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Rock glaciers from Norway and Svalbard, Version 1

Metadata Updated: December 7, 2023

A complete inventory of rock glaciers on mainland Norway and Svalbard has only been carried out in connection with coarse geomorphological mapping. The data presented here are therefore averaged on a regional scale. Some detailed geomorpholgical maps exist, however, where more detailed information can be extracted. The data listed are therefore not a complete database of Norwegian rock glaciers. Recently detailed studies have been carried out on rockglaciers in the Ny Alesund and the Longyearbyen areas on Svalbard. From these studies, detailed data are available.

On mainland Norway, there are at least 150 rock glaciers (Sollid and Sorbel 1992) . These may be grouped as follows: 1. Probably active rock glaciers in high mountain areas in southern and northern Norway. Most of these are situated in the Rondane mountain area of southern Norway. 2. Relict rock glaciers in low-lying areas near the coast of northern Norway. These rock glaciers have a position marginal to the Weichselian ice sheet and were formed during permafrost conditions before or during deglaciation. 3. Relict rock glaciers in higher inland areas of northern Norway. These rock glaciers are believed to have formed under permafrost conditions during deglaciation possibly because of rock falls caused by tectonic activity during isostatic uplift. On Svalbard, there are at least 500 rock glaciers (Kristiansen and Sollid 1986). Most of these are situated on the central and western part of Spitsbergen. They are most common in coastal areas, often below the steep escarpment which delimits the inner part of the strandflat. As Svalbard has continuous permafrost, most of these are probably active. Some may however be inactive, as for instance the rock glaciers at Stuphallet near Ny Alesund (Sollid and Sorbel 1992). In those cases, the rock glaciers have moved out of its source area and onto the strandflat.

Partly in cooperation with ETH-Zurich, detailed investigations have been started in the Ny Alesund area, Western Spitsbergen. These investigations have been enlarged also to the Longyearbyen area, central Spitsbergen. Principal methods have been velocity measurements, using theodolite/EDM, GPS and photogrammetry; geophysical methods (DC resistivity soundings, seismic refraction soundings, gravimetry and georadar); and morphometrical analysis using a Digital Elevation Model and a grid-based GIS. Typical velocities are between 5 and 10 cm/year, both for lobate and tongue-shaped rock glaciers. These data are presented on the CAPS Version 1.0 CD-ROM, June 1998.

Access & Use Information

Public: This dataset is intended for public access and use. License: No license information was provided. If this work was prepared by an officer or employee of the United States government as part of that person's official duties it is considered a U.S. Government Work.

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Dates

Metadata Created Date November 12, 2020
Metadata Updated Date December 7, 2023

Metadata Source

Harvested from NASA Data.json

Additional Metadata

Resource Type Dataset
Metadata Created Date November 12, 2020
Metadata Updated Date December 7, 2023
Publisher NSIDC
Maintainer
Identifier C1386206680-NSIDCV0
Data First Published 1985-01-01
Language en-US
Data Last Modified 1997-12-31
Category geospatial
Public Access Level public
Bureau Code 026:00
Metadata Context https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema/catalog.jsonld
Metadata Catalog ID https://data.nasa.gov/data.json
Schema Version https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema
Catalog Describedby https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema/catalog.json
Citation Rock glaciers from Norway and Svalbard, Version 1. Version 1. Archived by National Aeronautics and Space Administration, U.S. Government, National Snow and Ice Data Center.
Harvest Object Id 80b218b3-1c38-45b1-a6aa-d0501eaae73c
Harvest Source Id 58f92550-7a01-4f00-b1b2-8dc953bd598f
Harvest Source Title NASA Data.json
Homepage URL https://cmr.earthdata.nasa.gov:443/search/concepts/C1386206680-NSIDCV0.html
Metadata Type geospatial
Old Spatial 10.0 58.0 31.0 81.0
Program Code 026:001
Source Datajson Identifier True
Source Hash 9096e7f181e02ac16209ee6d1ca9a4c679ee5bc3d751c88da9f2ae2ac4408191
Source Schema Version 1.1
Spatial
Temporal 1985-01-01T00:00:00Z/1997-12-31T23:59:59.999Z

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