Abstract
We analyze seawater temperature and salinity in the immediate vicinity of the Paulbreen front in Spitsbergen. The CTD-measurements were carried out from ice in winter and from a boat in summer. ADCP profiling was performed near the glacier front from the ice in winter. In winter, we found water with lower salinity than the surrounding water in the fjord at a distance of 15 m from the glacier front and recorded a low upward water flux near the glacier. Relatively fresh water was found at a depth of 2-4 m near the glacier front in the place where the sea and glacier bed have local depression up to 17 m. Supercooling of the freshened water reached 0.35°C. We link this phenomenon to a flow of freshwater from under a polythermal glacier. This water becomes overcooled in the seawater with significantly lower temperature and higher salinity.
Highlights
In this paper, we analyze the measurements of water properties close to the front of Paulabreen (Paula Glacier) in Spitsbergen and examine the deviation of seawater temperature from its freezing point
The CTD profiling performed with SBE-37M in 2011 (Fig. 4d) shows that the water temperature was very close to the freezing point over the entire water column but still it was higher than the freezing point by 0.02-0.03°C
CTD profiling performed near Paulabreen wall in 2014 shows that the water temperature is higher than its freezing point by 0.1°C over entire water column (Fig. 8a)
Summary
We analyze the measurements of water properties close to the front of Paulabreen (Paula Glacier) in Spitsbergen and examine the deviation of seawater temperature from its freezing point. The processes that occur in the water near glaciers frequently lead to water supercooling. The author reports that glaciohydraulic supercooling is a process that occurs when the pressure melting point of water ascending the adverse slope of a subglacial overdeepening rises faster than the water is heated by viscous dissipation resulting in water remaining liquid below 0°C. Glaciohydraulic supercooling occurs when water rapidly ascends to smaller depths and cools to the temperature needed for freezing. Cook et al (2006) analyze the processes in the basement of glaciers and state that glaciohydraulic supercooling allows water to remain liquid at temperatures lower than the freezing point. They write: Glaciohydraulic supercooling is a process that allows water at the base of a glacier to remain liquid at a temperature below its freezing point in response to the geometry of water flow and subglacial pressure
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
