Glaciers melted a lot in 2014

The Norwegian Glacier Museum has carried out annual measurements of the frontal position of four glaciers. 2014 will be a bad year for the glaciers.

For several years we have measured changes in length on glaciers in Fjærland. It started with Store Supphellebreen in 1992 while we started with Bøyabreen in 2003. In recent years these glaciers have decreased, which has meant that we have started measurements on two more glaciers. These are Vetle Supphellebreen which we started measuring in 2011 and Haugabreen (in Jølster) last year.

Haugabreen glacier October 2014. Photo: Pål Gran Kielland.

The results from the measurements all point in the same direction:

Store Supphellebreen -18 meters

Bøyabreen -65 meters

Vetle Supphellebreen -31 meters

Haugabreen -13 meters

While the measurements of Vetle Supphellebreen and Haugabreen are made directly on active glacier arms, the measurements of Store Supphellebreen and Bøyabreen are made on regenerated glaciers. That is, glaciers that have been formed by ice slides and avalanches from the glacier and the mountain above them. The regenerated glaciers can therefore vary somewhat depending on where the slide occurs. This year, little avalanche activity has been observed, so the regenerated glaciers have not been able to gain much weight. In addition, the melting season has been warmer than normal and they are not particularly high above sea level; Bøyabreen 150 m and Store Supphellebreen 60 m. The result is that they are shrinking, especially Bøyabreen by 65 meters while Store Supphellebreen retreated 18 meters.

Bøyabreen October 2014. Photo: Pål Gran Kielland.

The fronts we are measuring on Haugabreen and Vetle Supphellebreen are located higher up in the mountains than the regenerated glaciers and should therefore be more robust against summer melting. Haugabreen (about 900 m) retreated 13 meters, while Vetle Supphellebreen (about 750 m) decreased by 31 meters. These figures show that the warm summer has also eaten away at the ice higher up in the mountains in 2014, which has been observed in several places. Among other things, in the area above the start of the glacier fall (1200 m) to Bøyabreen, old blue ice has melted at an altitude of 15-1600 meters.

The glacier collapse of Bøyabreen in September 2014. Photo: Pål Gran Kielland.

The measurements are made for NVE (Norwegian Water Resources and Energy Directorate).