Glacier-permafrost interaction in Arctic and alpine mountain environments with examples from southern Norway and Svalbard

Abstract The interaction between glaciers and permafrost was long ago addressed for glaciers in Arctic regions. Analogies from modern environments have been used to understand landform development at the margins of Pleistocene ice sheets. During more recent decades many systematic measurements of permafrost in boreholes, geophysical soundings and temperature monitoring have revealed permafrost to be more abundant in many more high-mountain areas than previously thought. This suggests that permafrost may be a governing factor not only for periglacial landform evolution in these areas, but also, given the potential for glacier-permafrost interaction, for glacial landform generation. This paper presents and discusses observation and study results on the geomorphological significance of the interrelationship between glaciers and permafrost, in relation to geomorphological processes, landform generation and response of the system to climate fluctuations.

[1]  M. Hoelzle,et al.  Cold firn and ice of high-altitude glaciers in the Alps: measurements and distribution modelling , 2001, Journal of Glaciology.

[2]  Observations on permafrost ground thermal regimes from Antarctica and the Italian Alps, and their relevance to global climate change , 2004 .

[3]  W. Haeberli.  Holocene Push-Moraines in Alpine Permafrost , 1979 .

[4]  N. A. Tsytovich,et al.  mechanics of frozen ground , 1976 .

[5]  J. Hagen.  Glacier surge in Svalbard with examples from Usherbreen , 1988 .

[6]  E. Jansen,et al.  Late Cenozoic history of the Scandinavian and Barents Sea ice sheets , 1996 .

[7]  I. Lønne,et al.  Moraine development at a small High‐Arctic valley glacier: Rieperbreen, Svalbard , 2001 .

[8]  M. Church,et al.  Paraglacial Sedimentation: A Consideration of Fluvial Processes Conditioned by Glaciation , 1972 .

[9]  J. F. Nixon,et al.  The frozen earth: Fundamentals of geocryology , 1990 .

[10]  G. Boulton.  Push-moraines and glacier-contact fans in marine and terrestrial environments , 1986 .

[11]  J. Hart,et al.  The sedimentary and structural evolution of a recent push moraine complex: Holmströmbreen, Spitsbergen , 2004 .

[12]  J. L. Sollid,et al.  Aspects and concepts on the geomorphological significance of Holocene permafrost in southern Norway , 2003 .

[13]  B. Elberling,et al.  Late-Holocene glacier growth in Svalbard, documented by subglacial relict vegetation and living soil microbes , 2005 .

[14]  J. Hagen,et al.  Comparison of radio-echo sounding (30–1000 MHz) and high-resolution borehole-temperature measurements at Finsterwalderbreen, southern Spitsbergen, Svalbard , 1997, Annals of Glaciology.

[15]  Liestoel Olav.  Pingos, springs, and permafrost in Spitsbergen , 1975 .

[16]  D. Kraus,et al.  Principles of structural glaciology : the petrography of fresh-water ice as a method of glaciological investigation , 1966, Geological Magazine.

[17]  G. Boulton.  Flow Tills and Related Deposits on Some Vestspitsbergen Glaciers , 1968, Journal of Glaciology.

[18]  W. Paterson.  Hydraulics of Glaciers , 1994 .

[19]  Kolumban Hutter,et al.  Polythermal conditions in Arctic glaciers , 1991 .

[20]  J. L. Sollid,et al.  PALSA BOGS AS A CLIMATE INDICATOR : EXAMPLES FROM DOVREFJELL, SOUTHERN NORWAY , 1998 .

[21]  S. Dahl,et al.  The lacustrine sedimentary sequence in Sygneskardvatnet, western Norway: a continuous, high-resolution record of the Jostedalsbreen ice cap during the Holocene , 2000 .

[22]  A. Lyså,et al.  Formation and disintegration of a high‐arctic ice‐cored moraine complex, Scott Turnerbreen, Svalbard , 2001 .

[23]  Neil F. Glasser,et al.  Styles of sedimentation beneath Svalbard valley glaciers under changing dynamic and thermal regimes , 2001, Journal of the Geological Society.

[24]  G. Østrem.  Ice-Cored Moraines in Scandinavia , 1964 .

[25]  P. Johnson.  Ice Cored Moraine Formation and Degradation, Donjek Glacier, Yukon Territory, Canada , 1971 .

[26]  K. Kjær,et al.  De-icing progression of ice-cored moraines in a humid, subpolar climate, Kötlujökull, Iceland , 2000 .

[27]  J. L. Sollid,et al.  THE DISTRIBUTION OF PERMAFROST IN SOUTHERN NORWAY - A GIS APPROACH , 1998 .

[28]  D. Lawson.  Glaciohydrologic and Glaciohydraulic Effects on Runoff and Sediment Yield in Glacierized Basins , 1993 .

[29]  J. Bogen.  Erosion rates and sediment yields of glaciers , 1996, Annals of Glaciology.

[30]  O. Gregersen,et al.  Engineering properties and foundation design alternatives in marine Svea clay, Svalbard , 1985 .

[31]  J. Kleman.  Preservation of landforms under ice sheets and ice caps , 1994 .

