Using Clay Mineralogy to Analyze Sediment Sources, Kronebreen and Kongsvegen Glaciers, Svalbard, Norway, 2012

• Main Author: Elizabeth Grayce Ceperley
• Format: Dataset
• Language: unknown
• Published: Arctic Data Center 2013
• Subjects: EARTH SCIENCE > LAND SURFACE > EROSION/SEDIMENTATION > SEDIMENTS; EARTH SCIENCE > OCEANS > OCEAN TEMPERATURE > WATER TEMPERATURE; EARTH SCIENCE > TERRESTRIAL HYDROSPHERE > GLACIERS/ICE SHEETS > GLACIER MASS BALANCE/ICE SHEET MASS BALANCE; EARTH SCIENCE > PALEOCLIMATE > OCEAN/LAKE RECORDS > LAKE LEVELS; EARTH SCIENCE > PALEOCLIMATE > LAND RECORDS > SEDIMENTS; EARTH SCIENCE > PALEOCLIMATE > OCEAN/LAKE RECORDS > SEDIMENTS; EARTH SCIENCE > PALEOCLIMATE > OCEAN/LAKE RECORDS > VARVE DEPOSITS; EARTH SCIENCE > LAND SURFACE > EROSION/SEDIMENTATION > DEGRADATION; EARTH SCIENCE > LAND SURFACE > EROSION/SEDIMENTATION > SEDIMENT TRANSPORT; EARTH SCIENCE > CRYOSPHERE > GLACIERS/ICE SHEETS > GLACIER MASS BALANCE/ICE SHEET MASS BALANCE; EARTH SCIENCE > OCEANS > MARINE SEDIMENTS > SEDIMENT TRANSPORT; EARTH SCIENCE > OCEANS > MARINE SEDIMENTS > TURBIDITY; EARTH SCIENCE > LAND SURFACE > LAND TEMPERATURE > LAND SURFACE TEMPERATURE; EARTH SCIENCE > LAND SURFACE > EROSION/SEDIMENTATION > ENTRAINMENT; EARTH SCIENCE > TERRESTRIAL HYDROSPHERE > GLACIERS/ICE SHEETS > GLACIERS; EARTH SCIENCE > CRYOSPHERE > GLACIERS/ICE SHEETS > GLACIERS; EARTH SCIENCE > LAND SURFACE > EROSION/SEDIMENTATION > SEDIMENTATION; EARTH SCIENCE > CRYOSPHERE > FROZEN GROUND > SOIL TEMPERATURE; EARTH SCIENCE > CRYOSPHERE > FROZEN GROUND > PERIGLACIAL PROCESSES; EARTH SCIENCE > LAND SURFACE > EROSION/SEDIMENTATION > SUSPENDED SOLIDS; IN SITU/LABORATORY INSTRUMENTS > SAMPLERS > GRABBERS/TRAPS/COLLECTORS > SEDIMENT TRAPS; IN SITU/LABORATORY INSTRUMENTS > CORERS > SEDIMENT CORERS; IN SITU/LABORATORY INSTRUMENTS > CONDUCTIVITY SENSORS > CONDUCTIVITY METERS; EARTH REMOTE SENSING INSTRUMENTS > PASSIVE REMOTE SENSING > PHOTON/OPTICAL DETECTORS > CAMERAS > CAMERAS; EARTH REMOTE SENSING INSTRUMENTS > PASSIVE REMOTE SENSING > PROFILERS/SOUNDERS > TEMPERATURE PROFILERS; IN SITU/LABORATORY INSTRUMENTS > RECORDERS/LOGGERS > TEMPERATURE LOGGERS; IN SITU/LABORATORY INSTRUMENTS > GAUGES > STREAM GAUGES; EARTH REMOTE SENSING INSTRUMENTS > PASSIVE REMOTE SENSING > POSITIONING/NAVIGATION > GPS > GPS > GLOBAL POSITIONING SYSTEM; EARTH REMOTE SENSING INSTRUMENTS > ACTIVE REMOTE SENSING > PROFILERS/SOUNDERS > ACOUSTIC SOUNDERS > ECHO SOUNDERS; IN SITU/LABORATORY INSTRUMENTS > PROBES > PROBES; IN SITU/LABORATORY INSTRUMENTS > CORERS > CORING DEVICES; IN SITU/LABORATORY INSTRUMENTS > PROBES > STEEL MEASURING TAPE; IN SITU/LABORATORY INSTRUMENTS > CURRENT/WIND METERS > CURRENT METERS; MANNED FIELD STATION; HOURLY TO DAILY; DAILY TO WEEKLY; ANNUAL; 1 MINUTE TO 1 HOUR; MONTHLY TO ANNUAL; WEEKLY TO MONTHLY; inlandWaters; oceans; environment; climatologyMeteorologyAtmosphere; Svalbard; Norway; Jan Mayen; Kronebreen; Kongsvegen; Long Fjord; glacier; Ice Sheet; Kongsfjord*; Kongsfjorden; North Atlantic; Tidewater
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.18739/A2T14TP0C

Svalbard is a Norwegian island archipelago located at 79°N whose glaciers are highly susceptible to climate fluctuations. Glaciers located in Svalbard sit between warm water from the south and cold polar water from the north. This position increases their sensitivity to climate fluctuations. Due to amplified and continuous climatic warming at high latitudes, the glaciers of Svalbard are prime subjects for understanding not only glacial dynamics, but also the effects of contemporary climate change. Tidewater glaciers are dynamic systems, with ice retreating and glacial and subglacial streams continuously shifting. An understanding the current spatial distribution of sediment sources will aid in interpreting sediment core data. From this we can infer former climactic and environmental conditions. Kongsfjorden is a 15 km long fjord located in northwest Svalbard, with the glaciers of Kronebreen and Kongsvegen forming the head of the fjord. There are two main sediment sources that discharge sediment rich water into the fjord: a subglacial stream that forms an upwelling plume at the calving margin, and a glacial stream that forms a prograding delta complex from the southern margin of Kongsvegen glacier. This project aims to characterize these sediment sources based on the clay mineralogy found in the samples and to map their spatial distribution in the fjord. Sediment from the sediment sources was collected using water samples and vacuum filtering the water in order to catch the sediment. Sediment from the fjord floor was collected using an Eckman box-corer attached to a wire and winch system. Twenty-nine samples were collected, dried, and sieved to separate the silt and clay fraction from the coarser sediment. Using X-ray diffraction, the clay mineralogy of the samples was found to be composed primarily of illite and chlorite. The 001 diffraction peak of chlorite is not visible in several samples. Chlorite is commonly found in metamorphic rocks, which are present as a bedrock source underneath Kronebreen glacier, but not Kongsvegen. The absence of the 001 chlorite peak could be due to sample preparation or a weaker concentration of chlorite in those samples. Overall, the sediment in front of the calving margin of the Kronebreen and Kongsvegen glacier complex is well mixed and the sediment distributed by the upwelling plume and Kongsvegen Delta are not differentiable in the box cores samples