Document Type
Thesis
Date of Degree Completion
Summer 2025
Degree Name
Master of Science (MS)
Department
Geological Sciences
Committee Chair
Susan Kaspari
Second Committee Member
Chris Mattinson
Third Committee Member
Carey Gazis
Abstract
The Arctic is warming at four times the global rate. Warming is particularly pronounced in Svalbard, Norway, where warming is five to seven times greater than the global rate. A consequence of this acute warming is glacier retreat. In addition to rising temperatures, light absorbing particles (LAP; black carbon, mineral dust, and colored organics) can also contribute to glacier melt by lowering the albedo of snow and ice (i.e., darkening otherwise reflective surfaces and increasing melt rates). Previous LAP research on Svalbard has largely focused on black carbon (BC), while properties of dust as a LAP remain relatively understudied. To address this knowledge gap, mineral dust collected from four different glaciers on Svalbard was analyzed via X-ray Diffraction and Scanning Electron Microscopy for grain size and composition to understand how dust characteristics vary spatially on Svalbard. This work was supplemented with the processing of an 8.15 m shallow firn core from Holtedahlfonna glacier, which yielded temporal trends in elemental proxies of dust via Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry and BC via Single Particle Soot Photometry. BC and dust concentrations were then used to model relative albedo reductions. All four glaciers studied contained differences in dust grain size, with median sizes ranging between 8.4 - 22.4 µm. Size variability was accompanied with differences in composition. Composition likewise varied between glaciers, with all samples containing abundant sheet silicates and common rock forming minerals, while carbonates were almost exclusively found in dust sourced from central Svalbard. BC and dust concentrations within the Holtedahlfonna firn core were found to be relatively low; BC concentrations ranged between 0.02 - 3.33 µg/L with a single anomalous peak of 49.2 µg/L at the top of the core, while Fe, an elemental proxy for dust, ranged between 0.02 - 35.9 ppb. Additionally, modeling of BC and dust deposition on albedo reductions revealed reductions from dust outweighed that of BC, with reductions from BC largely negligible when dust was present. With anticipated increases in both global dust emissions and deposition, the greater contribution to albedo reductions from dust relative to BC observed on Svalbard points to accelerated albedo reductions from dust in the future and warrants further study into the dynamics of dust as a LAP on Svalbard. Additionally, the cumulative differences in size and composition show that dust deposited on Svalbard potentially has both local and long-range sources, with varied degrees of deposition occurring between glaciers. This work has contributed to a baseline understanding of how dust interacts with Svalbard glaciers and highlights the need for further studies on dust provenance and LAP properties.
Recommended Citation
Orme, Oscar D., "Investigation of Svalbard Glacier Mineral Dust Through Seasonal Snow and Firn Core Analyses: Dust Composition and Relative Albedo Contributions" (2025). All Master's Theses. 2152.
https://digitalcommons.cwu.edu/etd/2152