Svalbard Permafrost Landforms as Analogues for Mars (SPLAM)
Short description
Mars is the most Earth-like planet in the Solar System and a prime candidate for possible life outside the Earth's biosphere. To answer the fundamental question - are we alone - we need to know the geological and climatological history. In our research, we use Svalbard as a comparative environment to the northern and southern regions of Mars. These landforms can help us understand the climatic evolution of Mars, pointing to habitable areas and opportunities for future manned missions to reach an important resource.
Svalbard - a comparative environment
The young planet Mars was characterised by liquid water on the surface and we see traces of this today through preserved river beds, deltas and ancient lakes. Much of the original water has been lost through processes to space. Today, Mars is a cold and dry planet, but we find significant amounts of water preserved as ice. It is found as ground-based ice similar to our permafrost regions on Earth and as preserved glaciers. The landforms in the permafrost and glaciers show strong similarities to the corresponding landforms in the cold regions of Earth. In our research, we use Svalbard as a comparative environment to the northern and southern regions of Mars. These landforms can help us understand the climatic evolution of Mars, pointing to habitable areas and opportunities for future manned missions to reach an important resource. Key tools in the research are satellite and airborne data, field work and Geographic Information Systems (GIS).
Physical changes in the Arctic
The Arctic is the area on Earth most affected by global warming. The changes can be traced, among other things, in the thawing permafrost and in the retreating glaciers. It is important to get a quick overview of how the different systems are responding to this change. Using high-resolution aerial imagery and elevation models, as well as field work for over a decade, we can quantify in detail the processes contributing to changes in the physical landscape. Through two aerial campaigns, in 2008 and 2020, we have collected valuable data to answer questions about changes, magnitude and frequency, and types of processes. Our research is complemented by historical aerial and satellite data dating back to 1936.
Three study areas
In the project, the research team focuses on three areas of investigation:
- Melting of soils with underlying massive ice
- The evolution of mass movements
- Changes in structural soils
