An ice drift series from the Fram Strait January-March 1992 based on ERS-1 SAR data

A time series of ERS-1 SAR images is used to estimate ice drift in the Fram Strait January-March 1992 (the ERS-1 mission first ice phase). The images all cover the same area. The sampling interval is three days. The paper shows examples of estimation of ice drift and divergence from this image time series. Divergence is an important quantity in order to estimate ice production and hence mixing of the ocean water masses.
A reference configuration of ice points is defined for each image. These ice points are identified in the successive image giving a set of point pairs. These point pairs are input for statistical analysis.
Upward looking sonars (ULS) and current meters are moored below the scene. A combination of the SAR derived dynamics and the ULS derived ice thickness series will give opportunities to estimate ice mass flux into the Greenland Sea, and to improve ice classification algorithms.     

Glaciomarine sedimentation in a modern fjord environment, Spitsbergen

By means of high resolution acoustic profiling and correlation of echo character and sediment lithology, fjords in western and northern Spitsbergen are shown to be blanketed by a 5-20 m layer of acoustically transparent sediments consisting mainly of soft homogeneous mud with ice rafted clasts. Acoustically semi-transparent material is found on slopes and sills reflecting their coarser composition. The areal average depositional rate in the outer fjord is in the range of from 0.1 to 1.0 mm/year, increasing towards the glaciers. In Kongsfjorden, 50-100 mm/year of muddy sediments is deposited at a distance of 10 km from the calving Kongsvegen glacier. Close to the ice front (<0.5 km) coarser grained, interbedded (sand/mud) sediments are deposited. The main sediment sources are from settlement out of the turbid surface sediment plume, combined with various types of gravity flow (sediment creep, minor slides, and slumping). Material deposited from turbidity current is probably of minor importance. On shallow sills the sediments are remobilized by icebergs. The sediment adjacent to the ice front is reworked and compacted during surges, a common form of glacial advance for Spitsbergen glaciers. During the surge considerable amounts of coarse-grained sediment are deposited by meltwater in front of the ice margin.