Modelling the late Holocene and future evolution of Monacobreen, northern Spitsbergen

Abstract

Monacobreen is a 40km long surge-type tidewater glacier in northern Spitsbergen. During 1991–1997 Monacobreen surged and advanced by about 2km, but the front did not reach the maximum Little Ice Age (LIA) stand. Since 1997 the glacier front is retreating at a fast rate ( ∼ 125ma−1). The questions addressed in this study are as follows: (1) Can the late Holocene behaviour of Monacobreen be understood in terms of climatic forcing?, and (2) What will be the likely evolution of this glacier for different scenarios of future climate change?