Understanding the formation mechanics of glacial crevasses is crucial in a variety of glacial applications. Besides being a serious safety hazard during field campaigns, crevasses influence calving rates, mass balance, and the hydrological network of glaciers. Therefore, knowledge about their spatial distribution and potential development zones is highly beneficial. In this project, spatial distribution of surface crevasses on the Svalbard archipelago is investigated using a simple crevasse depth model, so called Nye’s zero-stress model, and a set of surface ice velocity data. The model is run for various ice temperatures as it is one of the parameters affecting crevasse development. The crevasse occurrences are also mapped and digitised manually using high resolution remote-sensed images. A special emphasis is put on the Lomonosovfonna ice cap, central Spitsbergen, where the crevasse distribution is studied in detail. The results indicate the greatest density of crevasses in regions of high ice surface velocity and concurrently high strain rates. These areas encompass mainly fast-flowing outlet valley glaciers, while the more stagnant ice caps and ice fields are characterised by little to no crevassing except for their margins. The modelled spatial distribution is concurrent with the observations, particularly for certain ice temperatures, highlighting the importance of accurate ice temperature measurements in modelling and a need of separation of the accumulation and ablation zones. Overall, the Nye’s zero-stress model yields accurate results and proves to be a suitable tool for the task. With room for fine-tuning, it is a promising tool that is easy to incorporate in other models.

Rapid warming in the Arctic is highly impacting the cryosphere in the region, causing melting of the sea ice, retreat of glaciers and reduction in the snow cover. If suffering further temperature increase, the albedo of the region would reduce due to higher absorption of the solar radiation in snow-free areas. The variations in seasonal snow cover in Arctic regions can impact a lot of things including the ecosystem, biodiversity, hydrological cycle, and many other physical processes. Therefore, it is beneficial to have the knowledge of processes determining the snow distribution and to understand the trends and patterns of the seasonal snowcover.In this project, seasonal snow cover trends and patterns have been studied for a 30-year period from 1991 to 2020 using a newly developed reanalysis dataset called Copernicus Arctic Regional Reanalysis (CARRA). A validation of the CARRA data set has been done for the snow depth using point observation data from the Norwegian weather stations and a visual snow cover comparison using Sentinel-2 remote sensing data. Thereafter, interannual variability in day of snow disappearance, day of snow onset, duration of snow-free period, and maximum snow depth have been analysed and these trends are then discussed in detail.The results show that for the most non-glaciated regions in Svalbard, the snow onset is happening later in the winter season while the day of snow disappearance is arriving earlier in the spring. Consequently, the duration of snow-free period has increased in almost all regions of Svalbard except a few sites where the duration of the snow free-period has decreased most likely due to local climatic factors. These factors can be better understood by incorporating meteorological elements like precipitation, air temperature and wind speed. Overall, the CARRA reanalysis dataset is very good in determining snow cover trends in non- glaciated regions of Svalbard and with some updates and modifications, it might be able to determine snowcover for the glaciated regions in future.

