New coasts emerging from the retreat of Northern Hemisphere marine-terminating glaciers in the twenty-first century Jan Kavan, Małgorzata Szczypińska, William Kochtitzky, Louise Farquharson, Mette Bendixen, et al. Nature Climate Change, 2025 Accelerated climate warming has caused the majority of marine-terminating glaciers in the Northern Hemisphere to retreat substantially during the twenty-first century. While glacier retreat and changes in mass balance are widely studied on a global scale, the impacts of deglaciation on adjacent coastal geomorphology are often overlooked and therefore poorly understood. Here we examine changes in proglacial zones of marine-terminating glaciers across the Northern Hemisphere to quantify the length of new coastline that has been exposed by glacial retreat between 2000 and 2020. We identified a total of 2,466 ± 0.8 km (123 km a−1) of new coastline with most (66%) of the total length occurring in Greenland. These young paraglacial coastlines are highly dynamic, exhibiting high sediment fluxes and rapidly evolving landforms. Retreating glaciers and associated newly exposed coastline can have important impacts on local ecosystems and Arctic communities.
Environmental changes in Svalbard since the termination of the Little Ice Age: Towards a warmer and less icy future Jan Kavan, Martin Hanáček Czech Polar Reports, 2025 Svalbard has experienced significant warming since the end of the Little Ice Age (LIA; around 1900 CE). Since the LIA, air temperatures have risen almost continuously, with even more accelerated warming trend recorded in recent decades. These climatic shifts have had serious impacts, particularly on the cryosphere but also on landscape dynamics, through an accelerated hydrological cycle and the intensification of various geomorphic processes. Surprisingly, Svalbard experienced a warmer climate for much of the Holocene compared to today, with only a few colder periods, the most pronounced being the LIA. In other words, Svalbard, as it was known to early polar explorers at the end of the 19th century, was at its maximum Holocene glacier extent. Nowadays, the environment is returning to its usual mode of operation, with a less glaciated landscape. However, the current rate of change is unprecedented. Here, we document the most striking landscape changes with a series of repeated photographs, comparing the landscape at the glacier’s maximum extent (in 1908) with photographs taken at the same locations recently. We demonstrate the rapid evolution of glacier-connected geosystems and intense paraglaciation, where glacier-dominated processes are being replaced by fluvial, slope or aeolian forces. In contrast, landscapes that were not directly connected to glaciers appeared relatively stable and resilient to climatic forcings. As the landscape seeks to reach a new equilibrium after glacier retreat, this also triggers various natural hazards, such as slope failures, avalanches and floods, that may pose risks to human society and infrastructure. Together with the massive thawing of permafrost, these changes could endanger economic activities, tourism and even the traditional way of life of Indigenous communities in the Arctic.
Holocene relative sea level changes and their consequences for the development of the palaeoshoreline in central Svalbard Martin Lulák, Daniel Nývlt, Milan Novák, Jan Kavan Czech Polar Reports, 2025 The Arctic, particularly the Barents Sea region including Svalbard, has undergone exceptional warming and environmental change throughout the Holocene. This study investigates Holocene relative sea level (RSL) changes in Petuniabukta, northern Billefjorden (Svalbard), using radiocarbon dated whale bones found on uplifted marine terraces as indicators of past shoreline positions. Five new samples from the western side of the bay were integrated with previously published data from the eastern side to reconstruct palaeoshorelines and quantify land emergence driven by glacioisostatic rebound. The two oldest samples, located at 58.1 m a.s.l. and 34.7 m a.s.l., date at 10.3 and 9.1 cal. ka BP respectively, indicate rapid Early Holocene uplift averaging 3 cm/year. Spatial analysis based on ArcticDEM and high-resolution UAV-derived models reveals a 33% reduction in the marine area since the Early Holocene, with significant changes occurring in broad glaciated valley regions. Discrepancies in RSL trends may be attributed to local tectonic activity along the Billefjorden Fault Zone. While Early Holocene changes are well constrained, Late Holocene and Neoglacial sea-level dynamics remain ambiguous due to a lack of preserved indicators and minimal RSL variation. These findings highlight the potential of stranded whale bones as precise RSL markers and contribute to understanding the long-term cryospheric and geomorphic evolution of coastal areas in a rapidly warming Arctic.
Glacier surge as a trigger for the fastest delta growth in the Arctic J. Kavan, M. C. Strzelecki, D. I. Benn, A. Luckman, M. Roman, et al. Communications Earth and Environment, 2024 The widespread retreat of Svalbard glaciers has been frequently interrupted by short-lived surge advances. In the case of marine-terminating glaciers this is often expressed in the remodelling of coastal zones. Here, we analyzed the coastal zone changes in front of the recently surging Recherchebreen. The glacier advanced ca 1200 m since 2018 and suddenly stopped in June 2020 followed by the rapid formation of a delta system in front of its subglacial meltwater outlet. The delta advanced by ca 450 m with probably the fastest progradation rate ever detected in the Arctic region (ca 7 m/day). The synchroneity of the final slow-down of the glacier with the delta building indicates that this event records the release of stored water and sediments from beneath the glacier and thus provides direct evidence of drainage reorganisation at the termination of a surge. Such behaviour is likely common among Svalbard surging glaciers, but it only rarely leaves any direct geomorphic evidence.
