Glacial Outburst Floods Responsible for Major Environmental Shift in Arctic Coastal Catchment, Rekvedbukta, Albert I Land, Svalbard

• Published in: Remote Sensing
• Main Authors: Aleksandra Wołoszyn, Zofia Owczarek, Iwo Wieczorek, Marek Kasprzak, Mateusz C. Strzelecki
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2022
• Subjects: coastal lagoon; shoreline changes; Digital Shoreline Analysis System (DSAS); glacial lake outburst floods (GLOFs); coastal catchment; Arctic; Science; Q; Albert I Land; Glacial Lake; Svalbard; Climate change
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.3390/rs14246325; https://doaj.org/article/fcf2d6b2d3cc4e24a29d9b537f78d427

Small Arctic coastal catchments and coastal lagoon systems are some of the most vulnerable to climate change. Glacial retreat and the development of glacial lakes and drainage systems provide opportunities for hazardous events such as GLOFs. We observe that the stability of lagoons and their associated barriers are controlled by the frequency and magnitude of storms approaching the coasts, access to sediment supplies and resilience to sea-level rise. Based on multidecadal remote sensing data, we were able to identify the rate of glacial recession, the development of glacial lakes, vegetation response to climate change and a GLOF event, and shoreline and lagoon responses to the environmental shifts within the small catchment. Here we present an example of lagoon system evolution where a glacial outburst flood exerted significant control over lagoon drainage and coastal barrier stability.