This is a study where new and old geophysical data together with information found in literature has been integrated to get a better understanding of the geological evolution of Svalbard. The purpose of the study is to acquire and integrate different geophysical data over the Central Spitsbergen Basin (CSB) and across the Billefjorden Fault Zone (BFZ). The integrated data has then been interpreted to identify locations of basins and structural heights. The main goals with this project have been to plan and conduct a field study to acquire magnetic- and gravity data over the study area to constrain basins and major fault zones. Furthermore, the goal was to integrate gravity- and magnetic data together with seismic interpretations and well data, discussing implications of geophysical data and lastly to add new data to the geodata platform Svalbox.  During 10 field days 7 gravity profiles were measured over the CSB and over parts of the BFZ, magnetic data was also collected along most of the profiles. Among these 7 profiles two key profiles were analysed more in detail. Further on Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) data was collected over a glacier to obtain the glacier thickness. The report also includes a small case study analysing the Botneheia Dolerite dyke by measuring the magnetic susceptibility across the dyke. The borehole data was mostly used for the seismic interpretations, since they only penetrate about 2000 m, they do not provide any information about the deeper subsurface. The seismic interpretations varied some depending on who interpreted it so to make an even more qualified analyse, the gravity and magnetic data are suitable complements.  The gravity anomalies proceeded in this report vary in a similar way in comparison to older gravity data provided in the same area. Both Billefjorden Fault Zone (BFZ) and Lomfjorden Fault zone (LFZ) can be identified in the gravity data acquired from the field study. After integrating seismic interpretations and gravity data, the depth from the surface to the basement in CSB is assumed to decrease in a west-east direction. In this report the basement is defined as pre-Devonian rocks. In the eastern part of profile 5, east of Reindalspasset the gravity anomalies are steadily increasing while a seismic interpretation shows a dip of the basement, which could indicate the existence of another layer on top of the basement with a high density. To sum up, integration of several geophysical methods is a good method to identify fault zones and depth to the basement. It is important to interpret all data individually and combined to be able to identify what is causing the anomalies.  Suggestions for further studies is forward modelling and to correct the ortho height measured by the DGPS on top of the glacier of profile 3 by using the collected GPR data. The geophysical data provided in this report can be used for further investigation about CO2 sequestration and geothermal energy. / Denna studie syftar till att bidra till ökad förståelse av geologin på Svalbard genom att integrera nya och gamla geofysiska data tillsammans med information från litteratur. Detta har gjorts genom att samla in och integrera olika geofysiska data över Centrala Spitsbergen (CSB) och Billefjorden sprickzon (BFZ). Den integrerade datan har sedan analyserats för att få ökad förståelse av geologins lagerföljder och lagrens variation. Huvudmålen med detta projekt har varit att planera och utföra en fältstudie för att samla in magnetisk- och gravitationsdata för att identifiera lagerföljder, strukturer och sprickzoner, att integrera den insamlade magnetiska data och gravitationsdata tillsammans med seismiska tolkningar och borrhålsdata. Ytterligare huvudmål är att diskutera innebörden av geofysiska data samt att addera all nya data till geodata-plattformen Svalbox.  Datainsamlingen ute i fält pågick under 10 dagar och resulterade i 7 profiler med gravitationsdata över CSB och delar av BFZ. Av dessa 7 profiler valdes 2 ut som nyckelprofiler för djupare analys. I ett område användes Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) för att mäta tjockleken av glaciären. Rapporten inkluderar även en mindre fallstudie för att undersöka en vertikal diabasgång och dess lutning genom att mäta magnetiska susceptibiliteten över området. Borrhålsdata användes framför allt till att göra de seismiska tolkningarna, eftersom de endast penetrerar ett par tusen meter ger de ingen information om hur berggrunden ser ut längre ner. De seismiska tolkningarna varierar något beroende av vem som gjort tolkningarna så för att göra ännu säkrare tolkningar är gravitationsdata tillsammans med magnetisk data ett bra komplement.  Resultatet av den färdigkorrigerade gravitationsdata visar liknande spatiala variationer som tidigare data i samma område. Både BFZ och Lomfjorden sprickzon (LFZ) kan identifieras i gravitationsdata som samlades in under fältarbetet. Efter att ha integrerat seismiska tolkningar med gravitationsdata kan djupet till urberget i CSB antas minska i en väst-östlig riktning. I den här rapporten är urberget definierat som bergarter äldre än Devon. I den östra delen av profil 5, öster om Reindalspasset visas gravitationsdata som ständigt ökande medan seismiska tolkningar ett ökande avstånd till urberget, detta skulle kunna indikera att det finns ett ytterligare lager med en hög densitet. Sammanfattningsvis är integration av flera olika geofysiska metoder en bra metod för att identifiera sprickzoner och djupet till berggrunden. Det är viktigt att tolka all data både individuellt och tillsammans för att se vad som orsakar anomalierna.  Förslag till fortsatta studier skulle vara att göra prediktionsmodeller baserat på data som har presenterats i rapporten för att estimera lagerföljder och sprickzoner. Ytterligare förslag på fortsatt studie är att korrigera topografi-data tillhörande profil 3 med hjälp av glaciärtjockleken från GPR-data. All geofysisk data i denna rapport kan användas för framtida undersökningar om koldioxidlagring och geotermisk energi.