A Boulder Beach Formed by Waves From a Calving Glacier Revisited: Multidecadal Tsunami–Controlled Coastal Changes in Front of Eqip Sermia, West Greenland Oskar Kostrzewa, Małgorzata Szczypińska, Jan Kavan, Krzysztof Senderak, Milan Novák, et al. Permafrost and Periglacial Processes, 2024 The calving of glaciers regularly produces tsunami‐like waves that pose a serious threat to coastal environments. Those strong waves are not only able to move ice mélange and redistribute icebergs, growlers, or sea ice across a fjord but also flood and remodel neighbouring cliffs and beaches. Here, we analyze over 90 years (1929–2023) of coastal zone changes that occurred in front of Eqip Sermia. We show that calving waves play a dominant role in transforming the lateral moraine and forming a beach and spit system south of the glacier front. Part of the former moraine has transformed into a boulder‐dominated spit, which closed the lagoon over the years. By multidecadal analysis, we also detected a significant erosion of unconsolidated cliffs located on the opposite side of the bay (~0.53 m per year between 1985 and 2023). In addition, we demonstrate that even a single event (one calving wave) can remodel a beach surface by entrainment of up to 1.8‐m‐diameter boulders and the erosion of the beach surface by washing away sand and gravel from rocky outcrops. Our study constitutes important progress toward modes of paraglacial coastal evolution in regions characterized by rapidly retreating calving glaciers.
Proglacial lake evolution coincident with glacier dynamics in the frontal zone of Kvíárjökull, South-East Iceland Jan Kavan, Radim Stuchlík, Jonathan L. Carrivick, Martin Hanáček, Christopher D. Stringer, et al. Earth Surface Processes and Landforms, 2024 The termini of Icelandic glaciers are highly dynamic environments. Pronounced changes in frontal ablation in recent years have consequently changed ice dynamics. In this study, we reveal the inter‐seasonal dynamics of the Kvíárjökull ablation zone and proglacial zone using ArcticDEM and Sentinel‐2 images acquired between 2011 and 2021 and intra‐seasonal dynamics with repeated UAV surveys during summer 2021. Average glacier surface velocity in the ablation zone ranged from 51 m year−1 in 2015 up to 199 m year−1 in 2018, with maxima within the axial zone of the glacier and minima on the glacier edges. Coincidentally, and in accordance with glacier retreat/advance, the ice‐marginal proglacial lake fluctuated in its area, and we interpret that it was also a key factor in the development of the glacier terminus morphology. A complex spatial pattern of glacier surface elevation changes, including thickening in the frontal true left margin of the terminus, is interpreted to be due to variable subglacial topography, relatively fast ice flow from the accumulation zone and an insulating effect of glacier surface debris cover. In contrast, the true right (southern) part of the glacier terminus experienced thinning and retreat/disintegration also during the 2021 summer season, which we attribute to enhanced frontal ablation connected to the intrusion of lake water into the crevassed glacier terminus. Overall, this study suggests that where glaciers are developing ice‐marginal lakes complex patterns of glacier dynamics and mass loss can be expected, which will confound understanding of the short‐term evolution of these environments.
