Niche Glaciers in Bünsow Land, Vestspitsbergen

Small glaciers lying in funnel-shaped hollows on steep slopes have been variously described as wall-sided glaciers, cascade glaciers, cliff glaciers and niche glaciers. This type of glacier and the landforms associated with them in Bünsow Land, central Vestspitsbergen are described and their possible mode of origin is discussed. The theory that they were formed by an overspill of plateau ice and that they are thereby genetically related to hanging glaciers is rejected. It is suggested that they are formed by an accumulation of snow in an initially water-worn gully and that as the small glacier develops the original form of the gully is modified by nivation to a rounded, funnel-shaped hollow. Niche glaciers may thus be considered as glacier types genetically related to cirque glaciers, forming an early stage in corrie development.