Glacier Characteristic Variability in Polar Regions

A special issue of Geosciences (ISSN 2076-3263).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 December 2020) | Viewed by 8704

Special Issue Editor


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Guest Editor
Glaciology Department, Institute of Geography, Russian Academy of Sciences, 119017 Moscow, Russia
Interests: glaciation of the Arctic; formation of icebergs; change of the glacial area and volume; internal structure of glaciers; remote sensing methods

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

This Special Issue of Geosciences is dedicated to "Glacier Characteristic Variability in Polar Regions". Glaciers and ice caps are the most important component of terrestrial geosystems in polar regions. Their behavior integrates the complex interactions and feedbacks of climatic, hydrological, and marine drivers with glacier internal properties related with snow and firn development, englacial hydrothermal processes, water flow dynamics at glacier bedrock, climatic and dynamic mass balance, and calving and frontal ablation at different marine environments. Therefore, due to their specific geographical location, morphology, and complex interaction with ocean and climatological settings, glaciers and ice caps in polar regions differ from those in other regions of the world and require special attention. With respect to climate change and its effects on cryosphere, glacier changes in polar regions are characterized by very particular spatiotemporal patterns due to different response time, potential marine instability, and surge development.

Given the geographical and glaciological uniqueness of polar environments as well as their particular sensitivity to environmental change, we invite you to contribute an article to this Special Issue by reporting on your studies that provide new insights into different aspects of variability of glaciers and ice caps in polar regions.

Dr. Andrey Glazovsky
Guest Editor

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Keywords

  • Arctic
  • Antarctica
  • polar regions
  • glacier
  • ice cap
  • mass balance
  • calving
  • variability
  • instability
  • remote sensing
  • modeling

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

23 pages, 5932 KiB  
Article
Mass Balance of Austre Grønfjordbreen, Svalbard, 2006–2020, Estimated by Glaciological, Geodetic and Modeling Aproaches
by Nelly Elagina, Stanislav Kutuzov, Ekaterina Rets, Andrei Smirnov, Robert Chernov, Ivan Lavrentiev and Bulat Mavlyudov
Geosciences 2021, 11(2), 78; https://doi.org/10.3390/geosciences11020078 - 10 Feb 2021
Cited by 12 | Viewed by 2810
Abstract
Glacier mass balance measurements, reconstructions and modeling are the precondition for assessing glacier sensitivity to regional climatic fluctuations. This paper presents new glaciological and geodetic mass balance data of Austre Grønfjordbreen located in the western part of Nordenskiöld Land in Central Spitsbergen. The [...] Read more.
Glacier mass balance measurements, reconstructions and modeling are the precondition for assessing glacier sensitivity to regional climatic fluctuations. This paper presents new glaciological and geodetic mass balance data of Austre Grønfjordbreen located in the western part of Nordenskiöld Land in Central Spitsbergen. The average annual mass balance from 2014 to 2019 was −1.59 m w.e. The geodetic mass balance from 2008 to 2017 was −1.34 m w.e. The mass balance was also reconstructed by the temperature-index model from 2006 to 2020 and by spatially-distributed energy-balance models for 2011–2015 and 2019. We found a cumulative mass balance of −21.62 m w.e. over 2006–2020. The calculated mass-balance sensitivity to temperature was −1.04 m w.e. °C−1, which corresponds to the highest glacier mass balance sensitivity among Svalbard glaciers. Sensitivity to precipitation change was 0.10 m w.e. for a 10% increase in precipitation throughout the balance year. Comparing the results of the current study with other glacier mass balance assessments in Svalbard, we found that Austre Grønfjordbreen loses mass most rapidly due to its location, which is mostly influenced by the warm West Spitsbergen Current, small area and low elevation range. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Glacier Characteristic Variability in Polar Regions)
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21 pages, 7281 KiB  
Article
Ice-Cliff Morphometry in Identifying the Surge Phenomenon of Tidewater Glaciers (Spitsbergen, Svalbard)
by Joanna Ewa Szafraniec
Geosciences 2020, 10(9), 328; https://doi.org/10.3390/geosciences10090328 - 20 Aug 2020
Cited by 9 | Viewed by 4943
Abstract
In this study, 110 tidewater glaciers from Spitsbergen were studied to characterize the frontal zone using morphometric indicators. In addition, their time variability was also determined based on features of the active phase of glacier surges. Landsat satellite imagery and topographic maps were [...] Read more.
In this study, 110 tidewater glaciers from Spitsbergen were studied to characterize the frontal zone using morphometric indicators. In addition, their time variability was also determined based on features of the active phase of glacier surges. Landsat satellite imagery and topographic maps were used for digitalization of the ice-cliffs line. In recent years (2014–2017) all the glaciers studied can be thus classified as: stagnant (33%), retreating and deeply recessing (33%), starting to move forward/fulfilling the frontal zone (23%), and surging (11%). Indicators of the glacier frontal zone (CfD and CfE) allow to identify the beginning and the end of the active phase through changes in their values by ca. 0.05–0.06 by the year and get even bigger for large glaciers as opposed to typical interannual differences within the limits of ±0.01 to 0.02. The active phase lasted an average of 6–10 years. The presence of a “glacier buttress system” and the “pointed arch” structure of the ice-cliff seem to be an important factor regulating the tidewater glacier stability. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Glacier Characteristic Variability in Polar Regions)
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