Mid-winter rapid rise of temperature in the vicinity of Arctowski Station, King George Island (West Antarctica) was studied in 1991. Depending on circumantarctic migration of cyclones, sudden drop in air pressure and foehn-like phenomenon intensified by local topography occurred. Two such events are described on May 13 and June 28, against meteorological conditions during autumn and winter. Extreme intensification of morphogenetic processes caused degradation of a snow cover, immense meltwater discharge, radical transformation of slopes, effective aeolian activity and dynamic modifications in a sea-shore zone.
Properties of a snow cover in the vicinity of Arctowski Station, King George Island (West Antarctica) were studied in 1991. Variations of snow quality and physical transformations were analysed against changes of atmospheric parameters, basing on water equivalent index and repeatable examination of snow pits. Essential dependence of snow cover distribution and snow structure from local climatic features and terrain morphology was found. Thawing occurs in the whole mass of snow, with its contribution of both liquid and gas water phases.
Twelve glaciers, representing various types, were investigated between 2000 and 2005, in a region adjacent to the northern reaches of Billefjorden, central Spitsbergen ( Svalbard ). On the basis of measurements taken using reference points, DGPS and GPS systems, analyses of aerial photographs and satellite images, geomorphological indicators and archival data their rates of deglaciation following the “Little Ice Age” (LIA) maximum were calculated variously on centennial, decadal and annual time scales. As most Svalbard glaciers have debris-covered snouts, a clean ice margin was measured in the absence of debris-free ice front. The retreat rates for both types of ice fronts were very similar. All studied glaciers have been retreating since the termination of the Little Ice Age at the end of 19th century. The fastest retreat rate was observed in the case of the Nordenskiöldbreen tidewater glacier (mean average linear retreat rate 35 m a-1). For land-terminating glaciers the rates were in range of 5 to 15 m a-1. Presumably owing to climate warming, most of the glacier retreat rates have increased several fold in recent decades. The secondary factors influencing the retreat rates have been identified as: water depth at the grounding line in the case of tidewater glaciers, surging history, altitude, shape and aspect of glacier margin, and bedrock relief. The retreat rates are similar to glaciers from other parts of Spitsbergen . Analyses of available data on glacier retreat rates in Svalbard have allowed us to distinguish four major types: very dynamic, surging tidewater glaciers with post-LIA retreat rates of between 100 and 220 m a-1, other tidewater glaciers receding of a rate of 15 to 70 m a-1, land terminating valley polythermal glaciers with an average retreat of 10 to 20 m a-1 and small, usually cold, glaciers with the retreat rates below 10 m a-1.
Aeolian activity is common on ice free areas in regions with permafrost occurrence. Sparse high-Arctic tundra vegetation, modifying surface air flow and sediments transport, influences the generation of individual landforms and their assemblages. Observations were carried in central Spitsbergen (Svalbard), characterized by quasi-continental polar climate conditions with dry summers and common existence of winds velocities above loamy-sandy sediments transportation threshold. Dryas aeolian landforms created from aeolian material trapped by Dryas octopetala dwarf shrub were diagnosed. Main morphogenetic plants are accompanied by Saxifraga oppositifolia and Bistorta vivipara, rounded out with biological soil crust. Small size of semi-circular and semi-elliptic forms (0.25–0.85 m2) is related to low type of D. octopetala slowly growing on raised marine terraces. Aeolian sediments are characterised by low level of organic matter content. They exhibit diversified mineralogical composition resulting from variable petrography of source glacial and fluvioglacial covers. Eightpetal mountain avens are a dendroflora species composing phytocoenoses of plant communities related to the end stages of biocoenotic succession. Presented data indicate the reference environmental state for any research on plant cover response in the environment of aeolian activity during climate change.
DC resistivity soundings and geomorphological surveys have been carried out in the marginal zones and adjacent outwash plains of two glaciers in central Spitsbergen, Norwegian Arctic: Ebbabreen and Hörbyebreen. The study has revealed complex relationships between landforms, buried glacier ice and permafrost. From this work it is possible to distinguish between moraine ridges which are ice-cored and those which are not. The latter occur in areas which have possibly been affected by glacier surge. The active layer thickness was found to be 0.4 to 2.5 m for diamicton deposits (moraines) and 0.3 to 1.6 m in outwash glacifluvial sediments. The sediment infill thickness in valleys was determined to be as much as 20 m, thereby demonstrating that sandurs have important role in sediment storage in a glacial system. Typical resistivity values for sediment types in both the active layer and in permafrost were also determined.