Geochemical and granulometric fingerprints of 8,200-year Westerly variability recorded in an inner-fjord lake sediments from Central Svalbard Z Stachowska, WGM van der Bilt, J Kavan, MFA Furze, IH Thorseth, ... EarthArXiv , 2026 2026
Exposed! Paraglacial Drama Unfolding at Hørbyebreen, Central Svalbard D Nautiyal, J Kavan EGU26 , 2026 2026
10,000 years of centennially-resolved climate and sea-level change archived in Svalbard beach-ridge system MC Strzelecki, S Lindhorst, CJ Hein, WGM van der Bilt, KE Kivimaki, ... Scientific Reports , 2026 2026 Citations: 1
The role of snowmelt, glacier melt and rainfall in streamflow dynamics on James Ross Island, Antarctic Peninsula O Nedělčev, M Matějka, K Láska, Z Engel, J Kavan, M Jenicek The Cryosphere 19 (7), 2457-2473 , 2025 2025 Citations: 2
New coasts emerging from the retreat of Northern Hemisphere marine-terminating glaciers in the twenty-first century J Kavan, M Szczypińska, W Kochtitzky, L Farquharson, M Bendixen, ... Nature Climate Change 15 (5), 528-537 , 2025 2025 Citations: 20
Calving waves impact morphodynamics of Arctic beaches, Greenlandic and Svalbard cases studies O Kostrzewa, M Szczypińska, J Kavan, K Senderak, M Novák, ... EGU General Assembly Conference Abstracts, EGU25-6109 , 2025 2025
Extreme events shapping Svalbard coast: emergence of new coastal landscapes J Kavan, M Strzelecki EGU General Assembly Conference Abstracts, EGU25-6649 , 2025 2025
High Arctic snow, ice, and particle samples to investigate dust and black carbon occurrence close to Longyearbyen, Svalbard O Meinander, P Dagsson-Waldhauserova, J Fathi, M Kosmale, ... EGU General Assembly Conference Abstracts, EGU25-3234 , 2025 2025
New coasts emerging from the retreat of Northern Hemisphere marine-terminating glaciers in the 21st century M Szczypinska, J Kavan, W Kochtitzky, L Farquharson, M Bendixen, ... EGU General Assembly Conference Abstracts, EGU25-6107 , 2025 2025
Another one traps the dust: Central Svalbard Lake sediments track 8,000 years of High Arctic wind strength Z Stachowska, WGM van der Bilt, MC Strzelecki, J Kavan EGU General Assembly Conference Abstracts, EGU25-7106 , 2025 2025
Holocene relative sea level changes and their consequences for the development of the palaeoshoreline in central Svalbard M Lulák, D Nývlt, M Novák, J Kavan Czech Polar Reports 15 (S), 121-138 , 2025 2025
Environmental changes in Svalbard since the termination of the Little Ice Age: Towards a warmer and less icy future J Kavan, M Hanáček Czech Polar Reports 15 (S), 68-93 , 2025 2025
Glacial Lakes as Forms Sensitive to Seasonal Change using the Example of a lake in the Ragnarbreen Foreland, Central Spitsbergen I WIECZOREK, J KAVAN, K SENDERAK, MC STRZELECKI, Ł STACHNIK, ... OF THE INSTITUTE OF GEOPHYSICS POLISH ACADEMY OF SCIENCES, 195 , 2025 2025
Topographic and Atmospheric Controls on High-latitude Dust Deposition–An Example from James Ross Island, Antarctica J KAVAN OF THE INSTITUTE OF GEOPHYSICS POLISH ACADEMY OF SCIENCES, 21 , 2025 2025
Glacier surge as a trigger for the fastest delta growth in the Arctic J Kavan, MC Strzelecki, DI Benn, A Luckman, M Roman, P Zagórski Communications Earth & Environment 5 (1), 700 , 2024 2024 Citations: 5
A boulder beach formed by waves from a calving glacier revisited: Multidecadal tsunami–controlled coastal changes in front of Eqip Sermia, west Greenland O Kostrzewa, M Szczypińska, J Kavan, K Senderak, M Novák, ... Permafrost and Periglacial Processes 35 (3), 312-325 , 2024 2024 Citations: 9
The Late Holocene deglaciation of James Ross Island, Antarctic Peninsula: OSL and 14C-dated multi-proxy sedimentary record from Monolith Lake M Roman, A Píšková, DCW Sanderson, AJ Cresswell, M Bulínová, ... Quaternary Science Reviews 333, 108693 , 2024 2024 Citations: 10
Snow and glacier melt contributions to streamflow on James Ross Island, Antarctic Peninsula O Nedělčev, M Matějka, K Láska, Z Engel, J Kavan, M Jenicek EGUsphere 2024, 1-28 , 2024 2024
Quantifying sediment sources, pathways, and controls on fluvial transport dynamics on James Ross Island, Antarctica CD Stringer, JF Boyle, F Hrbáček, K Láska, O Nedělčev, J Kavan, ... Journal of Hydrology 635, 131157 , 2024 2024 Citations: 6
New coasts emerging from the retreat of Northern Hemisphere marine-terminating glaciers in the 21st century J Kavan, M Szczypińska, W Kochtitzky, L Farquharson, M Bendixen, ... 2024 Citations: 1
MOST CITED SCHOLAR PUBLICATIONS
