The aim of the Jotunheimen Research Expeditions has always been to investigate natural environmental change in the pristine arctic-alpine environment of the Jotunheimen mountains and neighbouring regions of western and central southern Norway. Glacier forelands (the recently exposed landscapes in front of retreating glaciers), glacier variations, and climate change over the Holocene (the last c. 11,700 years) have been major research themes. Recent expeditions have given priority to the potential of glacier forelands, in particular, and alpine environments, in general, as relatively simple natural laboratories for fundamental scientific research involving landscape evolution, ecosystem development, dating techniques and climate change. In short, the Jotunheimen Research Expeditions view these landscapes as field laboratories for fundamental research on the natural environment.
The 50th Jotunheimen Research Expedition (probably the last) took place over six weeks in July and August 2023. A reunion for past expedition members is being planned for Autumn 2024.
Meanwhile the list of expedition publications has reached 226, with two more in press or submitted for publication. Others are in preparation.
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News
Latest Expedition
The 50th expedition involved members associated with Swansea University, the University of Ulster, the University of the West of England, the University of Gloucestershire and the University of Wuerzburg (Germany). Four projects were carried out. First, rock weathering rates were investigated using the difference in rock hardness on bedrock outcrops inside (terrain age c. 250 years) and outside (terrain age c. 10,000 years) of the boundary at 11 glacier forelands in Jotunheimen and around the Jostedalsbreen ice cap. Second, talus (scree) slopes in Jostedalen and its tributary valleys were dated using Schmidt-hammer exposure-age dating (SHD) with the aim of determining the Holocene history of rockfall activity. Third, a project to date all the elements of an alpine landscape was completed in the Alnesdalen catchment in the Romsdalsalpane using SHD and terrestrial cosmogenic nuclide dating (TCND). Finally, a fourth project continued the annual measurement of the growth rate of the crustose lichen, Rhizocarpon geographicum, which is the most important species used in lichenometric dating.