Field work on a surging glacier

Tuesday morning: the sun is shining and there's hardly any wind. Monica Sund has packed her field equipment and is heading for the Longyearbyen airport. Safety ropes, avalanche probes, GPS measurement instruments, ice drill, axe, and a shovel - everything is packed and ready.

The helicopter takes off, and 20 minutes later we land on the moraine in front of Kroppbreen, and the last measurements of the year can begin.

Surge on the way
Monica has monitored Kroppbreen in Kjellstrømdalen in Svalbard for the past year. The glacier is in a partial surge state, which means it moves faster than normal, but whether it will go into a full surge is uncertain.

A longitudinal and transversal profile of 12 stakes has been established to measure the flow velocities, along with a reference stake at the beginning of the moraine area. We fly with the helicopter from stake to stake, with advanced GPS instruments which record the exact positions of the stakes.

Monica has undertaken this operation three times earlier this year with a snow scooter, and she now has several measurements which she can analyze to see the movements in the glacier.

Foto: Elise Strømseng


Monica exits the helicopter and walks carefully over to one stake on the glacier.

Some places she must use an avalanche probe to make sure there are no hidden crevasses under the snow. There is a lot of snow on the glacier, up to 1 meter thick some places.

- The Ground Penetrating radar measurements I did last year showed that there are new areas with crevassing, which indicates a big movement in the glacier. But there is a lot of snow this year, so the crevasses are not easy to see, she explains while eagerly jotting down the data collected.

Foto: Elise Strømseng
What is a surge?
The knowledge of surging glaciers is limited today, and that is why Monica's Ph.D. project is so important.

A surge is a dramatic increase in speed in the glacier's movement. The increased speed can be up to a 100 times more than the glacier's normal speed.

You can read more about the dynamics of surging glaciers here.

Historical records and modern measurements have shown that Svalbard glaciers have surged up to 30 meters per day during a surge. These surge events happen at various time intervals, perhaps 100-200 years, as it takes some time before the pressure at the rear edge is so great that a surge will start.

How to discover a surging glacier
To discover a beginning surge is not easy.

- I always book window seats on regular flights to and from the mainland - that way I can photograph glaciers from Longyearbyen to the south end of Spitsbergen, if the weather is good and the pilots fly over land.

- Maybe I am a bit too enthusiastic, but this is an excellent way of discovering changes and surges in glaciers, without having to use expensive helicopters, Monica says.

Sometimes she is just plain lucky.

- This winter I discovered a new crevassed ridge in Comfortlessbreen close to Ny-Ålesund, while I was on a private scooter trip. Normally locals will drive with snow scooters over this glacier, but now I won't recommend that. There is clearly something going on, she says.

Foto: Monica Sund


A new surge!
- Hi, wait - slow down!

On our way back to Longyearbyen we fly over small valleys and Monica takes pictures constantly. Then she discovers some crevasses in a small glacier, crevasses she has not observed before.

- I think we might have a new surge here, she exclaims enthusiastically. The field work at Kroppbreen is done for the year, and Monica is quite pleased; the day produced new measurements for the glacier and she also discovered a potentially new surge in another glacier.

Read more about Monica Sund's research on Kroppbreen here