Forkastningsdalen – glacier cave

Forkastningsdalen as virtual panoramic tour

Here is a panotour with 360°-images of the glacier cave in Forkastningsdalen:

Forkastningsdalen – glacier cave – 1/2

Every glacier in Spitsbergen has got meltwater rivers. Sometimes they are running off on the glacier surface, sometimes within the ice, sometimes at the bottom. Their size may vary from a few decimetres to many metres in diameter. In summer, they are normally filled with torrential meltwater rivers and completely inaccessible.

Forkastningsdalen – glacier cave – 2/2

Sometimes you just need to be lucky enough to be at the right place at the right time. We saw this very small glacier in Forkastningsdalen, not exactly the kind of glacier you would normally pay much attention to in an area where you have got so many bigger ones around. We almost just walked past it, but then we went up to have a look at this hole in the glacier snout. What we found was an entry into the interiour of a glacier, several metres high and wides, many metres long, disappearing in the distant darkness. Not completely, though: once the eyes got used to the darkness, there was a faint blue light at the far end, indicating another entrance.

This glacier cave, so easily accessible, is a glaciological coincidence, geologically a short moment now frozen in our memories. It was not there in 2014, and soon nature will have destroyed the cave or at least have made it inaccessible again. For a magical moment, it was there for us, allowing us to experience a glacier from inside.

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