Kropotkina, Novaya Zemlya Retreat Opens 12 km2 Embayment 1988-2019

On November 23, 2019April 24, 2024 By mspeltoIn Novaya Zemlya glacier retreat1 Comment

Kropotkina Glacier, Novaya Zemlya in 1988 and 2019 Landsat images. Red arrow marks the 1988 terminus location and yellow arrow the 2019 terminus location. Point A and B mark nunataks in 1988.

Kropotkina Glacier is a tidewater glacier on the southeast coast of Novaya Zemlya that drain into Vlaseva Bay. The glaciers terminate in the Kara Sea and has been retreating like all tidewater glaciers in Novaya Zemlya LEGOS, 2006 . The map shown below from this project indicates the lack of an embayment in 1952, red dashed line and limited retreat from 1952-1988. Carr et al (2014) identified an average retreat rate of 52 meters/year for tidewater glaciers on Novaya Zemlya from 1992 to 2010 and 5 meters/year for land terminating glaciers. Carr et al (2017) found that between 2000 and 2013, retreat rates were significantly higher on marine-terminating outlet glaciers than during the previous 27 years. Here we examine Landsat imagery from 1988 to 2019 to identify changes in Kropotkina Glacier.

In 1988 the southern terminus is at the red arrow indicating a peninsula on the east side of the terminus, while the northern terminus is at the margin of a proglacial lake. Point A and B are nunataks. In 1998 the southern terminus has not changed significantly. The northern terminus has not retreated significantly, but the proglacial lake has drained. By 2015 the terminus tongue in the embayment has largely collapsed, though a tongue of ice reaches across this embayment. An area of more 7 km² has gone from glacier ice to embayment since 1998. Point A is no longer a nunatak as marginal retreat has reached this point. The snowline in 2015 is also higher than is typically observed extending beyond the image area and is above 800 m.

By 2019 the main embayment is free of ice, having expanded by 12 km², as the result of terminus retreat. The terminus is now oriented north-south with a 6 km long calving front. The 2019 snowline is at 750 m.Point B remains a nunatak, but not for long with the continued high snowlines seen in 2015, 2018 and 2019. The retreat has mainly been via calving, and with an expanding calving front and reduced pinning points along the margin, the rapid retreat and area loss is not over. How deep the water is at the calving front will determine how limited calving will be going forward. The retreat of this glacier is substantial as has been the norm for tidewater glaciers such as Inostrantseva Glacier, Vera Glacier, Mack and Velkena Glacier or Chernysheva Glacier, with the formation of new islands and glacier separation common place Pelto (2017) and GlacierHub.

Kropotkina Glacier, Novaya Zemlya in 1998 and 2015 Landsat images. Red arrow marks the 1988 terminus location and yellow arrow the 2019 terminus location. Point A and B mark nunataks in 1988.

Map of the region from LEGOS, 2006 with elevations indicated.

Sulmeneva Bay Glacier Retreat 1990-2018, Novaya Zemlya

On May 28, 2019April 25, 2024 By mspeltoIn Novaya Zemlya glacier retreat

Sulmeneva Bay Glacier in Landsat images from 1990 and 2018. Red arrow is the 1990 terminus location, yellow arrow the 2018 terminus location and pink dots the snowline.

Here we examine an unnamed glaciers, referred to here as Sulmeneva Bay Glacier, that terminated in a piedmont lobe near the northern shore of Sulmeneva Bay and just east of Lednikovoye Lake in central Novaya Zemlya. Sulmeneva Bay is on the west coast of Novaya Zemlya and is the southern most extent of the continuous glaciation that extends along the northern half of the island. LEGOS (2006) identified a 1.24 km² reduction in area of this glacier from 1990-2000. Carr et al (2014) identified an average retreat rate of 52 meters/year for tidewater glaciers on Novaya Zemlya from 1992 to 2010 and 5 meters/year for land terminating glaciers. The glacier is retreating like all tidewater glaciers in northern Novaya Zemlya, though they are not specifically tidewater the lake terminating glaciers were retreating at a similar rate of ~40 m/year from 1986-2015 (Carr et al., 2017). Here we use Landsat images to examine changes from 1990 to 2018.

