Abstract
Several new islands and many islets have appeared in the European Arctic since the end of the 20th century due to glacial recession under climate warming. The specificity of the formation of each individual strait and island is shown in the paper (apart from its location and timing of its origin). Analysis of available maps and satellite images of all three European Arctic archipelagos, from different times since 1909–1910, was the main research method. There are three pathways of the morphogenesis of the new islands: (1) simultaneous recession of glaciers from both sides of a depression in bedrock being a potential strait (typical in Franz Josef Land), (2) uncovering a rocky hill (which protrudes from a depression in bedrock) from under a receding glacier, (3) recession of one glacier which had reached a rocky fragment of a coastline (e.g., headland or peninsula), being a potential new island, during a maximum extent of this glacier during the Little Ice Age (in the beginning of the 20th century). Additional straits and islands are currently at the stage of formation and will continue to form in the European Arctic in the case of further warming or stabilization of the current climate conditions.
Highlights
In the European Arctic, the Little Ice Age began not later than in the middle of the 17th century [1]and lasted until the end of the 19th century [2]
Strong evidence exists to show that this warming led to glacial recession in the area after the Little Ice Age, i.e., in the 20th and 21st centuries [5,6,7]
It is interesting that the surface of the new island decreased severalfold from 1985 to 2018 (Figure 2)
Summary
In the European Arctic, the Little Ice Age began not later than in the middle of the 17th century [1]and lasted until the end of the 19th century [2]. In the European Arctic, the Little Ice Age began not later than in the middle of the 17th century [1]. Since the 1980s, the whole Arctic has undergone the current climate warming [3]. In the study area (Barents Sea with adjacent archipelagos), this warming was “ Strong evidence exists to show that this warming led to glacial recession in the area after the Little Ice Age, i.e., in the 20th and 21st centuries [5,6,7]. In the period 1963–2017, a total of 34 new islands—each with an area 0.5 km or more—appeared as a result of the fragmentation of their coasts due to the recession of tide-water glaciers in the Arctic
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