Structural geological surveys and improvement of tectonic understating of the Pre-Ordovician/Tertiary Graben boundary in vicinity of Nicolaus Copernicus Polar Station, Svalbard

Researchers around the globe are on a quest to develop solutions to mitigate and prevent global warming and climate change. This includes facilitating the switch to renewable energies. Assistant Professor Slawomir Jack Giletycz, Director of the Polar Research Station in Svalbard and part of the Structural Geomorphology Research Group, Department of Earth Sciences at National Central University in Taiwan, is interested in glacial retreat in Svalbard, Norway. As the Earth warms, glaciers are melting and land that was previously buried by glaciers is being exposed. By studying this land, researchers can glean new insights. For example, Giletycz and his collaborators are performing geological mapping of areas that have been recently exposed to subaerial conditions due to the glacial retreat. They are working to develop new geological maps and interpret tectonic and structural settings. The researchers are also investigating fluvial system development and surveying particular glaciers. They are using unmanned aerial vehicles to capture aerial images of entire glacier river systems and can use the images to build a digital surface model that can be used in applications such as QGiS or ArcGiS. In the long term, they can monitor the development of glacier fluvial systems such as sediment discharge. Another focus for the researchers is conducting plaeocoast surveys of the Kaffiøyra plain in western Svalbard. Excitingly, the researchers are the first humans to study Svalbard in this way and, through this work, they will make significant contributions to geological mapping and underpin geology, tectonics and structures.