Surge of Storstrømmen, a large outlet glacier from the Inland Ice of North-East Greenland

Abstract

During field work in 1989 it was noted that the front of Storstrømmen glacier, North-East Greenland, had advanced by more than 10 km as compared to its position in 1978. lnspection of satellite images shows that the advance took place in the period from 1978 to 1984. Scattered observations of frontal positions back to 1913 indicate a general retreat until 1978. During the advance after 1978, the ice discharge in the frontal region of Storstrømmen was as much as 10.8 km³ per year, which is about half the discharge from Jakobshavn Isbræ, West Greenland, the most productive calving glacier in Greenland. Observed surface-elevation and surface-velocity changes during a period overlapping that of the large frontal advance show all the characteristics associated with a surge.