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Multidecadal analysis of paraglacial landscape changes in the foreland of Gåsbreen - Sørkapp Land, Svalbard
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  • Justyna Dudek,
  • Iwo Wieczorek,
  • Mateusz K. Suwiński,
  • Mateusz C.Strzelecki
Justyna Dudek
Instytut Geografii i Przestrzennego Zagospodarowania Polskiej Akademii Nauk

Corresponding Author:justyna_dudek@wp.pl

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Iwo Wieczorek
Uniwersytet Wroclawski
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Mateusz K. Suwiński
Uniwersytet Mikolaja Kopernika w Toruniu
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Mateusz C.Strzelecki
Uniwersytet Wroclawski
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Abstract

The change in the structure of the polar landscape since the termination of the Little Ice Age (ca. 1900) is expressed by widespread retreat of glaciers, progressive exposure of glacial landforms at ice margins and opening ice marginal zones to increasing paraglacial and periglacial processes operating synchronously in adjacent areas. This study provides insights into the rate of post-LIA deglaciation and associated paraglacial transformation in foreland of Gåsbreen, a glacier situated in north-western Sørkapp Land, region characterized by one of fastest deglaciation rates in the entire Svalbard Archipelago. During the investigated period, 1938-2020, Gåsbreen was in a recession that accelerated after 1990 and as a result the area of its marginal zone almost tripled from 2.2 km² to 5.8 km². This process had a significant impact on the development of the relief in glacier foreland. The dynamics of landscape transformation in the glacier marginal zone manifested in degradation in the surface of ice-cored moraines and the forms that are underlain by dead-ice. Mass movements and debris flow on ice-cored moraines and fluvioglacial processes had a great influence on this transformation. Larger volume of proglacial waters intensified denudation, transport and accumulation of sediments, which resulted, in: an increase in the surface of sandurs and proglacial riverbeds, an increase in the area of lakes, extending and changing of the course of rivers in marginal zone.
28 Jul 2022Submitted to Land Degradation & Development
28 Jul 2022Submission Checks Completed
28 Jul 2022Assigned to Editor
12 Oct 2022Reviewer(s) Assigned
19 Dec 2022Review(s) Completed, Editorial Evaluation Pending
01 Feb 2023Editorial Decision: Revise Major
18 Mar 20231st Revision Received
24 Mar 2023Submission Checks Completed
24 Mar 2023Assigned to Editor
24 Mar 2023Review(s) Completed, Editorial Evaluation Pending
31 Mar 2023Reviewer(s) Assigned
21 Apr 2023Editorial Decision: Revise Minor
24 Apr 20232nd Revision Received
24 Apr 2023Review(s) Completed, Editorial Evaluation Pending
24 Apr 2023Submission Checks Completed
24 Apr 2023Assigned to Editor
06 May 2023Editorial Decision: Accept