Newly identified climatically and environmentally significant high-latitude dust sources O Meinander, P Dagsson-Waldhauserova, P Amosov, E Aseyeva, ... Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics 22 (17), 11889-11930 , 2022 2022 Citations: 128
Seasonal hydrological and suspended sediment transport dynamics in proglacial streams, James Ross Island, Antarctica J Kavan, J Ondruch, D Nývlt, F Hrbáček, JL Carrivick, K Láska Geografiska Annaler: Series A, Physical Geography 99 (1), 38-55 , 2017 2017 Citations: 75
Glacier decay boosts the formation of new Arctic coastal environments—Perspectives from Svalbard J Kavan, MC Strzelecki Land Degradation & Development 34 (12), 3467-3474 , 2023 2023 Citations: 42
High‐latitude dust deposition in snow on the glaciers of James Ross Island, Antarctica J Kavan, D Nývlt, K Láska, Z Engel, M Kňažková Earth Surface Processes and Landforms 45 (7), 1569-1578 , 2020 2020 Citations: 41
From land to fjords: The review of Svalbard hydrology from 1970 to 2019 A Nowak, R Hodgkins, A Nikulina, M Osuch, T Wawrzyniak, J Kavan, ... Loughborough University , 2021 2021 Citations: 39
Timing of the neoglacial onset on the North-Eastern Antarctic Peninsula based on lacustrine archive from Lake Anónima, Vega Island T Čejka, D Nývlt, K Kopalová, M Bulínová, J Kavan, JM Lirio, SH Coria, ... Global and Planetary Change 184, 103050 , 2020 2020 Citations: 34
Diversity, ecology and community structure of the freshwater littoral diatom flora from Petuniabukta (Spitsbergen) E Pinseel, B Van de Vijver, J Kavan, E Verleyen, K Kopalová Polar Biology 40 (3), 533-551 , 2017 2017 Citations: 34
Heterolobosean amoebae from Arctic and Antarctic extremes: 18 novel strains of Allovahlkampfia, Vahlkampfia and Naegleria T Tyml, K Skulinová, J Kavan, O Ditrich, M Kostka, I Dyková European journal of protistology 56, 119-133 , 2016 2016 Citations: 33
Aerosol concentrations in relationship to local atmospheric conditions on James Ross Island, Antarctica J Kavan, P Dagsson-Waldhauserova, JB Renard, K Láska, K Ambrožová Frontiers in Earth Science 6, 207 , 2018 2018 Citations: 32
Air temperature and lapse rate variation in the ice‐free and glaciated areas of northern James Ross Island, Antarctic Peninsula, during 2013–2016 K Ambrozova, K Laska, F Hrbacek, J Kavan, J Ondruch International Journal of Climatology 39 (2), 643-657 , 2019 2019 Citations: 31
Estimating suspended sediment fluxes from the largest glacial Lake in Svalbard to fjord system using Sentinel-2 data: Trebrevatnet case study J Kavan, I Wieczorek, GD Tallentire, M Demidionov, J Uher, MC Strzelecki Water 14 (12), 1840 , 2022 2022 Citations: 28
Effect of hyaloclastite breccia boulders on meso-scale periglacial-aeolian landsystem in semi-arid Antarctic environment, James Ross Island, Antarctic Peninsula M Kňažková, F Hrbáček, J Kavan, D Nývlt Cuadernos de Investigación Geográfica 46 (1), 7-31 , 2020 2020 Citations: 25
Current distribution of Branchinecta gaini on James Ross Island and Vega Island L Nedbalová, D Nývlt, JM Lirio, J Kavan, J Elster Antarctic Science 29 (4), 341-342 , 2017 2017 Citations: 24
Fifty years of tidewater glacier surface elevation and retreat dynamics along the South-East Coast of Spitsbergen (Svalbard Archipelago) J Kavan, GD Tallentire, M Demidionov, J Dudek, MC Strzelecki Remote Sensing 14 (2), 354 , 2022 2022 Citations: 23
Persistent mass loss of triangular glacier, James Ross Island, north-eastern Antarctic Peninsula Z Engel, K Láska, J Kavan, J Smolíková Journal of Glaciology 69 (273), 27-39 , 2023 2023 Citations: 21
High latitude dust transport altitude pattern revealed from deposition on snow, Svalbard J Kavan, K Láska, A Nawrot, T Wawrzyniak Atmosphere 11 (12), 1318 , 2020 2020 Citations: 21
New coasts emerging from the retreat of Northern Hemisphere marine-terminating glaciers in the twenty-first century J Kavan, M Szczypińska, W Kochtitzky, L Farquharson, M Bendixen, ... Nature Climate Change 15 (5), 528-537 , 2025 2025 Citations: 20
Post-Little Ice Age development of coast in the locality of Kapp Napier, central Spitsbergen, Svalbard archipelago J Kavan Marine Geodesy 43 (3), 234-247 , 2020 2020 Citations: 18
Early twentieth century evolution of Ferdinand glacier, Svalbard, based on historic photographs and structure-from-motion technique J Kavan Geografiska Annaler: Series A, Physical Geography 102 (1), 57-67 , 2020 2020 Citations: 18
Comparison of diatom paleo-assemblages with adjacent limno-terrestrial communities on Vega Island, Antarctic Peninsula M Bulínová, TJ Kohler, J Kavan, B Van de Vijver, D Nývlt, L Nedbalová, ... Water 12 (5), 1340 , 2020 2020 Citations: 16
