Stockholm university
Department of Physical Geography

Glacier of the month

The United Nations declared 2025 as the International Year of Glaciers' Preservation, accompanied by the proclamation of the 21st March of each year as the World Day for Glaciers starting in 2025. We would like to share pictures and our knowledge about glaciers around the world and present the project “Glacier of the month” starting in March 2025.

 

Background

The aim of the International Year of Glaciers’ Preservationis is to raise global awareness about the critical role of glaciers, snow and ice in the climate system and the hydrological cycle, and the economic, social and environmental impacts of the impending changes in the Earth’s cryosphere.

At the Department of Physical Geography, Stockholm University we have a long history of research focusing on glaciers. Many researchers have field experience from a wide range of icy environments such as for example; Antarctica, Greenland, Canadian Rockies, Norway and of course northern Sweden where we have a long tradition of glacier research and Tarfala monitor glacier change.

We would like to share pictures and our knowledge about glaciers around the world and present the project “Glacier of the month” starting in March 2025.

 

Glacier of the month
 

March 2025 Blåmannsisen, Norway: 67° 15’ N; 16 ° 05´ Ö

View of Blåmannsisen, Norway. Photo: ian Brown

My first impression: we ascended the glacier in winter from the south on snow mobiles. Immediately you felt the size and beauty of the icecap, and elation. It expands almost endlessly towards the horizon: a pure white against a blue sky, Ian Brown.

- We worked there for over 10 years, starting in 1998. Primarily, we conducted research on how radar waves and their reflections are affected by different types of snow and firn (intermediate between snow and glacial ice). The neighboring glacier, Salajiekna, was also studied in connection with the Blåmannsisen research, says associate professor Ian Brown from the Department of Physical Geography.

Ian worked on this glacier with some former colleagues at the department: Malin Johansson, Susanne Ingvander, Per Klingbjer and Ceclia Richardson-Näslund.

Researchers working on Blåmannsisen, Norway. Photo: Ian Brown

Read more about:

Ian Brown

The research in Annals of Glaciology

The research in IEEE Xplore

The research in Geografiska Annaler

The International Year of Glaciers' Preservation

 

April, Mikkaglaciären   67,413 N, 17,695 E

Mikkaglaciären. Photo: Per Holmlund

The beautiful Mikkaglaciären is the most well-known glacier in the Sarek region. It offers a trail to Sarektjåkkå, Sweden's second-highest mountain, and has a significant scientific history, Per Holmlund.

Mikkaglaciären 1907. Photo: Privat

Axel Hamberg began surveying its topography, ice velocity, and mass balance in 1895, making Mikkaglaciären his favorite glacier. Data on its front changes were reported to the International Glacier Commission, where he later became director. In the 1950s and 1960s, Torsten Stenborg studied glacial hydrology extensively.

Mikkaglaciären 2018. Photo: Privat

Per Holmlund resumed this research in the 1980s using ice depth radar and photogrammetry to explain the water pathways through the glacier.

Recent short-term studies continue to report glacier length changes to the World Glacier Monitoring Service. Other researchers from our department, such as Valter Schytt, Wibjörn Karlén, and Gunhild Rosqvist, have also worked on Mikkaglaciären.

Researchers on the Mikkaglaciären. Photo: Privat
Theme
Climate and Environment - Theme page Geology, Geography and Landscapes - Theme page

Last updated: April 6, 2025

Source: Department of Physical Geography

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