Austfonna

Infobox_Glacier
glacier_name = Austfonna

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caption = Austfonna on the island Nordaustlandet. Sørfonna is part of Austfonna, while Vestfonna is a separate glacier.
type =
location = Svalbard, Arctic Ocean, NOR
coordinates = coord|79|45|N|24|30|E|type:glacier_region:NO|display=inline,title
area = convert|8492|km2|acre|-3|abbr=on (including Vegafonna)
length =
thickness =
terminus =
status =

Austfonna is an ice cap located on Nordaustlandet in the Svalbard archipelago in Norway. Covering an area of 8,105 km² (8,492 km² including Vegavonna [no icon [http://www.ssb.no/aarbok/kart/i.html Statistisk årbok 2007: Geografisk oversikt ] ] ) it is the largest ice cap by area and with 1,900 km³ (excluding Vegafonna) the second largest by volume in Europe, after the Vatnajökull in Iceland (not counting the still larger ice cap of Severny Island of Novaya Zemlya, Russia, which is located in the extreme northeast of Europe), and the seventh largest in the world [http://www.stat.fi/tup/maanum/01_maantieteellisia_tietoja_aihepiireittain.xls] .

Austfonna has a thickness of up to 560 metres (235 meters average thickness), and is and 200 km in circumference. The ice dome reaches an elevation of 783 meters above sea level.

The southern third of Austfonna is sometimes called Sørfonna, which is a separate ice cap, separated from the main part of Austfonna by a long, ice-filled depression, and forming a separate crestal dome. [http://pubs.aina.ucalgary.ca/arctic/Arctic9-1&2-78.pdf (paper of 1956)]

Vegafonna in the southwest is also connected to Austfonna proper, specifically to (Sørfonna), and is separated from it by "Erica Valley". Vegafonna also forms a separate dome. Immediately west of Vegafonna is Glittne ice cap, which is considered part of the former.

Vestfonna in the northwest of the island is a totally separate ice cap (the third largest of Svalbard and Norway).

ee also

* List of glaciers
* List of glaciers in Norway

References

External links

* [http://earth.esa.int/workshops/cryosat2005/participants/46/pres_taurisano.pdf Spatial and temporal variability in snow accumulation on Austfonna, Svalbard.]
* http://www.cig.ensmp.fr/~iahs/sapporo/abs/jsh01/020760-1.html
* http://www.cpom.org/research/largeice.htm
* [http://cruisehandboka.npolar.no/filearchive/NordaustHinlop_feb07.jpgMap of Nordaustlandet]