Abstract
Meeting the technical challenges posed by the Arctic environment is a key issue in the development of Greenland’s economy, particularly in the light of increasing interest in developing Greenland’s mineral resources both on- and offshore. This paper describes some results of the glaciological investigations carried out at Malmbjerg.
Highlights
Meeting the technical challenges posed by the Arctic environment is a key issue in the development of Greenland’s economy, in the light of increasing interest in developing Greenland’s mineral resources both on- and offshore
Surge-type glaciers are known to exist in Stauning Alper (Fig. 1), and the likelihood of a surge of Arcturus and Schuchert Gletschers during the anticipated lifetime of the mine needs to be assessed
The results discussed below are based on data from an automatic weather station (AWS) set up on Schuchert Gletscher in April 2008 by the Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland (GEUS), and on field observations and groundpenetrating radar surveys carried out in September 2008
Summary
An estimate of the magnitude and regime of surface meltwater production and of ablation over the glacier surface is required to properly dimension the mine’s infrastructure, to model future differential ablation under a thickening cover of dust and debris and to assess the likelihood of surges of the two glaciers. Observations from the AWS on the glacier surface allow modelling of the surface energy balance and quantifying ablation. Meltwater from the winter snow cover is important since it contributes to the total surface runoff from Arcturus Gletscher. A snow pit showed 576 mm water equivalent of accumulation (corresponding to winter balance) in early April 2008 at the AWS site, where the snow cover had completely melted by mid-June
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