Sweden's glaciers mapped before they vanish forever this century
Swedish researchers have charted the ice thickness and bedrock beneath all four of the country's monitored reference glaciers—data that will become invaluable once they melt away. The findings provide a baseline for understanding how landscapes, water supplies, and infrastructure will change as these ice masses disappear within decades, a shift with serious implications for regional planning and climate adaptation strategies.
Originaltitel: Ice thickness and subglacial topography of Swedish reference glaciers revealed by radio-echo sounding
Svenska gletschrar minskar snabbare än tidigare kartor visat. Forskare vid Stockholm universitet har nu kartlagt is-tjockleken och berggrunden under landets fyra referensgletschar med högupplöst radio-ekoklounderökning – en kartläggning som saknas för framtida landskapsplanering. Mårmaglacären innehåller 0,32 kubikkilometer is vid medeldjupet 96 meter, Storglacären 0,25 kubikkilometer vid 85 meter, Rabotsglacären 0,23 kubikkilometer vid 72 meter och Riukojietna 0,10 kubikkilometer vid 34 meter. Högsta uppmätta istjocklek nådde 241 meter. Alla fyra svenska referensgletschar väntas försvinna före sekelskiftet enligt nuvarande klimatpolitik. Detaljkartorna över berggrund och isöverlagring är avgörande för kommuner och infrastrukturägare som planerar vattenkraft, vägar och stabilitet i fjällregionerna. Datamängderna är nu öppet tillgängliga.
<p>Sweden currently hosts around 270 glaciers, four of which belong to the 61 reference glaciers monitored worldwide. Eight Swedish glaciers disappeared during the warm summer of 2024, and under the global warming scenario associated with current climate policies, all four Swedish reference glaciers (M & aring;rmaglaci & auml;ren, Storglaci & auml;ren, Rabots glaci & auml;r, and Riukojietna) are projected to vanish within this century. Such change will have implications for people, ecosystems, infrastructure, and local meteorological processes, highlighting the need to better constrain the resultant emerging post-glacial landscapes. During 2024-2025, we conducted radio-echo sounding (RES) surveys on the four Swedish reference glaciers and obtained a total of 38 205 ice thickness point measurements. The mean measured ice thicknesses are 98 +/- 14.5 m for M & aring;rmaglaci & auml;ren, 90 +/- 14.6 m for Storglaci & auml;ren, 85 +/- 14.1 m for Rabots glaci & auml;r, and 35 +/- 7.9 m for Riukojietna. The corresponding maximum measured ice thicknesses are 241, 225, 158, and 88 m, respectively. The RES-derived ice thickness measurements were used to produce high-resolution (10 & times; 10 m) maps of ice thickness distribution and subglacial topography for each reference glacier. The resulting mean distributed ice thicknesses and ice volumes are 96 m and 0.32 km3 (M & aring;rmaglaci & auml;ren), 85 m and 0.25 km3 (Storglaci & auml;ren), 72 m and 0.23 km3 (Rabots glaci & auml;r), and 34 m and 0.10 km3 (Riukojietna), respectively. The RES data for the four reference glaciers are available at 10.17043/tarfala-marma-res-survey-2, 10.17043/tarfala-storglaciaren-res-survey-2, 10.17043/tarfala-rabot-res-survey-2, and 10.17043/tarfala-rivgojiehkki-res-survey-2 . The ice thickness and subglacial topography for the four reference glaciers are available at 10.17043/tarfala-marma-res-3, 10.17043/tarfala-storglaciaren-res-3, 10.17043/tarfala-rabot-res-3, and 10.17043/tarfala-rivgojiehkki-res-3 .</p>