Notes on the Recent Advance and Retreat of Sefströmbreen in Ekmanfjorden, Vestspitsbergen

These notes are based on observations made in 1958 while the writers were members of the Birmingham and Exeter Universities Spitsbergen Expedition. The position of the ice front in 1958 is compared with that recorded on five previous occasions between 1882 and 1936. A rapid 6 km. advance at the end of the nineteenth century has been followed by a slower but equally extensive retreat. A revision of the limit of maximum advance is based on geomorphological evidence. Reasons are suggested for the relatively small changes in the outline of the ice front since 1927, and the effects of spells of moderately high atmospheric pressure are noted.