Twentieth-century glacier change at Svartisen, Norway: the influence of climate, glacier geometry and glacier dynamics

In the 1870s and 1880s, after a long period of cold conditions, most of the glaciers of Svartisen ended near their maximum Neoglacial limit. Subsequent changes, although principally a response to the climatic controls of mass balance, have been influenced by glacier geometry, including area/altitude relations and aspect, and by glacier dynamics. Calving has played a principal role in the decrease of size of two of the larger glaciers, Austerdalsisen and Flatisen, both of which became unstable once the grounded distal sections of their tongues lost contact with their beds. Mass balance variations reflect climatic controls of the length of the accumulation and ablation seasons, as well as changes of summer temperature. -from Author