Paraglacial coasts responses to glacier retreat and associated shifts in river floodplains over decadal timescales (1966-2016), Kongsfjorden, Svalbard
Résumé
The aim of this paper is to quantify and map the impact of the post‐Little Ice Age climate
change on the coastal evolution on three glacier catchments in the Kongsfjorden
area in Svalbard. Climatic data at Ny‐Ålesund indicate an increase in the annual mean
air temperature of +4 °C from 1969 to 2016 and an increase in precipitation. On the
northern coast of the Brøgger Peninsula, the Austre Lovénbreen, Midtre Lovénbreen,
and Vestre Lovénbreen glaciers have experienced a net retreat in response to changing
meteorological conditions. Because of this retreat, the glaciers have disclosed a
large area of 7 km2 composed of terrigenous sediments. These sediments are
transported by runoff and created coastal sandur deltas. Channel network behavior
has been studied using the computation of the active floodplain width by photointerpretation,
which decreased in average from 1966 to 2010. This demonstrated a contraction
of the active braided belt and a decrease in the number of braided channels.
A photointerpretation analysis combined with acquisition of dGPS data during field
work shows a mean shoreline progradation of +0.16 m a−1 from 1966 to 2016, with
a maximal advance of +82 m seaward. Since 1966, coastal progradation has decreased
in time with higher mean values at the beginning of the studied period and an
erosional trend from 1990. The sublittoral area was studied using analog side scan
sonar in 2009, 2011, 2012, and 2017. Three prodeltas were identified and underwent
a huge extension from 2009 to 2017. In the light of this knowledge, our main
conclusion is that, by retreating, glaciers have an impact on the sediment availability
and on the capacity of the fluvial system to effectively transport sediment to the
shoreline. These two factors control the overall coastal evolution by regulating the
sediment supply to the coastal area. The coastal zones that were fed with sediments
by runoff have experienced a coastal progradation, and those that lost this supply
have undergone a coastal recession. Due to the contraction of proglacial floodplains,
current progradation concerns restricted coastal areas.