Arctic warming is assumed to be four times the global warming. A published study by Ivanov et al. (2019) shows that the annual average temperature of Franz Joseph Land (the world’s northernmost island region, a Russian territory) has increased by 5.2 °C from 2000-2017. This result supported the idea of determining whether Svalbard (Norwegian territory) is experiencing similar warming. Svalbard has historically been an attractive research center for examining climate change in the Arctic. Due to easier accessibility, the vast majority of weather stations have been located on the western part of the main island, Spitsbergen, which does not provide a representative picture of the entire archipelago. Therefore, this project has focused on eastern Spitsbergen. Data from six stations have been processed to analyze the temperature changes based on linear regression (the same method as at Franz Joseph Land). As eastern Spitsbergen has never been a priority, only short datasets are available, with the longest one dating from 2009. Because of this, no statistically significant result could be elucidated. Instead, data from Longyearbyen, which is located southwest were implemented, allowing analysis over the same period as Franz Joseph Land (2000-2017). This result suggested a temperature increase of 5.6 °C for the same period, with a statistical significance of P = 0.13, as well as that the winters are extra vulnerable to warming. The stations from eastern Spitsbergen’s local variability were also examined, which showed that the local climate varies although the stations are relatively close. Among others, Pyramiden seemed to be most affected by the lapse rate feedback, meaning a significant strong warming at the surface.

The Arctic cryosphere is experiencing a higher rate of warming compared to the rest of the world due to Arctic amplification. As glacier elevation change provide reliable evidence of climate change it is routinely measured by satellite altimeters. Satellite altimetry, while a valuable tool for monitoring elevation change over time, is subject to inherent uncertainties caused by, among other factors, the small scale surface roughness of the target surfaces. Previous studies have identified surface roughness as a key source of uncertainty when measuring sea ice freeboard and studies suggest the surface roughness strongly influences the Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) signatures of sea ice. Similar studies over snow- and glacier surfaces, are rare. In this context, we attempt to conduct a small scale calibration and validation (cal/val) campaign over glacier surfaces, using the ideal location and infrastructure of the University Centre in Svalbard. We demonstrate the process, from planning through field data collection and data analysis. By doing so, we identify good as well as bad practices. Using high resolution in-situ LiDAR data, collected under two ICESat-2 (IS2) overpasses in Svalbard we generated Digital Elevation Models (DEM) and calculated surface roughness estimates across glacier- and snow surfaces. The surface roughness was quantified by calculating the Root Mean Square (RMS) of deviations from the overall topography of the surfaces. The DEMs were used for direct comparison with the satellite elevation retrievals and the observed elevation differences were tested for correlation with surface roughness at different length scales. We then investigated the effect of surface roughness on the photon cloud of the lower level ATL03 ICESat-2 data products, by quantifying the precision in the data. We found little to no correlation between RMS roughness and the observed elevation differences between in-situ and satellite data sets, possibly explained by errors in georeferencing the DEMs. We show moderate to strong correlation between photon cloud precision and along- and across-track absolute surface slopes, with correlation coefficients of 0.6–0.8. Correlation between photon cloud precision and RMS roughness was found, with a maximum correlation coefficient of 0.9 for a roughness length scale of 1m. The results suggest IS2 is sensitive to surface roughness at similar length scales but we identify a need for more data, covering a wider range of surfaces and potential roughness scenarios, to draw strong conclusions. We demonstrate how a small team can carry out a cal/val campaign in the high arctic and collect coincident data under satellite overpasses, data which is typically rare for the remote high Arctic regions.

