• 3 min read Stonebreen’s Beating Heart The glacier in southeastern Svalbard pulses with the changing seasons, speeding up and slowing its flow toward the sea. • NASA Earth Observatory Model Glaciers & Ice Sheets Edgeøya, an island in the southeastern part of the Svalbard archipelago, is defined by stark Arctic expanses and rugged terrain. • Still, even here-halfway between mainland Norway and the North Pole-life persists, from mosses to polar bears. • The southern lobe of Stonebreen, a glacier that flows from the Edgeøyjøkulen ice cap into the Barents Sea, gives the landscape a different kind of life. • Its ice pulses like a heart. • The apparent heartbeat comes from the ice speeding up and slowing down with the seasons.

Article Summaries:

  • Edgeøya, an island in the southeastern part of the Svalbard archipelago, is defined by stark Arctic expanses and rugged terrain. Still, even here-halfway between mainland Norway and the North Pole-life persists, from mosses to polar bears. The southern lobe of Stonebreen, a glacier that flows from the Edgeøyjøkulen ice cap into the Barents Sea, gives the landscape a different kind of life. Its ice pulses like a heart. The apparent heartbeat comes from the ice speeding up and slowing down with the seasons. This animation, based on satellite data collected between 2014 and 2022, shows how fast t

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