Supercooling of Seawater Near the Glacier Front in a Fjord

Abstract

We analyze seawater temperature and salinity in the immediate vicinity of the Paulbreen front in Spitsbergen. The CTD-measurements were carried out from ice in winter and from a boat in summer. ADCP profiling was performed near the glacier front from the ice in winter. In winter, we found water with lower salinity than the surrounding water in the fjord at a distance of 15 m from the glacier front and recorded a low upward water flux near the glacier. Relatively fresh water was found at a depth of 2-4 m near the glacier front in the place where the sea and glacier bed have local depression up to 17 m. Supercooling of the freshened water reached 0.35°C. We link this phenomenon to a flow of freshwater from under a polythermal glacier. This water becomes overcooled in the seawater with significantly lower temperature and higher salinity.