RESEARCH ARTICLE Freshwater input to the Arctic fjord Hornsund (Svalbard) Małgorzata Błaszczyk1, Dariusz Ignatiuk1, Aleksander Uszczyk1, Katarzyna Cielecka-Nowak2, Mariusz Grabiec1, Jacek A. Jania1, Mateusz Moskalik3 & Waldemar Walczowski4 1Department of Geomorphology, Faculty of Earth Sciences, University of Silesia, Sosnowiec, Poland; 2Department of Climatology, Faculty of Earth Sciences, University of Silesia, Sosnowiec, Poland; 3Department of Polar and Marine Research, Institute of Geophysics, Polish Academy of Sciences, Warszawa, Poland; 4Physical Oceanography Department, Institute of Oceanology, Polish Academy of Sciences, Sopot, Poland Abstract Keywords Svalbard fjords; frontal ablation; glacier Glaciers draining to the Hornsund basin (southern Spitsbergen, Svalbard) have meltwater runoff; precipitation; snow cover experienced a significant retreat and mass volume loss over the last decades, on land increasing the input of freshwater into the fjord. An increase in freshwater input can influence fjord hydrology, hydrodynamics, sediment flux and biota, Correspondence especially in a changing climate. Here, we describe the sources of freshwater Małgorzata Błaszczyk, Faculty of Earth supply to the fjord based on glaciological and meteorological data from the Sciences, University of Silesia, Be˛ dzin’ ska period 2006 to 2015. The average freshwater input from land to the Hornsund 60, PO-41-200 Sosnowiec, Poland; e-mail:
[email protected] bay is calculated as 2517 ± 82 Mt a−1, with main contributions from glacier meltwater runoff (986 Mt a−1; 39%) and frontal ablation of tidewater glaciers Abbreviations (634 Mt a−1; 25%). Tidewater glaciers in Hornsund lose ca. 40% of their mass CTD: conductivity–temperature–depth by frontal ablation. The terminus retreat component accounts for ca. 30% instrument; DEM: digital elevation model; of the mass loss by frontal ablation, but it can vary between 17% and 44% DLR EOC: Earth Observation Center, German depending on oceanological, meteorological and geomorphological factors.