Short-term velocity variations on Hansbreen, a tidewater glacier in Spitsbergen

Abstract

Abstract Spatial and temporal variations of the flow of Hansbreen, a tidewater glacier in southern Spitsbergen, Svalbard, are investigated. During summer 1999, surface flow velocities were measured in the ablation zone of Hansbreen with a temporal resolution of 1—2 hours. Short events with strongly increased surface velocities and a typical duration of 1—2 days were observed. These “speed-up events” are related to periods of strongly increased water input to the glacier, due to rainfall or enhanced surface melt. A close relation is found between the surface velocities and water pressure recorded in a moulin. However, there are indications from a short time lag between velocity and water-pressure peak as well as from observed vertical surface uplifts that basal motion is related to basal water storage rather than directly to basal water pressure. The observed short-term velocity variations and associated processes on Hansbreen are very similar to those observed on land-based valley glaciers and suggest that the relevant mechanisms and physical processes that control the flow and its temporal variations are similar. In contrast to the flow of land-based glaciers, sliding velocities on Hansbreen are observed to be high all year round and velocities increase towards the calving front.