Articles | Volume 14, issue 11
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-4217-2020
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-4217-2020
Research article
 | 
26 Nov 2020
Research article |  | 26 Nov 2020

Subglacial permafrost dynamics and erosion inside subglacial channels driven by surface events in Svalbard

Andreas Alexander, Jaroslav Obu, Thomas V. Schuler, Andreas Kääb, and Hanne H. Christiansen

Related authors

Topology and spatial-pressure-distribution reconstruction of an englacial channel
Laura Piho, Andreas Alexander, and Maarja Kruusmaa
The Cryosphere, 16, 3669–3683, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-3669-2022,https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-3669-2022, 2022
Short summary

Cited articles

Alexander, A.: Numerical modeling of the cold based glacier Larsbreen in Svalbard, Master's thesis, Friedrich-Alexander Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, 2017. a
Alexander, A., Obu, J., Schuler, T. V., Kääb, A., and Christiansen, H. H.: Raw data: Subglacial permafrost dynamics and erosion inside subglacial channels driven by surface events in Svalbard, Zenodo, https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.4116256, 2020. a
Astakhov, V. I., Kaplyanskaya, F. A., and Tarnogradsky, V. D.: Pleistocene Permafrost of West Siberia as a Deformable Glacier Bed, Permafrost Periglac., 7, 165–191, https://doi.org/10.1002/(SICI)1099-1530(199604)7:2%3C165::AID-PPP218%3E3.0.CO;2-S, 1996. a
Bælum, K. and Benn, D. I.: Thermal structure and drainage system of a small valley glacier (Tellbreen, Svalbard), investigated by ground penetrating radar, The Cryosphere, 5, 139–149, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-5-139-2011, 2011. a, b
Björnsson, H., Gjessing, Y., Hamran, S.-E., Hagen, J. O., LiestøL, O., Pálsson, F., and Erlingsson, B.: The Thermal Regime of Sub-Polar Glaciers Mapped by Multi-Frequency Radio-Echo Sounding, J. Glaciol., 42, 23–32, 1996. a
Download
Short summary
In this study we present subglacial air, ice and sediment temperatures from within the basal drainage systems of two cold-based glaciers on Svalbard during late spring and the summer melt season. We put the data into the context of air temperature and rainfall at the glacier surface and show the importance of surface events on the subglacial thermal regime and erosion around basal drainage channels. Observed vertical erosion rates thereby reachup to 0.9 m d−1.
Share