[32]  O. Humlum.  Holocene permafrost aggradation in Svalbard , 2005, Geological Society, London, Special Publications.

[33]  C. Kneisel.  Permafrost in recently deglaciated glacier forefields - measurements and observations in the eastern Swiss Alps and northern Sweden (with 7 figures and 4 tables) , 2003 .

[34]  J. Hagen,et al.  Glacier thermal regime and suspended-sediment yield: a comparison of two high-Arctic glaciers , 1997, Annals of Glaciology.

[35]  B. C. Mcdonald,et al.  Glaciofluvial and glaciolacustrine sedimentation , 1975 .

[36]  W. Haeberli,et al.  Construction, environmental problems and natural hazards in periglacial mountain belts , 1992 .

[37]  G. Miller,et al.  Denudation rates in the Arctic estimated from lake sediments on Spitsbergen, Svalbard , 1989 .

[38]  David J. A. Evans,et al.  Glaciers and Glaciation , 1997 .

[39]  G. Østrem.  Sediment Transport in Glacial Meltwater Streams , 1975 .

[40]  J. L. Sollid,et al.  Utbredelsesmnstret av lsmateriale og landformer p Svalbard - noen hovedtrekk , 1988 .

[41]  B. Hallet,et al.  Rates of erosion and sediment evacuation by glaciers: A review of field data and their implications , 1996 .

[42]  L. King.  Zonation and Ecology of High Mountain Permafrost in Scandinavia , 1986 .

[43]  G. Miller,et al.  Holocene cirque glacier activity in western Spitsbergen, Svalbard: sediment records from proglacial Linnévatnet , 2000 .

[44]  J. L. Sollid,et al.  Permafrost in Svalbard: a review of research history, climatic background and engineering challenges , 2003 .

[45]  Ketil Isaksen,et al.  Warming permafrost in European mountains , 2003 .

[46]  J. Mangerud,et al.  Holocene glacial and climatic variations on Spitsbergen, Svalbard , 1997 .

[47]  J. L. Sollid,et al.  Hydrology of a Polythermal Glacier, Erikbreen, Northern Spitsbergen , 1995 .

[48]  Jemma L. Wadham,et al.  Suspended sediment fluxes in a high-Arctic glacierised catchment: implications for fluvial sediment storage , 2003 .

[49]  M. Hoelzle,et al.  Permafrost mapping and prospecting in southern Norway , 1996 .

[50]  The development of a complex supraglacial moraine at the margin of Sørbreen, Ny Friesland, Vestspitsbergen , 1967 .

[51]  N. Glasser,et al.  Debris entrainment and transfer in polythermal valley glaciers , 1999, Journal of Glaciology.

[52]  J. Attig,et al.  Effects of late Pleistocene permafrost on the landscape of Wisconsin, USA , 2001 .

[53]  R. Souchez.  Ice-Cored Moraines in South-Western Ellesmere Island, N.W.T., Canada , 1971, Journal of Glaciology.

[54]  R. Hodgkins.  Glacier hydrology in Svalbard, Norwegian high arctic , 1997 .

[55]  G. Cheng,et al.  Mountain permafrost and climatic change , 1993 .

[56]  S. Dahl,et al.  Holocene glacier fluctuations of Flatebreen and winter-precipitation changes in the Jostedalsbreen region, western Norvay, based on glaciolacustrine sediment records , 2001 .

[57]  K. Kjær,et al.  The final phase of dead‐ice moraine development: processes and sediment architecture, Kötlujökull, Iceland , 2001 .

[58]  J. Weertman.  Mechanism for the formation of inner moraines found near the edge of cold ice caps and ice sheets , 1961 .

[59]  O. Liestøl.  Storbreen glacier in Jotunheimen, Norway , 1967 .

[60]  S. Dahl,et al.  Holocene glacier fluctuations at Hardangerjøkulen, central-southern Norway: a high-resolution composite chronology from lacustrine and terrestrial deposits , 1994 .

[61]  J. Hart,et al.  A comparison of the styles of deformation associated with two recent push moraines, South Van Keulenfjorden, Svalbard , 1997 .

[62]  M. Bennett.  The morphology, structural evolution and significance of push moraines , 2001 .

[63]  A. Lachenbruch,et al.  Changing Climate: Geothermal Evidence from Permafrost in the Alaskan Arctic , 1986, Science.

[64]  J. L. Sollid,et al.  Distribution of Glacial Landforms in Southern Norway in Relation to the Thermal Regime of the Last Continental Ice Sheet , 1994 .

[65]  Christian Hauck,et al.  Mountain permafrost distribution in Dovrefjell and Jotunheimen, southern Norway, based on BTS and DC resistivity tomography data , 2002 .

[66]  J. L. Sollid,et al.  Glacial Chronology and Glacial Geomorphology in the Marginal Zones of the Glaciers, Midtdalsbreen and Nigardsbreen, South Norway , 1971 .

[67]  J. L. Sollid,et al.  Glacier characteristics and sediment transfer system of Longyearbreen and Larsbreen, western Spitsbergen , 2000 .

[68]  Svein-Erik Hamran,et al.  The thermal regime of sub-polar glaciers mapped by multi-frequency radio-echo sounding , 1996 .