COORDINATES: 67° 54' N / 18° 34' E
Photo taken by P. Holmlund in August 1987.
COORDINATES: 67° 54' N / 18° 34' E
Photo taken by P. Holmlund in August 1987.
Storglaciären in the Kebnekaise Mountains northern Sweden is a small valley-type glacier with a divided accumulation area and a smooth longitudinal profile. It is exposed to the E, maximum and minimum elevations are 1,750 and 1,130 m a.s.l., its surface area is 3.12 km2 and its average thickness is 95 m (maximum is 250 m). Annual mean air temperature at the equilibrium line of the glacier (around 1,500 m a.s.l.) is about -6 °C. The glacier is mainly temperate with a cold surface layer in its lower parts and ends in discontinuous permafrost. Average annual precipitation is about 1,000 mm at the nearby Tarfala Research Station.
The accumulation for 1993/94 (1.06 m water equivalent) was less than average and thus diverges from the high accumulation rates recorded since the late 1980s. The winter temperature was 1°C colder than average and net ablation did not start until the second week of June. The summer was cold except for a one-month period between mid-July and mid-August. The precipitation was less than normal during summer. The ablation rate was normal (1.43 m water equivalent) and the net balance became -0.37 m. The winter of 1994/95 was rich in snow (1.93 m water equivalent) with temperatures slightly above normal. The summer was cold and rainy with less ablation than average (1.23 m water equivalent), giving a net mass gain of 0.70 m. Since 1989, Storglaciären has grown 4.2 meters in thickness primarily as a consequence of high accumulation rates.
