Abstract
High-resolution images of the seabed obtained with the use of hydroacoustic measurements allow a detailed identification of inaccessible seabed areas such as the Hans Glacier foreland in the Hornsund Fjord on Spitsbergen. Analyses presented in the paper were carried out on a Digital Elevation Model (DEM) of the bay’s seafloor exposed in the process of deglaciation, obtained from bathymetric data recorded by a multibeam echosounder. The main objective of this study was to show the relevance of the autocorrelation length parameter used to describe the roughness of the bottom surface based on the example of seafloor postglacial forms in the Hans Glacier foreland. The resulting parameter reflects the scale of the terrain roughness, which varies between geomorphologic forms. Maps of the autocorrelation length were derived from successive tiles of the data, overlapping by 90%. Based on this, the two-dimensional Fourier transform (2D FFT) was successively conducted, and the power spectral density and autocorrelation were calculated following the Wiener–Khinchin theorem. The thus obtained parameter describes the scale of the glacial bay seafloor roughness, which was assigned to the geomorphological features observed.
Highlights
Rapid climate changes observed for decades are conspicuous in the Arctic environment [1] where the polar ice cap disappears at a high rate and affects the environment
The results of bathymetric measurements presented in this paper and conducted on Spitsbergen in the Hornsund Fjord, as well as the Digital Elevation Model (DEM) created on the basis of the said data represent an example of typical changes in the Arctic seabed
The new algorithm of the autocorrelation length permits the differentiation of morphological structures of uneven seafloor surfaces
Summary
Rapid climate changes observed for decades are conspicuous in the Arctic environment [1] where the polar ice cap disappears at a high rate and affects the environment. The results of climate models predict the total disappearance of the sea ice within a century [2]. The Arctic glaciers have been melting and retreating, leaving new areas of the seabed exposed, with traces of glacier stagnation and accumulation of deposits [3]. The results of bathymetric measurements presented in this paper and conducted on Spitsbergen in the Hornsund Fjord, as well as the Digital Elevation Model (DEM) created on the basis of the said data represent an example of typical changes in the Arctic seabed. This paper relates to the seabed spreading at the terminus of the Hans Glacier—one of the most thoroughly researched and monitored tidewater glaciers in the Arctic.
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