Twenty years of cold surface layer thinning at Storglaciaren, sub-Arctic Sweden, 1989-2009

• This paper presents the changes in the thermal structure of the polythermal glacier Storglaciaren, northern Sweden, over the 20 year period 1989-2009 derived by comparing maps of the depth of the englacial transition between cold ice (permanently frozen) and temperate ice (which contains water inclusions). The maps are based on interpreted ice-penetrating radar surveys from 1989, 2001 and 2009. Complex thinning of the cold layer, first identified between 1989 and 2001, is still ongoing. A volume calculation shows that Storglaciaren has lost one-third of its cold surface layer volume in 20 years, with a mean thinning rate of 0.80 +/- 0.24 m a(-1). We suggest that the thinning of the cold layer at Storglaciaren is connected to the climatic warming experienced by sub-Arctic Scandinavia since the 1980s and we argue that repeated ice-penetrating radar surveys over the ablation area of polythermal glaciers offer a useful proxy for evaluating glacier responses to changes in climate.

Ämnesord

NATURVETENSKAP  -- Geovetenskap och miljövetenskap (hsv//swe)

NATURAL SCIENCES  -- Earth and Related Environmental Sciences (hsv//eng)

NATURVETENSKAP  -- Geovetenskap och miljövetenskap -- Naturgeografi (hsv//swe)

NATURAL SCIENCES  -- Earth and Related Environmental Sciences -- Physical Geography (hsv//eng)

Publikations- och innehållstyp

ref (ämneskategori)

art (ämneskategori)