ABSTRACT
Glaciers in central Svalbard are retreating since their Little Ice Age maximum, dated in the area to around 1900. Past areal extent of glaciers can confidently be reconstructed based on end moraine position. However, reconstructions of thickness and volume of glaciers remain relatively more complicated and uncertain. In this study, past changes in thickness and volume of the Ferdinand Glacier was reconstructed based on Structure-from-Motion techniques and field dGPS measurements in combination with analysis of historic photos from 1908 and aerial photos from 1938. According to the comparison of the historic and recent photograph, the 1908 glacier front height was estimated to 50 m and the glacier volume to 91.5 mil m3 and the 1938 glacier volume estimated to 76.1 mil m3, in comparison to 6.29 mil m3 in 2014. This means more than 90% loss of volume since 1938. Melting of the glacier in the first half of the twentieth century resulted in thinning and lowering of the glacier surface together with substantial ice volume loss, whereas the areal extent was almost not affected. Considering the 2014 mean ice thickness, together with ongoing climate warming, it is likely that the Ferdinand Glacier will completely disappear within the next 30 years.
Acknowledgements
Special thanks belong to the staff of Adam Mickiewicz University Polar Station for field assistance. Help of two reviewers and the editor with improving the manuscript is also highly appreciated.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.
Notes on contributor
Jan Kavan works at the Department of Geography (Polar–Geo Lab), Masaryk University in Brno. His main research interests are the environmental changes in polar regions associated especially with glaciers, hydrological cycle and sediment budget. He is involved in different research topics in the region of Antarctic Peninsula, Svalbard or Iceland.
ORCID
Jan Kavan http://orcid.org/0000-0003-4524-3009