By analyzing the texture, composition and chemical composition of loess soils, the reconstruction ofpast climate regimes is enabled, which can improve our understanding of current and future climatechange. Properties such as grain size and composition, mineralogy, organic matter and chemicalcomposition can provide information about which environmental factors were present during thedeposition of the sediment, which can lead to a detailed picture of the climate history of a site. Researchon loess soils in the polar regions is particularly valuable because its climate is most rapidly affected byglobal warming. The purpose of the study has therefore been to understand and convey new data to thepaleo-climate around the Arctic by examining and analyzing loess soil sequences at a depth between 0and 175 cm from Adventdalen, Svalbard. In this study, the samples are analyzed with XRF (X-rayfluorescence) and LOI (Loss of Ignition). XRF is used to find out the mineral composition of the soils,while LOI is used to find out the percentage of organic content and carbonates.Data from the oldest part of the stratigraphic section indicate a sharp increase in weathering, from acooler period about 3000 years ago to a warming until about 2000 years ago. Weathering intensitiesderived from Na/Al-based indices show relatively frequent oscillations throughout the section, but arestable from about 100-70 cm. The high and stable weathering values during this period can probably beattributed to the Medieval Warm Period, which coincides with the relative dating of the site. Datacollected from the LOI shows a clear trend throughout the section, with a decrease in organic matterfrom 3000 BC to the present.

No / Human migration is a hallmark of the species and there is significant interest in methods that can determine the past migrations of humans and associated fauna. We present a new method that utilizes collagen oxygen, carbon and nitrogen isotopes from histologically informed samples of cortical bone. The utility of this multi-isotopic, life history approach is demonstrated in migrating Dutch whalers, and both the possibilities and limitations of the method are described.

No description available.

This thesis reviews knowledge about diversity of blood parasites of fish. Blood smears of fish used in this study were obtained in Billefjorden (Svalbard archipelago, Arctic). Desseria myoxocephali, the type species of Desseria, is the only one parasite that was found in the smears. A partial 18S rDNA sequence of D. myoxocephali was prepared and phylogenetic analyses were computed. D. myoxocephali forms a lineage together with Dactylosoma ranarum and Babesiosoma stableri within adeleorinid clade.

One of the main attractions for tourists visiting Svalbard, Norway, are polar bears. The polar bear is a vulnerable species, dependent on sea ice to survive as this is where they hunt, wander and raise their cubs. Ship-based tourism poses a number of threats mainly due to the disturbances caused by the presence of ships, damage of critical habitats and the increasing interactions and deadly conflicts between humans and polar bears. Appropriate and effective legislation based on scientific knowledge of the impacts of ship-based tourism on polar bears is necessary to ensure sustainable tourism and environmental protection. Species protection and habitat conservation is not an issue isolated to Svalbard or the polar bears but rather just one part of the pressing global issue concerning loss of biodiversity, which is one of the greatest threats to humankind. The Convention on the Conservation of European Wildlife and Natural Habitats (Bern Convention) aims to ensure the conservation of wild flora and fauna species and their habitats. At the time of signing, the Norwegian Government excluded Svalbard from the application of the Bern Convention, ensuring that national conservation policies for Svalbard would be promoted. The Svalbard Environmental Protection Act is the main act regulating environmental protection on Svalbard, including both general principles and specific provisions regarding species and habitat protection. This paper explores the various needs of the polar bear population in Svalbard and the impacts caused by ship-based tourism. The Bern Convention’s provisions relating to the identified threats posed by ship-based tourism are examined and compared with the corresponding provisions in the Svalbard Environmental Protection Act. Moreover, this paper analyses the potential benefits that could arise from the application of the Bern Convention to the Svalbard territory. This paper concludes that the protection of the polar bears could, de jure, be strengthened by the Bern Convention, mainly due to the extensive interpretation of the types of activities that should be prohibited by signatory states. However, the Bern Convention can only be enforced by non-binding mechanisms and it is therefore unlikely that the application of the convention would lead to stronger protection of the polar bears than that which is provided by national legislation. The protection of the polar bear from threats caused by ship-based tourism would therefore, de facto, most likely not be strengthened by the application of the Bern Convention.