An investigation into the relative importance of different climatic and oceanographic factors for the frontal ablation rate of Kronebreen, Svalbard

Ice-ocean interactions are an important area of glaciological research today, in light of evidence that accelerating levels of global mass loss are being driven by submarine melt and calving, as opposed to surface melt (Khazendar et al., 2016). Mass losses at tidewater glaciers are related to a comp...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Holmes, Felicity Alice
Format: Bachelor Thesis
Language:English
Published: Stockholms universitet, Institutionen för naturgeografi 2018
Subjects:
Online Access:http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:su:diva-158459
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Summary:Ice-ocean interactions are an important area of glaciological research today, in light of evidence that accelerating levels of global mass loss are being driven by submarine melt and calving, as opposed to surface melt (Khazendar et al., 2016). Mass losses at tidewater glaciers are related to a complex set of processes involving atmospheric circulation, ocean circulation, bathymetry, and glaciological processes. The fact that so many processes are involved, as well as a lack of in situ observational data, has made it hard to distinguish long term directional trends from short term natural variability. However, increasing knowledge about these processes is vital for the creation of better estimates of sea level rise and so has societal implications. This thesis uses observational data collected using LoTUS buoys from close to the calving front of Kronebreen, Svalbard, to investigate ice-ocean interactions in this locality. Frontal ablation rates are determined from the use of high resolution ground range detected Sentinel 1 radar images and then analysed in conjunction with meteorological and oceanographic variables, as well as compared to a physically based submarine melt rate.