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Climate – Ice

Rock glacier occurrence in Godthåbsfjord

Research areas:

Rock glacier

Region:

Southwest Greenland

Start year:

2016

End year:

2017

Funding:

The Greenlandic Research Council

Kirsty Langley

Project leader

The occurrence of rock glaciers requires both a certain climate and terrain. In Greenland, studies of rock glaciers have been focused on the Disko bay, and the southern range margin of rock glaciers has been suggested to ca 66°N. Recently, we found evidence of a potentially active rock glacier near Nuuk, which would be around 250 km further south than previously suggested.

In this pilot study we will (I) confirm or reject current rock glacier occurrence in the Godthåbsfjord area with innovative methods, (II) study their dynamic regime and (III) investigate the climatic boundary conditions necessary for rock glacier occurrence in the Sub-Arctic.