Mass balance and local characteristics of three glaciers in southern Norway, between 1980 and 2018 : An analysis of the mass balance and the local characteristics of Ålfotbreen, Storbreen and Gråsubreen

Glaciers are known as climate indicators because of their sensitivity towards climatic perturbations and fluctuations. A majority of the world’s glaciers are currently melting as a response to climatic perturbations. Glaciers in Norway display the same pattern, and the loss of mass have accelerated...

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Main Author: Eriksson Rehn, Ida
Format: Bachelor Thesis
Language:English
Published: Stockholms universitet, Institutionen för naturgeografi 2019
Subjects:
Online Access:http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:su:diva-184671
https://doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.17396.17282/1
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record_format openpolar
spelling ftstockholmuniv:oai:DiVA.org:su-184671 2023-05-15T16:21:58+02:00 Mass balance and local characteristics of three glaciers in southern Norway, between 1980 and 2018 : An analysis of the mass balance and the local characteristics of Ålfotbreen, Storbreen and Gråsubreen Eriksson Rehn, Ida 2019 application/pdf http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:su:diva-184671 https://doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.17396.17282/1 eng eng Stockholms universitet, Institutionen för naturgeografi http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:su:diva-184671 doi:10.13140/RG.2.2.17396.17282/1 info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess Glacier mass balance mass balance sensitivity continental maritime Natural Sciences Naturvetenskap Environmental Sciences Miljövetenskap Student thesis info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis text 2019 ftstockholmuniv https://doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.17396.17282/1 2023-02-23T21:40:33Z Glaciers are known as climate indicators because of their sensitivity towards climatic perturbations and fluctuations. A majority of the world’s glaciers are currently melting as a response to climatic perturbations. Glaciers in Norway display the same pattern, and the loss of mass have accelerated during the 1990s to this day. The glaciers of interest in this paper is situated in a west to east transect with the maritime Ålfotbreen in the west, to the continental Gråsubreen in the east, with the intermediate Storbreen in between. Differences in the local climate have a significant impact on the future state of glaciers. This paper aims to compare the mass balance, mass turnover and mass balance sensitivity of the three glaciers of interest, between the years 1980 and 2018, to demonstrate the importance of the local climate and characteristics for glacial existence. Mass balance data series of each glaciers’ mass balance was analysed. In addition, development trends of the mean annual summer air temperature for respective glaciers’ region were also conducted. A literature review of relevant reports and publications will be presented and analysed to complement the result of this paper. The results of this paper indicate that the characteristics of respective glacier vary along the increasing continentality of the west to east transect, with the mass balance sensitivity decreasing from west to east. The mass turnover displayed varying patterns, between the years 1980 and 2018. ÅLF had the highest mass turnover for the period and GRÅ the smallest with STO in between. It can be concluded, based on the result of this paper, that the fate of glaciers depends on geographical location and local characteristics. The resemblance between Storbreen and Storglaciären, and the existence of Helagsglaciären who seem to survive against the odds, strengthens the importance of local characteristics. Bachelor Thesis glacier Stockholm University: Publications (DiVA) Norway Storbreen ENVELOPE(8.269,8.269,62.521,62.521) Storglaciären ENVELOPE(18.560,18.560,67.904,67.904)
institution Open Polar
collection Stockholm University: Publications (DiVA)
op_collection_id ftstockholmuniv
language English
topic Glacier
mass balance
mass balance sensitivity
continental
maritime
Natural Sciences
Naturvetenskap
Environmental Sciences
Miljövetenskap
spellingShingle Glacier
mass balance
mass balance sensitivity
continental
maritime
Natural Sciences
Naturvetenskap
Environmental Sciences
Miljövetenskap
Eriksson Rehn, Ida
Mass balance and local characteristics of three glaciers in southern Norway, between 1980 and 2018 : An analysis of the mass balance and the local characteristics of Ålfotbreen, Storbreen and Gråsubreen
topic_facet Glacier
mass balance
mass balance sensitivity
continental
maritime
Natural Sciences
Naturvetenskap
Environmental Sciences
Miljövetenskap
description Glaciers are known as climate indicators because of their sensitivity towards climatic perturbations and fluctuations. A majority of the world’s glaciers are currently melting as a response to climatic perturbations. Glaciers in Norway display the same pattern, and the loss of mass have accelerated during the 1990s to this day. The glaciers of interest in this paper is situated in a west to east transect with the maritime Ålfotbreen in the west, to the continental Gråsubreen in the east, with the intermediate Storbreen in between. Differences in the local climate have a significant impact on the future state of glaciers. This paper aims to compare the mass balance, mass turnover and mass balance sensitivity of the three glaciers of interest, between the years 1980 and 2018, to demonstrate the importance of the local climate and characteristics for glacial existence. Mass balance data series of each glaciers’ mass balance was analysed. In addition, development trends of the mean annual summer air temperature for respective glaciers’ region were also conducted. A literature review of relevant reports and publications will be presented and analysed to complement the result of this paper. The results of this paper indicate that the characteristics of respective glacier vary along the increasing continentality of the west to east transect, with the mass balance sensitivity decreasing from west to east. The mass turnover displayed varying patterns, between the years 1980 and 2018. ÅLF had the highest mass turnover for the period and GRÅ the smallest with STO in between. It can be concluded, based on the result of this paper, that the fate of glaciers depends on geographical location and local characteristics. The resemblance between Storbreen and Storglaciären, and the existence of Helagsglaciären who seem to survive against the odds, strengthens the importance of local characteristics.
format Bachelor Thesis
author Eriksson Rehn, Ida
author_facet Eriksson Rehn, Ida
author_sort Eriksson Rehn, Ida
title Mass balance and local characteristics of three glaciers in southern Norway, between 1980 and 2018 : An analysis of the mass balance and the local characteristics of Ålfotbreen, Storbreen and Gråsubreen
title_short Mass balance and local characteristics of three glaciers in southern Norway, between 1980 and 2018 : An analysis of the mass balance and the local characteristics of Ålfotbreen, Storbreen and Gråsubreen
title_full Mass balance and local characteristics of three glaciers in southern Norway, between 1980 and 2018 : An analysis of the mass balance and the local characteristics of Ålfotbreen, Storbreen and Gråsubreen
title_fullStr Mass balance and local characteristics of three glaciers in southern Norway, between 1980 and 2018 : An analysis of the mass balance and the local characteristics of Ålfotbreen, Storbreen and Gråsubreen
title_full_unstemmed Mass balance and local characteristics of three glaciers in southern Norway, between 1980 and 2018 : An analysis of the mass balance and the local characteristics of Ålfotbreen, Storbreen and Gråsubreen
title_sort mass balance and local characteristics of three glaciers in southern norway, between 1980 and 2018 : an analysis of the mass balance and the local characteristics of ålfotbreen, storbreen and gråsubreen
publisher Stockholms universitet, Institutionen för naturgeografi
publishDate 2019
url http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:su:diva-184671
https://doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.17396.17282/1
long_lat ENVELOPE(8.269,8.269,62.521,62.521)
ENVELOPE(18.560,18.560,67.904,67.904)
geographic Norway
Storbreen
Storglaciären
geographic_facet Norway
Storbreen
Storglaciären
genre glacier
genre_facet glacier
op_relation http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:su:diva-184671
doi:10.13140/RG.2.2.17396.17282/1
op_rights info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
op_doi https://doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.17396.17282/1
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