Cryoconite Evolution and Formation on an Arctic Glacier Surface: A Case Study and Model, 2010

Cryoconite holes are vertical cylindrical holes that form on glacier surfaces due to the lower albedo of sediments. Cryoconite holes exist on Linnebreen, Svalbard over the entirety of the glacier. They preferentially melt below the surrounding glacier surface and eventually create standing water above them. In this study, six cryoconite holes were created by placing sediments on the glacier surface and observing their growth and movement for a period of fourteen days. They ranged from 2.0 cm wide with a depth of 0.5 cm to 7.0 cm wide and a depth of 2.0 cm. The greater the size of the cryoconite, the more it enhanced the melting of the surrounding surface both where it was initially placed and when it traveled down glacier. The largest cryoconite hole finished the two-week period 1 m down glacier from its initial placement and melted nearly 10 times the area of glacier ice as its own initial area. I hypothesize that this is due to the hydrologic cycle at work on the glacier. In order to look at this, we modeled how the cryoconite holes would form using the lower albedo of the cryoconite and the sun's revolution about the field site.

冰尘洞（cryoconite holes）是指因沉积物反照率更低，而在冰川表面形成的垂直圆柱形孔洞。冰尘洞遍布斯瓦尔巴群岛的林恩布雷恩冰川全域，这类孔洞会优先在周边冰川表面下方发生消融，最终在洞上方形成积水。本研究中，研究人员通过在冰川表面投放沉积物构建了6个冰尘洞，并对其14天内的生长与移动过程进行观测。这些冰尘洞的尺寸范围为宽度2.0厘米、深度0.5厘米至宽度7.0厘米、深度2.0厘米。冰尘洞尺寸越大，其在初始投放位置以及随冰川向下移动的过程中，对周边冰川表面的消融促进作用越强。最大的冰尘洞在两周观测期结束时，已从初始投放位置随冰川向下移动了1米，其消融的冰川冰面积几乎是自身初始面积的10倍。本研究推测，这一现象源于冰川上活跃的水文循环。为验证该推测，研究团队基于冰尘的低反照率特性以及研究区域的太阳视运动，对冰尘洞的形成过程进行了建模。