Briksdalsbreen, western Norway: climatic effects on the terminal response of a temperate glacier between AD 1901 and 1994
Annual measurements of the frontal variations of Briksdalsbreen are compared with twentieth-century records of summer temperature, winter precipitation and mass budget to evaluate the effects of climatic change on the glacier fluctuations. Frontal variations are shown to be determined by both summer...
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Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/095968369500500310 http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/095968369500500310 |
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crsagepubl:10.1177/095968369500500310 2024-04-28T08:20:05+00:00 Briksdalsbreen, western Norway: climatic effects on the terminal response of a temperate glacier between AD 1901 and 1994 Nesje, Atle Johannessen, Truls Birks, H.J.B. 1995 http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/095968369500500310 http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/095968369500500310 en eng SAGE Publications http://journals.sagepub.com/page/policies/text-and-data-mining-license The Holocene volume 5, issue 3, page 343-347 ISSN 0959-6836 1477-0911 Paleontology Earth-Surface Processes Ecology Archeology Global and Planetary Change journal-article 1995 crsagepubl https://doi.org/10.1177/095968369500500310 2024-04-09T08:02:49Z Annual measurements of the frontal variations of Briksdalsbreen are compared with twentieth-century records of summer temperature, winter precipitation and mass budget to evaluate the effects of climatic change on the glacier fluctuations. Frontal variations are shown to be determined by both summer temperature and winter precipitation. Between AD 1901 and 1931 the glacier front was in a more-or-less stable position. Warm summers in the 1930s and 1940s caused a significant retreat of the glacier, reaching a maximum rate of annual retreat of 84 m in 1948. Cooler summers in the late 1940s led to a stabilization of the glacier front from 1952. Between 1987/88 and 1993/94 the terminus advanced 231 m, 155 m of which has occurred after 1992. The increased glacier net mass balance in western Norway after the 1988/89 season resulted in the largest annual glacier advances measured this century at Briksdalsbreen (75 and 80 m in 1992/93 and 1993/94, respectively). Present knowledge about glacier history in western Norway since the termination of the last glaciation about 9000 years ago suggests that annual glacier expansions of such magnitude only occurred during the 'Little Ice Age' (c. AD 1650-1920). The lag time of frontal response of Briksdalsbreen to a change in annual net balance has been calculated to be 3-4 years, which confirms that glacier termini can react rapidly to short-term climatic changes. Article in Journal/Newspaper glacier SAGE Publications The Holocene 5 3 343 347 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
SAGE Publications |
op_collection_id |
crsagepubl |
language |
English |
topic |
Paleontology Earth-Surface Processes Ecology Archeology Global and Planetary Change |
spellingShingle |
Paleontology Earth-Surface Processes Ecology Archeology Global and Planetary Change Nesje, Atle Johannessen, Truls Birks, H.J.B. Briksdalsbreen, western Norway: climatic effects on the terminal response of a temperate glacier between AD 1901 and 1994 |
topic_facet |
Paleontology Earth-Surface Processes Ecology Archeology Global and Planetary Change |
description |
Annual measurements of the frontal variations of Briksdalsbreen are compared with twentieth-century records of summer temperature, winter precipitation and mass budget to evaluate the effects of climatic change on the glacier fluctuations. Frontal variations are shown to be determined by both summer temperature and winter precipitation. Between AD 1901 and 1931 the glacier front was in a more-or-less stable position. Warm summers in the 1930s and 1940s caused a significant retreat of the glacier, reaching a maximum rate of annual retreat of 84 m in 1948. Cooler summers in the late 1940s led to a stabilization of the glacier front from 1952. Between 1987/88 and 1993/94 the terminus advanced 231 m, 155 m of which has occurred after 1992. The increased glacier net mass balance in western Norway after the 1988/89 season resulted in the largest annual glacier advances measured this century at Briksdalsbreen (75 and 80 m in 1992/93 and 1993/94, respectively). Present knowledge about glacier history in western Norway since the termination of the last glaciation about 9000 years ago suggests that annual glacier expansions of such magnitude only occurred during the 'Little Ice Age' (c. AD 1650-1920). The lag time of frontal response of Briksdalsbreen to a change in annual net balance has been calculated to be 3-4 years, which confirms that glacier termini can react rapidly to short-term climatic changes. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Nesje, Atle Johannessen, Truls Birks, H.J.B. |
author_facet |
Nesje, Atle Johannessen, Truls Birks, H.J.B. |
author_sort |
Nesje, Atle |
title |
Briksdalsbreen, western Norway: climatic effects on the terminal response of a temperate glacier between AD 1901 and 1994 |
title_short |
Briksdalsbreen, western Norway: climatic effects on the terminal response of a temperate glacier between AD 1901 and 1994 |
title_full |
Briksdalsbreen, western Norway: climatic effects on the terminal response of a temperate glacier between AD 1901 and 1994 |
title_fullStr |
Briksdalsbreen, western Norway: climatic effects on the terminal response of a temperate glacier between AD 1901 and 1994 |
title_full_unstemmed |
Briksdalsbreen, western Norway: climatic effects on the terminal response of a temperate glacier between AD 1901 and 1994 |
title_sort |
briksdalsbreen, western norway: climatic effects on the terminal response of a temperate glacier between ad 1901 and 1994 |
publisher |
SAGE Publications |
publishDate |
1995 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/095968369500500310 http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/095968369500500310 |
genre |
glacier |
genre_facet |
glacier |
op_source |
The Holocene volume 5, issue 3, page 343-347 ISSN 0959-6836 1477-0911 |
op_rights |
http://journals.sagepub.com/page/policies/text-and-data-mining-license |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1177/095968369500500310 |
container_title |
The Holocene |
container_volume |
5 |
container_issue |
3 |
container_start_page |
343 |
op_container_end_page |
347 |
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1797583199647301632 |