Ice volume changes of Ariebreen, Spitsbergen, during 1936-1990-2007

Abstract

Ariebreen (77º 01' N, 15º 29' E) is a small valley glacier (ca. 0.36 km2 in August 2007) located at Hornsund, Spitsbergen, Svalbard, ca. 2.5 km to the west of Hornsund Polish Polar Station. Many Svalbard glaciers have experienced a significant recession at least since the 1930s, and most likely since the end of Little Ice Age in the early 20th century (Werner, 1993). It has manifested as thinning and retreating of ice fronts, though a simultaneous thickening at the uppermost elevations in many locations has been reported (Bamber et al., 2004; Nuth et al., 2007). Moreover, the thinning rate of western Svalbard glaciers has shown an acceleration during the most recent decades (Kohler et al., 2007). The main aims of this contribution are to determine whether Ariebreen follows such retreat pattern and to quantify the retreat it has experienced, in terms of area, thickness and volume changes, to estimate the average mass balance equivalent to the ice volume change during the period under investigation, and to estimate the volume of ice presently stored in Ariebreen. The main tools to accomplish this will be the analysis of digital terrain models (DTM) of the glacier surface corresponding to different dates, and the radio-echo sounding of the ice body to determine the present ice volume. The latter is described in a separate contribution to this workshop (Navarro et al., 2008).