Ice-Cliff Morphometry in Identifying the Surge Phenomenon of Tidewater Glaciers (Spitsbergen, Svalbard)

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 use...

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Published in:Geosciences
Main Author: Joanna Ewa Szafraniec
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2020
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.3390/geosciences10090328
https://doaj.org/article/0bf346015b994aa6b5163d3f2196183a
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spelling ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:0bf346015b994aa6b5163d3f2196183a 2023-05-15T16:22:11+02:00 Ice-Cliff Morphometry in Identifying the Surge Phenomenon of Tidewater Glaciers (Spitsbergen, Svalbard) Joanna Ewa Szafraniec 2020-08-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.3390/geosciences10090328 https://doaj.org/article/0bf346015b994aa6b5163d3f2196183a EN eng MDPI AG https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3263/10/9/328 https://doaj.org/toc/2076-3263 doi:10.3390/geosciences10090328 2076-3263 https://doaj.org/article/0bf346015b994aa6b5163d3f2196183a Geosciences, Vol 10, Iss 328, p 328 (2020) ice-cliff morphometry “glacier buttress system” glacier surge Spitsbergen tidewater glaciers Geology QE1-996.5 article 2020 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.3390/geosciences10090328 2022-12-31T06:13:50Z 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. Article in Journal/Newspaper glacier Svalbard Tidewater Spitsbergen Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Buttress ENVELOPE(-57.083,-57.083,-63.550,-63.550) Svalbard Geosciences 10 9 328
institution Open Polar
collection Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles
op_collection_id ftdoajarticles
language English
topic ice-cliff morphometry
“glacier buttress system”
glacier surge
Spitsbergen
tidewater glaciers
Geology
QE1-996.5
spellingShingle ice-cliff morphometry
“glacier buttress system”
glacier surge
Spitsbergen
tidewater glaciers
Geology
QE1-996.5
Joanna Ewa Szafraniec
Ice-Cliff Morphometry in Identifying the Surge Phenomenon of Tidewater Glaciers (Spitsbergen, Svalbard)
topic_facet ice-cliff morphometry
“glacier buttress system”
glacier surge
Spitsbergen
tidewater glaciers
Geology
QE1-996.5
description 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.
format Article in Journal/Newspaper
author Joanna Ewa Szafraniec
author_facet Joanna Ewa Szafraniec
author_sort Joanna Ewa Szafraniec
title Ice-Cliff Morphometry in Identifying the Surge Phenomenon of Tidewater Glaciers (Spitsbergen, Svalbard)
title_short Ice-Cliff Morphometry in Identifying the Surge Phenomenon of Tidewater Glaciers (Spitsbergen, Svalbard)
title_full Ice-Cliff Morphometry in Identifying the Surge Phenomenon of Tidewater Glaciers (Spitsbergen, Svalbard)
title_fullStr Ice-Cliff Morphometry in Identifying the Surge Phenomenon of Tidewater Glaciers (Spitsbergen, Svalbard)
title_full_unstemmed Ice-Cliff Morphometry in Identifying the Surge Phenomenon of Tidewater Glaciers (Spitsbergen, Svalbard)
title_sort ice-cliff morphometry in identifying the surge phenomenon of tidewater glaciers (spitsbergen, svalbard)
publisher MDPI AG
publishDate 2020
url https://doi.org/10.3390/geosciences10090328
https://doaj.org/article/0bf346015b994aa6b5163d3f2196183a
long_lat ENVELOPE(-57.083,-57.083,-63.550,-63.550)
geographic Buttress
Svalbard
geographic_facet Buttress
Svalbard
genre glacier
Svalbard
Tidewater
Spitsbergen
genre_facet glacier
Svalbard
Tidewater
Spitsbergen
op_source Geosciences, Vol 10, Iss 328, p 328 (2020)
op_relation https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3263/10/9/328
https://doaj.org/toc/2076-3263
doi:10.3390/geosciences10090328
2076-3263
https://doaj.org/article/0bf346015b994aa6b5163d3f2196183a
op_doi https://doi.org/10.3390/geosciences10090328
container_title Geosciences
container_volume 10
container_issue 9
container_start_page 328
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