Mass-balance estimates on the glacier complex Kongsvegen and Sveabreen, Spitsbergen, Svalbard, using radioactive layers

• Published in: Journal of Glaciology
• Main Authors: Lefauconnier, Bernard, Hagen, Jon Ove, Pinglot, Jean Francis, Pourchet, Michel
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Cambridge University Press (CUP) 1994
• Subjects: Earth-Surface Processes; Svalbard; Ela; Kongsvegen; Sveabreen; glacier; Journal of Glaciology; Novaya Zemlya; Spitsbergen
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0022143000007450; https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0022143000007450

Abstract Analyses of total β and γ radioactivity have been carried out on ten shallow ice cores collected in 1989 and 1990 on Kongsvegen and Sveabreen, Spitsbergen. No peak of total β radioactivity, corresponding to the Chernobyl accident (1986), can be identified. Chernobyl layers were identified by 137 Cs and 134 Cs activities, and a signal from the nuclear tests in Novaya Zemlya (1961–62), was detected at one location by 137 Cs activity. The mean net accumulation for the periods 1986–89 and 1962–88 was estimated for both glaciers. Using topographic data, the mean net ablation on Kongsvegen was estimated for the period 1964–90 and the mean net balances were calculated. The results agree with recent direct glaciological balance measurements. For the period 1986–89, the net accumulation was higher on Sveabreen than on Kongsvegen, and the equilibrium-line altitudes (ELA) were around 450 and 520 m a.s.l., respectively. Kongsvegen had a positive balance of 0.11 m w.eq. and Sveabreen was in equilibrium, whereas for the last 26 years the balance of Kongsvegen was slightly negative (−0.10 m w.eq.) and the ELA was around 560 m a.s.l.