The death of yet another small glacier.......
This extraordinary image -- completely untouched, and in true colour -- shows part of Svardalsbreen in western Norway. It's a small ice cap in the uplands to the north of Sognefjord, and it is melting away at a phenomenal rate. It has maybe a decade or two before it is gone completely.
In the photo (from Google satellite imagery) we can see the crevasse pattern in the glacier ice -- the crevasses are obvious enough. But all the other patters are made by the junctions between annual snow and ice layers and the edges of annual melting surfaces, which do not coincide. The result is something of rare complexity and beauty.......... but also something unutterably sad, yet another consequence of the global climate crisis.
For some spectacular scenery you can view the Boyabreen glacier on street view.It is North of Svaldasbreen on the RV5.
ReplyDeleteHi Gordon -- that's one of the glaciers I know best! I worked in the area around the Norwegian Glacier Museum over a period of 6 or 7 years, and did several publications for the Museum. One was "Walks in the World of Ice" which included a walk around Boyabreen. Another walk was around Supphellebreen. Both, sadly, wasting away at a phenomenal rate.......
ReplyDeleteI'll be doing a post on Supphellebreen........
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