Upwelling plume near Svalbard.
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Upwelling plume near Svalbard.
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Dr. Brigham-Grette of the University of Massachusetts Amherst’s Department of Earth, Geographic, and Climate Sciences, along with Roland Hayes School teacher Mark Goldner, spent two summers conducting research on the Kronebreen, Kongsvegen and Kongsbreen glacier systems around Svalbard, Norway. While there, the duo noticed a significant increase in birds around certain cave-like features around the glaciers, in addition to churning water flowing away from the feature. So they asked, where does this water come from, and why is it attracting these birds? This video, created by Mark Goldner, explains their causes.
“This work is the outgrowth of two summers spent in Svalbard, Norway, where Dr. Brigham-Grette of CNS’s Department of Earth, Geographic, and Climate Sciences was conducting research into the Kronebreen, Kongsvegen and Kongsbreen glacier systems at the head of the Kongsfjord. Mark Goldner, a teacher at Roland Hayes School in Brookline, MA, joined Dr. Brigham-Grette in 2011 and 2021 as a teacher with PolarTREC. In 2021, Mr. Goldner took drone video and photography to assist in and document the research. Most of the video and photographs of glaciers in this video series are from that work. Brigham-Grette and Goldner want to acknowledge the legacy of retired Distinguished Professor Ross Powel (Northern Illinois University) in their work.“
While glaciers are solid ice, and while many border salty ocean water, they tend to contain a significant amount of liquid fresh water. Goldner’s videos show pools of fresh water sitting among the frozen ice. This water is able to push through the glacier, often all the way to the bottom, through moulins, channels created in the ice. When this water builds together with other fresh water from other moulins, sub-glacial streams make their way towards the glacier face, exiting in an upwelling plume, the cause of the churning water.
So why are the birds there? The upwelling fresh water causes a rapid change in salinity, immobilizing the various small ocean creatures that birds feed on through a process called osmotic shock. As such, the water around these upwelling plumes turn into an easy feeding frenzy for these birds.