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You are browsing the archive for svalbard glacier retreat Archives - Page 2 of 2 - From a Glacier's Perspective.

July 15, 2015

Samarinbreen, Svalbard Rapid Retreat 1990-2014

Samarinbreen (SA) 1990 left, and 2014 right, Landsat image comparison.  KO=Korberbreen, CH=Chomjakovbreen, ME=Mendeleevbreen Red arrows indicate 1990 terminus position, yellow arrows 2014 terminus. and purple dots the snowline. Samarinbreen terminated in a calving front in Samarinvagan, a bay on the southern side of Hornsund Fjord. Hornsund is a fjord that in 2015 almost cuts through the southern Island of Svalbard, due to the retreat of Hamberbergbreen and Hornbreen. The Institute of …

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September 4, 2014

Vasilievbreen Glacier Retreat, Svalbard

Vasilievbreen is a glacier that terminates on the east coast of the southern island of Svalbard a short distance southeast of Hornsund. In 1990 this glacier had a single continuous terminus margin along the coast. The glacier retreated 50 m/year from 1936 to 1990, as the embayment of Isbukta expanded. The glacier has since separated into distinct termini, on each image colored arrows indicate the same specific location, red arrow …

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January 23, 2013

Svitjodbreen Retreat, Northwest Svalbard

Svitjodbreen is a 10 km long tidewater outlet glacier in northwest Svalbard, Albert Land. The glacier drains north into Fugelfjorden, the highest elevation of the main glacier is 600 meters with a few neighboring peaks reaching 800 m, not very high. NW Svalbard is a region that has experienced extensive long term thinning from 1965 to 2007 (Nuth et al, 2010), with an average glacier wide thinning of 0.5 m/year …

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July 4, 2012

Olsokbreen Retreat, Svalbard

Svalbard is host to 163 tidewater glaciers with a collective calving front of 860 km (BŁASZCZYK et al, 2009). The southernmost of these glaciers on the west coast of Sørkappland is Olsokbreen, purple arrow. Olsokbreen has a 5 km calving front and its retreat was observed to have retreated 3.5 km from 1900-2008 (Zjaja et al, 2008). Here we examine Landsat imagery from 1990 and 2014 and Geoeye from 2012 …

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April 30, 2012

Albrectbreen, Svalbard retreat and thinning

Albrechtbreen is a glacier draining the northeast side of the Edgoya Ice Cap. James et al (2012) report that the glacier retreated at a rate of 33 m/year from 1971-2000 and 64 m/year after 2000. The glacier terminates on an outwash plain at 50 meters, and begins from the ice cap at 300 meters. From 1971-2005 the ice cap has had a mass balance loss of -0.6 m/year (Nuth et …

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December 3, 2011

Hornbreen-Hambergbreen Retreat Svalbard

Landsat comparison from 1990 and 2014.  The 1990 terminus is at the red arrows and red dots, the 2014 terminus is the yellow dots.  Hornsund is a fjord that in 2014 almost cuts through the southern Island of Svalbard. The Institute of Geophysics Polish Academy have maintained a Polish Research Station in Hornsund since 1957. The 1984 map, from the University of Silesia, of the glaciers and geomorphology document the …

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July 15, 2011

Retreat of Hansbreen, Svalbard

Hansbreen is tidewater glacier flowing into Hornsund in sw Svalbard. The glacier has been examined in detail over the last twenty years from the Polish Research Station. The glacier has retreated 2.7 kilometers from 1900 to 2008. The chart below from Oerlemans, Jania and Kolandara (2011) illustrates this retreat as does the comparative images from the Polish Research Station. The glacier mass balance has been measured since 1989 and is …

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July 12, 2011

Retreat of Nannbreen, Svalbard

Nannbreen is a 5 km long land terminating glacier in southwest Svalbard. The glacier is just north of Hornsund. During the course of the 20th century Nannbreen retreated from its Little Ice Age moraine complex forming a new proglacial lake. The glacier ends at an elevation of 150 meters descending from 600 meters, the snowline in several Landsat images from the last decade has been 400-450 meters. By 2000 (first …

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