In 1990 Sulmeneva Bay Glacier terminates in a proglacial lake at the southern end of what will become an island in the lake. The lake is 1.1 km wide from the calving front to the southern shore, red arrow. The snowline in 1990 is at 550 m, while the head of the glacier is at 650 m. By 2001 the glacier has retreated 700 m and the snowline is at 600 m reaching the ice divide in some areas. In 2015 the snowline is at 400 m and the lake has continued to expand with a north-south reach of 1.7 km. The glacier terminates at the northern end of the developing island.

In August of 2018 the snowline is at 550 m, again leaving a limited accumulation zone. By mid-September snowfall has lowered the snowline back to 200 m. The glacier has now retreated from the central island in the proglacial lake. This should lead to an increase in calving. The glacier has retreated 1.2 km since 1990 and the lake is now 2.2 km from the calving front to the southern shore.

The retreat here is similar to the glaciers of Lednikovoye Lake and to Sulmeneva Glacier which retreated less, but across a broader front. What is evident is that the persistent high snowlines are leading to negative mass balances that will drive continued retreat. At Lednikovoye Lake high snowlines in 2000 and 2016 further indicate the spatial extent and temporal frequency of high snowlines in recent years.

Sulmeneva Bay Glacier in Landsat images from 2010 and 2015. Red arrow is the 1990 terminus location, yellow arrow the 2018 terminus location and pink dots the snowline.

Novaya Zemlya map produced by Christoph Hormann with Sulmeneva Bay Glacier (SSG) shown just west of Lednikovoye Lake.

Nizkiy Glacier Embayment Expands Island Forms, Novaya Zemlya

On May 25, 2017April 28, 2024 By mspeltoIn Novaya Zemlya glacier retreat

Nizkiy Glacier in 1990 and 2016 Landsat images. red arrows indicate locations of the 1990 terminus and yellow arrows the 2016 terminus. Purple arrow indicates an expanding bedrock rib amidst the glacier and purple dots indicate the snowline.

Nizkiy Glacier is on the west coast of the island reaching the Barents Sea Coast. The glaciers of northern Novaya Zemlya, Russia are truly generally out of sight out of mind. There remoteness and lack of importance as a water resource being the key reasons. It is particularly important to pay attention to these glaciers due to the recent changes in sea ice cover that have left a much longer duration of open water around the island particularly to the west in the Barents Sea. Nizkiy lost 1.2 km² in area from 1990-2000 (LEGOS, 2006). Carr et al (2014) identified an average retreat rate of 52 meters/year for tidewater glaciers on Novaya Zemlya from 1992 to 2010 and 5 meters/year for land terminating glaciers. Here we compare a Landsat image from 1990 and 2016.

The Nizkiy Glacier has several termini in lakes and one in the Barents Sea. The main terminus juts north out to the end of a peninsula in 1990, with an embayment developing from the peninsula across to the northern edge of the terminus. The middle terminus ends in a proglacial lake and in 1990 the terminus largely envelops an island in the lake. The southernmost terminus is in a proglacial lake shown is indicated by a red arrow as well. The 2016 Landsat image indicates the continued reduction in Nizkiy Glacier width reaching the peninsula at the yellow arrow, having retreated 1200 m from the 1990 position. Hence, It will likely be quite soon when the proglacial lake with the island joins with the Barents Sea. The northern edge of the terminus has retreated little, but the size of the embayment between the northern edge and the peninsula has doubled since 1990. A new island has been exposed in the proglacial lake between the main terminus and the peninsula. The expansion of the proglacial lake on the north side of the glacier just inland of the main terminus has retreated 600 m. The southernmost terminus has retreated 1100 m in an expanding proglacial lake. The purple arrow in the comparison image indicates an expanding rib of bedrock amidst the glacier. In 1990 the snowline is at 550 m. In 2015 the snowline is at 450 m. In July of 2016 the snowline is at 525 and in September is at 600 m. This glacier fits the pattern of other Novaya Zemlya glaciers (Pelto, 2016), such as Krayniy and Tasija. The lack of sea ice off the west coast of Novaya Zemlya in April of 2017, seen below, is a continuation of the pattern of open water early in the melt season, enhancing frontal melt. Note the pattern of sea ice in mid-April of 2004-2012 below