Glacier fluctuations of Jostedalsbreen, western Norway, during the past 20 years: the sensitive response of maritime mountain glaciers

Winkler, Stefan; Elvehøy, Hallgeir; Nesje, Atle

doi:10.1177/0959683608101390

Cited by 48 publications

(74 citation statements)

References 52 publications

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“…In general, an increase in winter precipitation leads to increased snowfall, positive mass balances and reduced glacier melt during summer. At Nigardsbreen, increased winter precipitation was the reason for positive mass balances and the advance of the glacier tongue in the 1990s (Winkler et al, 2009). While the annual precipitation slightly decreased at Nigardsbreen and Storbreen in the 2000s, the increase in discharge in the same period can be attributed to the increased summer temperature of 1-1.5 K. At all three sites, increasing temperatures after the mid 1990s and decreasing precipitation resulted in reduced snow depths and increased glacier melt.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 86%

Contribution of snow and glacier melt to discharge for highly glacierised catchments in Norway

Engelhardt

Schuler

Andreassen

2014

Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci.

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Abstract. Glacierised catchments show a discharge regime that is strongly influenced by snow and glacier meltwaters. In this study, we modelled the mass balance and discharge rates for three highly glacierised catchments (> 50 % glacier cover) in western Norway over the period 1961-2012. The spatial pattern of the catchments follows a gradient in climate continentality from west to east. The model input were gridded temperature and precipitation values from seNorge (http://senorge.no) which are available at daily resolution. The model accounted for accumulation of snow, transformation of snow to firn and ice, evaporation and melt. Calibration and validation were performed for each catchment based on measurements of seasonal glacier mass balances and daily discharge rates, as additional validation data served daily melt rates from sonic rangers located in the ablation zones of two of the glaciers. The discharge sources snowmelt, glacier melt and rain were analysed with respect to spatial variations and temporal evolution. Model simulations reveal an increase in the relative contribution from glacier melt to total discharge for the three catchments from less than 10 % in the early 1990s to 15-30 % in the late 2000s. The decline in precipitation by 10-20 % in the same period was therefore overcompensated, resulting in an increase in annual discharge by 5-20 %. Annual discharge sums and annual glacier melt are most strongly correlated with annual and winter precipitation at the most maritime glacier and, with increased climate continentality, variations in both glacier melt contribution and annual discharge are becoming more strongly correlated with variations in summer temperatures. Therefore, glaciers in more continental climates are especially vulnerable to decrease in both annual and summer discharge with continued rise in summer temperatures and subsequent decrease in glacier extent. This may lead to significant changes to the discharge regime, with increase during spring but decline later in the year, especially for catchments in less maritime climate conditions.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 86%

Contribution of snow and glacier melt to discharge for highly glacierised catchments in Norway

Engelhardt

Schuler

Andreassen

2014

Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci.

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“…Advances were recorded around the years 1910 and 1930, as well as in the 1990s (Andreassen et al, 2005;Nesje et al, 2008). Since the beginning of the 2000s, all glaciers monitored by the NVE have been in a state of retreat (Andreassen et al, 2005;Winkler et al, 2009 Glacier inventories of Norway were published in 1973 for northern Norway (Østrem et al, 1973) and 1969 and 1988 for southern Norway (Østrem and Ziegler, 1969;Østrem et al, 1988). The first complete and satellite remote-sensing-based inventory of Norway was published in 2012 (Andreassen et al, 2012b).…”

Section: Study Regionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…These glaciers are Fåbergstølsbreen and Stigaholtbreen. This discrepancy between methods is most likely caused by error in some of the years of the in situ observations ( in front of the glacier and make it difficult to compare the measurements (Winkler et al, 2009). The determination of glacier terminus in cast shadow is limited by the quality and resolution of the satellite images used, causing uncertainties in the derived length change (Paul et al, 2011).…”

Section: Glacier Length Changes Vs In Situ Length Changesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Glacier area and length changes in Norway from repeat inventories

