Cryoconite

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
A layer of cryoconite on the surface of a glacier.

Cryoconite is powdery windblown

rotifers[4] and tardigrades
to thrive. Cryoconite typically settles and concentrates at the bottom of these holes creating a noticeable dark mass.

Soot decreases the reflectivity, or albedo of ice, increasing absorption of heat. Cryoconite is constantly being added to snow and ice formations along with snow. It is buried within the snow or ice, but as the snow or ice melts increasing amounts of dark material is exposed on the surface, accelerating melting.[3]

  • Measuring a Cryoconite hole, Longyearbreen glacier (Longyear Valley)
    Measuring a Cryoconite hole, Longyearbreen glacier (Longyear Valley)
  • Taking a sample, Longyearbreen glacier
    Taking a sample, Longyearbreen glacier

Notes

  1. ^ "The darkening of Arctic glaciers". Aberystwyth University. Archived from the original on 31 January 2013. Retrieved 1 February 2013.
  2. ^ "Cryoconite hole information". Archived from the original on 2009-11-23. Retrieved 2010-07-08.
  3. ^
    National Geographic
    June 2010, accessed July 8, 2010
  4. S2CID 17019801
    .

External links and further reading