Mineralogical and chemical analysis of the glacial deposits of the Petuniabukta region, laid down due to glacial advances occurring from the Billefjorden Stage to the Little Ice Age has been made. The deposits have substantial carbonate contents which, however, vary depending on rock types of which the bedrock is built up. The calcium ion is the main component of the sorption complex of the deposits under investigation. A proportion of other ions, including magnesium, sodium and potassium, is markedly lower. An increase in the magnesium, sodium and potassium ion contents of the sorption complex with age and a concurrent decline in calcium ions have been reported from glacial tills. The illite clay minerals prevail in glacial deposits occurring around Petuniabukta. Apart from them, there are large quantities of the chlorite and kaolinite clay minerals. The glacial deposits of Spitsbergen remain markedly richer in the chlorite group than glacial tills of Poland. Simultaneously, they contain markedly smaller amounts of minerals of the- smectite group and illite/smectite mixed-layer minerals. This is due to a fainter effect of the weathering processes on the glacial deposits of Spitsbergen, compared with the glacial tills of Poland.
The distribution of earthquake foci around the Hornsund fiord, south Spitsbergen, suggest the presence in this region of a micronode of geotectonic structures, exhibiting moderate dynamic activity. Dislocation description was applied to the processes of motion of the glacier and crack formation. Long-period seismic waves generated by the glacier-substratum dynamic system and impulses generates by icebergs seated on the sea bottom have been discussed.
This paper contains the result of the comparison of photogrammetric records of the state of the front zone of the Werenskiold Glacier over the period 1957-1978. Two 1:5000 maps were compared. The ice volume loss at 20 m altitude intervals (only as far up as 200 m over the sea level) and changes in the ice thickness were analysed with a network of basic squares with a 50 m side in the field, using an Odra 1305 computer. This permitted a map of the altitude changes in the glacier front to be plotted with isolines every 2.5 m. The results of the photogrammetric investigations were compared with ablation observations using ablations stakes. Taking account of the motion of the lobe the total and the mean annual ice volume loss in the front zone of the Werenskiold Glacier was evaluated for the period in question.
The Goesvatnet is a lake whose water is dammed by the Gås Glacier. It undergoes periodic subglacial and inglacial drainage, usually in winter. When fully filled it is about 60 m deep and has the surface of about 1 km2. An attempt was made to explain the mechanism of the drainage of the lake. Changes in the situation and range of the lake over the period of 81 years were investigated. The magnitude and character of the deglaciation of the front part of the Gås Glacier were determined. A strict relationship was found between the drainage of the lake and the presence of naled ice in the extramarginal outwash (Gåshamnoyra).
Hot point drills were carried through in the Hans Glacier (Spitsbergen). For that purpose a non-cored hot point drill of 700 wattage was constructed. It was used among others for installing the ablation-movement stakes, for hydrological observations and in the boreholes an ice temperature was controlled.
Investigations of the snow cover at the end of the winter 1990/1991 were carried out in several areas in West Spitsbergen, namely, Lomonosovfonna, Kongsvegen, Fridtjovbreen, Amundsenisen and that north of the Hornsund Fjord. The physical properties and chemical nature of precipitation and the snow cover were determined. The studies revealed high variation in the precipitation and the thickness of the snow cover: 317 mm w.e. (water equivalent) in the Hornsund area, 659 mm w.e. at Lomonosovfonna, 1076 mm w.e. at Fridtjovbreen and 1716 mm w.e. at Amundsenisen. The salt loads deposited in the snow cover in different parts of West Spitsbergen were also calculated (2.8 t/km2 at Lomonosovfonna, 15.8 t/km2 at Kongsvegen and 43.2 t/km2 at Amundsenisen). An intensive process of demineralisation during the conversion of snow to firn was revealed, reaching as much as 90% during the first summer. An attempt to determine the anthropogenic element content using the pH values for the precipitation and snow cover was also made. A distinct correlation between the physico-chemical characteristic of snow layer and falling snow was found. On the basis of the quality of the precipitation and snow cover, West Spitsbergen has been classified into following provinces: (1) northern situated within Arctic High (Lomonosovfonna and Kongsvegen), (2) southern ndergoing mainly moving air masses from the Arctic High and Greenland Low (Amundsenisen and Hornsund region).