Austfonna “Basin 3”Austfonna on Nordaustlandet is the largest icecap in Svalbard, covering approximately 1900 square kilometres. It is almost 150 kilometres long as measured from SW to NE. The following photos were all taken on 21st July 2016 near the front of the ice strem draining “Basin 3” in the SE part of the icecap. Basin 3 had started to surge a few years before 2010. Maximum ice speeds increased from around 150 m/yr to approximately 3800 m/yr in 2014 (McMillan et al. 2014). A timelapse movie based on satellite radar image showing the progress of the surge from 2011 to 2016 can be found here on Youtube. | |||
 Edge of Austfonna between Isispynten and Hartogbukta. The cave at centre is probably associated with a subglacial meltwater stream entering the sea. |  Collapsed cliff and icebergs on the edge of Austfonna north of Hartogbukta. |  Approaching the advancing calving front of the surging ice stream “Basin 3” from the northeast. |  Minor icebergs in front of the calving front; on one of them two walrus are taking a rest. |
 Walrus on an iceberg recently calved from the surging ice stream of Austfonna. |  Deeply crevassed ice cliff at the front of the surging ice stream. |  Iceberg carrying considerable amounts of reddish-brown sediment. |  Colourful icebergs recently calved from the surging ice stream of Austfonna. |
 Detail of a particularly colourful iceberg crossed by faults containing considerable amounts of englacial sediment. |  Iceberg with prominent foliation (foreground) and sediment and another one (further back) with remarkably clear, bluish-green ice. |  Iceberg with a hole, possibly caused by a former englacial meltwater channel. |  Iceberg dropping lots of sediment into the sea whilst it is melting away. |
 Small, sediment-rich rivulets of meltwater have decorated this massive iceberg. Note prominent foliation oriented from top left to bottom right. |  Massive iceberg in front of the surging ice stream of Austfonna. Since the photo was taken from nearly 20 metres above sea level, the iceberg must reach at least 30 metres above the waterline. |  Remarkably blue iceberg backlit by the midnight sun. |  Highly structured iceberg sculpted by differential ablation. |
 Unique cloudscapes and icebergs in Eriksenstretet, southeast of Austfonna. |  The calving front of Austfonna’s ice stream in “Basin 3”, looking up towards the accumulation area of the ice cap. Slightly above left of centre, the true right-hand margin of the surging ice stream can be seen (represented by the boundary between the highly crevassed and smooth glacier surface). |  Sometimes our ship passes bands of bergy bits almost entirely covering the seawater. |  Midnight sun, icebergs and Austfonna. |
| All photos copyright J. Alean | |||