Detection of the Holocene frontal moraines underneath glaciers; RiS ID: 11398

Climate warming periods during the Holocene resulted in recession of glaciers in Svalbard. The data about glaciers fluctuations may be provided by frontal moraines which are contemporary overpassed and covered by ice. One of non-invasive methods of analyzing bedrock of glaciated valleys is ground penetrating radar which allows to identify e.g. raised marine terraces in subglacial topography and other geomorphic features. The project intends to detect potential frontal moraines of tributary glaciers to Hansbreen under the glacier ice with the use of ground penetrating radar (GPR). Precisely located GPR profiles with use of different wave frequency antennas (25 MHz - 200 MHz) will be used to study bedrock of tributary glaciers. Analysis of the archive GPR profiles indicates potential areas for further and more precise mapping of such older features. The project presents the approach of application radio-echo soundings for detecting moraines distinguished from glacier solid bedrock. Results will allow to reconstruct an estimated extend of tributary glaciers to Hansbreen in warmer periods of Holocene.