ABSTRACT
The Scandinavian glaciers are scattered over several mountainous areas between 60° and 71° north, mainly in Norway, and all within 180 km of the west coast (Figure 3.1). They are nourished by snow brought by cyclonic depressions from September to April, the weather conditions of the autumn and spring months being critical for the glacier budgets. A large proportion of the total area under ice, which exceeds that of the Alps, is made up of Jostedalsbreen, 487 km2, the largest icecap of mainland Europe (Østrem et al. 1988). Many of the glaciers are in the far north, in remote, sparsely populated areas, and it is fortunate, for our purpose, that Jostedalsbreen is well to the south where the adjoining valleys have been cultivated for centuries and records detail critical features of their history.
