Piotr Zagórski

Temperature and rainfall control of outflow from the Scott Glacier catchment (Svalbard) in the summers of 2005 and 2006

The article examines characteristics of meteorological and runoff time-series collected from the Scott Glacier catchment, Svalbard, during 2005 and 2006. The river discharge of Scottelva (Scott River) was monitored at a gauging station situated near the mouth of Recherche Fjord. Meteorological time-series (i.e. air temperature and precipitation) were monitored in Calypsobyen. The analysis shows interrelationships between meteorological and hydrological time-series, and that the runoff of Scottelva depends on the amount and intensity of glacial ablation. Total ablation for the Scott Glacier was estimated at 63.9 cm water equivalent in the 2005 season and 98.2 cm water equivalent in the 2006 season. A total of 64% and 72% of the discharge from the Scottelva in the respective 2005 and 2006 seasons came from surface ablation of the glacier.

The Influence of Recent Deglaciation and Associated Sediment Flux on the Functioning of Polar Coastal Zone – Northern Petuniabukta, Svalbard

The pristine coasts of Spitsbergen, major island of Svalbard Archipelago provide a superb opportunity to quantify how High Arctic coasts are responding to glacier retreat and associated intensified sediment flux to the fjord and shelf zones. This study focuses on the mechanisms controlling the recent coastal evolution (1990–2009) in Northern Petuniabukta, one of the most sheltered bays of central Spitsbergen, characterised by a semi-arid subpolar climate, limited wave action and rapid retreat rate of all surrounding glaciers. The formation of the coastal landforms here was to a large degree dependent of the rate of sediment excavation from alluvial fans and outwash plains that developed across a wide coast plain between the glacier valleys and the fjord. During last two decades most of the sediments transported from proglacial zones has been accumulated on outwash plains and after reworking supplied a prograding tidal flat system. Despite sheltered location and drier climate the rates of coastal evolution in Petuniabukta are comparable to those seen along the W and S coasts of Spitsbergen.

Creating a 3D database of Svalbard’s historical sites: 3D inventory and virtual reconstruction of a mining building at Camp Asbestos, Wedel Jarlsberg Land, Svalbard

ABSTRACT Most of the historical sites of the Svalbard Archipelago comprise remains of whaling stations, trappers’ huts and mining activities. Although most parts of Svalbard lie within the boundaries of national parks, not all cultural remains have been thoroughly documented and catalogued. The rapid development of modelling software allows for (re-)creating the shapes of some of these historical objects in three-dimensional (3D) computer space, for use in research, education and cultural heritage conservation. Ideally, a database of 3D vector shapes representing various historical sites would be made available as an open-access resource. This article shows how such a database could be started. During the summer of 2015, a 3D inventory of the remains at some historical sites in north-western Wedel Jarlsberg Land, Svalbard, was performed with the use of a Leica C10 laser scanner. One was a mining building at a site known as Camp Asbestos, in Asbestodden, in inner Recherchefjorden. Later, data on its history were gathered and a 3D digital reconstruction was done. The end result consists of: (1) a model of the building in its current ruined state; (2) a model of the assumed shape around the time of asbestos mining activities in 1921; and (3) documented changes in its shape between those time periods. We plan to perform similar documentation for other scanned objects and make all the data available via an open-access web server.

Rozwój śródpolnego wąwozu drogowego w świetle badań pedologicznych i pomiarów GPS

The article presents the development of a small, midfield form of road, which cuts the side of a loessic valley. The contemporary shape of the surface was determined by GPS measurements (Leica System 500), set together in ArcView and ArcGIS. Changing of its position was determined by a field analysis of the construction of 50 profiles of the Luvisols with varying degrees of erosion or aggradation. Calculation and visualization were performed in the ‘Surfer’ program. The results are interpreted in the context of changes in the agrarian structure since the end of the 19th century. It was found that the development of erosional forms is associated with an intensive use, since the late 1930s, of the road traced at the end of 19th century. Significant rate of its cutting is also the result of earlier soil erosion, due to its agricultural use since the late Middle Ages. Until achieving the depth of about 1 m, the form was the shape of a trough, because the road also served as a zone of turning round during the cultivation of the adjacent transversal-slope fields. In the 1970s, after a change in cultivation mode, erosion took the form of a box-like section. The average annual rate of cutting into the deepest section increased from 2.5 to4 cm and the depth - to 1.8 m. These conclusions confirm the profile of deposits on the extended cone at the gully mouth at the valley bottom. Their lower series, with thickness of 1.7 m and a massive structure, are products of soil erosion accumulated for several hundred years. The laminated top series with thickness of 0.8 m is distinguished by CaCO3 content growing towards the surface. Its accumulation at a rate of 1.2 cm per year is the result of a deeper cutting of the road on the slope.