Discovery of the Fastest Ice Flow along the Central Flow Line of Austre Lovénbreen, a Poly-thermal Valley Glacier in Svalbard

• Published in: Remote Sensing
• Main Authors: Songtao Ai, Xi Ding, Jiachun An, Guobiao Lin, Zemin Wang, Ming Yan
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute 2019
• Subjects: ice flow velocity; central flow line; poly-thermal glacier; Austre Lovénbreen; Svalbard; Arctic; glacier; Spitsbergen
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.3390/rs11121488

Ice flow velocity is a sensitive indicator of glacier variations both controlling and representing the delivery of ice and affecting the future stability of ice masses in a warming climate. As one of the poly-thermal glaciers in the high Arctic, Austre Lovénbreen (AL) is on the northwestern coast of Spitsbergen, Svalbard. The ice flow velocity of AL was investigated using in situ global positioning system (GPS) observations over 14 years and numerical modelling with Elmer/Ice. First, the ice flow velocity field of AL along central flow line was presented and the ice flow velocity is approximately 4 m/a. Obvious seasonal changes of ice flow velocity can be found in the middle of the glacier, where the velocity in spring-summer is 47% larger than in autumn–winter in 2016, and the mean annual velocity increased 14% from 2009 until 2016. Second, the numerical simulation was performed considering the poly-thermal character of the glacier, and indicated that there are two peak ice flow regions on the glacier, and not just one peak ice flow region as previously believed. The new peak ice flow zone found by simulation was verified by field work, which also demonstrated that the velocity of the newly identified zone is 8% faster than the previously identified zone. Third, although our field observations showed that the ice flow velocity is slowly increasing recently, the maximum ice flow velocity will soon begin to decrease gradually in the long term according to glacier evolution modelling of AL.