2014

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Abstract. In this study, we assess glacier area and length changes in mainland Norway from repeat Landsat TM/ETM+-derived inventories and digitized topographic maps. The multi-temporal glacier inventory consists of glacier outlines from three time ranges: 1947 to 1985 (GI n50 ), 1988 to 1997 (GI 1990), and 1999 to 2006 (GI 2000. For the northernmost regions, we include an additional inventory (GI 1900 ) based on historic maps surveyed between 1895 and 1907. Area and length changes are assessed per glacier unit, 36 subregions, and for three main parts of Norway: southern, central, and northern. The results show a decrease in the glacierized area from 2994 km 2 in GI n50 to 2668 km 2 in GI 2000 (total 2722 glacier units), corresponding to an area reduction of −326 km 2 , or −11 % of the initial GI n50 area. The average length change for the full epoch (within GI n50 and GI 2000 ) is −240 m. Overall, the comparison reveals both area and length reductions as general patterns, even though some glaciers have advanced. The three northernmost subregions show the highest retreat rates, whereas the central part of Norway shows the lowest change rates. Glacier area and length changes indicate that glaciers in maritime areas in southern Norway have retreated more than glaciers in the interior, and glaciers in the north have retreated more than southern glaciers. These observed spatial trends in glacier change are related to a combination of several factors such as glacier geometry, elevation, and continentality, especially in southern Norway.

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“…In the Nordfjord region (western Norway) this trend is also observed and the magnitude of glacial retreat in the Erdalen and Bødalen valleys has reached its fastest rate over the last century in recent years (e.g. Winkler et al, 2009;Laute and Beylich, 2013). The retreat of ice from glaciated valleys (Mavlyudov et al, 2012) causes important changes in geomorphic processes of glacial erosion, but also has an impact on the hydrological resources by changing runoff and associated sediment transport as well as on the formation of soils on the newly exposed surfaces.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 82%

Variations of soil profile characteristics due to varying time spans since ice retreat in the inner Nordfjord, western Norway

et al. 2014

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Abstract. In the Erdalen and Bødalen drainage basins located in the inner Nordfjord in western Norway the soils were formed after deglaciation. The climate in the uppermost valley areas is sub-arctic oceanic, and the lithology consists of Precambrian granitic orthogneisses on which Leptosols and Regosols are the most common soils. The Little Ice Age glacier advance affected parts of the valleys with the maximum glacier extent around AD 1750. In this study five sites on moraine and colluvium materials were selected to examine main soil properties, grain size distribution, soil organic carbon and pH to assess if soil profile characteristics and patterns of fallout radionuclides (FRNs) and environmental radionuclides (ERNs) are affected by different stages of ice retreat. The Leptosols on the moraines are shallow, poorly developed and vegetated with moss and small birches. The two selected profiles show different radionuclide activities and grain size distribution. The sampled soils on the colluviums outside the LIA glacier limit became ice-free during the Preboral. The Regosols present better-developed profiles, thicker organic horizons and are fully covered by grasses. Activity of 137 Cs and 210 Pb ex concentrate at the topsoil and decrease sharply with depth. The grain size distribution of these soils also reflects the difference in geomorphic processes that have affected the colluvium sites. Significantly lower mass activities of FRNs were found in soils on the moraines than on colluviums. Variations of ERN activities in the valleys were related to characteristics of soil mineralogical composition. These results indicate differences in soil development that are consistent with the age of ice retreat. In addition, the pattern distribution of 137 Cs and 210 Pb ex activities differs in the soils related to the LIA glacier limits in the drainage basins.

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Glacier fluctuations of Jostedalsbreen, western Norway, during the past 20 years: the sensitive response of maritime mountain glaciers

Cited by 48 publications

References 52 publications

Contribution of snow and glacier melt to discharge for highly glacierised catchments in Norway

Contribution of snow and glacier melt to discharge for highly glacierised catchments in Norway

Glacier area and length changes in Norway from repeat inventories

Variations of soil profile characteristics due to varying time spans since ice retreat in the inner Nordfjord, western Norway

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