminating glaciers on Svalbard (e.g. Błaszczyk, Jania, & Kolondra, 2013;Małecki, 2013;Mansell, Luckman, & Murray, 2012;Nuth, Kohler, Aas, Brandt, & Hagen, 2007;Nuth et al, 2013). De Geer (1910( , after Slater, 1925) reported a stationary ice margin of Nordenskiöldbreen between 1892 and 1896, located at the maximum historical limit, and a slight retreat (100-200 m) between 1896 and 1908.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Glacial geomorphology of the terrestrial margins of the tidewater glacier, Nordenskiöldbreen, Svalbard

2016

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

A 1:4000 scale map of the terrestrial margins of the foreland of Nordenskiöldbreen depicts a polythermal glacial landsystem containing a record of the landform signatures of individual ice flow units that operate within the glacier snout. A 1:700 map provides a detailed overview of fluted terrain, based on unmanned aerial vehicle images captured in 2014. The pattern of landforms lying inside the Little Ice Age (LIA) latero-frontal moraine on the northern side of the fjord comprises a fluted till surface, which in turn grades into icemoulded bedrock. This signature records the recession of a single, wide ice flow unit, which was characterised by limited incorporation of subglacial material and restricted delivery of supraglacial debris. Inside the latero-frontal moraine on the south side of the fjord, a fluted surface is subordinate to a pronounced and large ice-cored moraine complex related to the confluence of five narrower ice flow units, each of which transported significant quantities of englacial and supraglacial debris at their suture zones as a series of longitudinal debris stripes. The suite of foreland landforms is diagnostic of both temperate subglacial and frozen-snout conditions, indicating the operation of a warm polythermal glacier fed by multiple flow units during the LIA. ARTICLE HISTORY

show abstract

Decadal changes from a multi-temporal glacier inventory of Svalbard

Cited by 224 publications

References 64 publications

Surface speed and frontal ablation of Kronebreen and Kongsbreen, NW Svalbard, from SAR offset tracking

Surface speed and frontal ablation of Kronebreen and Kongsbreen, NW Svalbard, from SAR offset tracking

Application of a two-step approach for mapping ice thickness to various glacier types on Svalbard

Glacial geomorphology of the terrestrial margins of the tidewater glacier, Nordenskiöldbreen, Svalbard

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About