Austfonna

Austfonna () is a Icecap located on the island of Nordaustlandet in the North-East of the Svalbard.

In Norwegian, Aust in the same beginning as Øst which means Is and Fonna is a synonym of Bre which means Glacier . Austfonna thus means litérallement Glacier of the East . It should be noted that this glacier also in the past bore the names of East Ice , Groote Ys Berg and Öst-isen .

By its surface, 8120 km ², Austfonna are the second icecap of Europe after the Vatnajökull and 7th of our planet.

Its volume is approximately 1900 km ³, his maximum thickness of 560 m and his maximum altitude of 800 Mr. most of his base is located under the sea level as for the Antarctic and Greenland. Its maritime face extends on 180 km only stopped by very rare rock exposures.

The cap is generally stripped of cracks. Melt water streams during the summer and forms spectacular cascades in certain places of the face of the glacier.

By Vêlage, Austfonna is at the origin of the largest Iceberg S of the Svalbard.

This Glacier is regularly studied by the scientists in particular within the framework of the Climatologie.

Charts

External bonds

• Photographs and chart of Austfonna
• Nordauslandet Is
• Research projects in Svalbard

References