Quantification of thermo-erosion in pro-glacial areas - examples from Svalbard

Surface changes in recently deglaciated terrain are calculated by comparing air-photo derived digital elevation models (DEMs) from four pro-glacial ar eas on Svalbard. The paper quantifies the amount of material mobilised due to thermo-karst processes and discusses the influence of the process on the sediment budget of terrestrial arctic glacier basins underlain by permafro st. The study shows that thermo-erosion in deglaciated terrain is an import ant process which falls within the concept of paraglacial activity. The ave rage annual material mobilisation due to thermo-erosion can be in the same order of magnitude as field-measured total annual suspended sediment transf er out of the catchments. The study implies further that ice-cored moraines are important sediment magazines, which release more material during warme r periods than during colder periods.