Actual paraglacial progradation of the coastal zone in the Kongsfjorden area, western Spitsbergen (Svalbard)

This research was carried out on the Brøgger Peninsula, northwest Spitsbergen, Svalbard (79°N 12°E). In the western part of Spitsbergen, cold-based valley glaciers have retreated more than 1 km from their Little Ice Age limits, and glacial meltwater has extensively reworked glacigenic sediments on exposed glacier forelands. In such areas, a paraglacial sediment transport regime has become predominant, with runoff as the dominant process. A combination of GIS, DEM, aerial photographic and field data was employed to estimate shoreline progradation at sandur outflows. Average shoreline progradation is estimated to amount to 3 m/annum over the last 30 years, a period of uninterrupted sediment provision from the glacial runoff system.