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<front>
<journal-meta>
<journal-id journal-id-type="publisher">EGUsphere</journal-id>
<journal-title-group>
<journal-title>EGUsphere</journal-title>
<abbrev-journal-title abbrev-type="publisher">EGUsphere</abbrev-journal-title>
<abbrev-journal-title abbrev-type="nlm-ta">EGUsphere</abbrev-journal-title>
</journal-title-group>
<issn pub-type="epub">1994-0440</issn>
<publisher><publisher-name>Copernicus Publications</publisher-name>
<publisher-loc>Göttingen, Germany</publisher-loc>
</publisher>
</journal-meta>
<article-meta>
<article-id pub-id-type="doi">10.5194/egusphere-2025-467</article-id>
<title-group>
<article-title>Recent history and future demise of Jostedalsbreen, the largest ice cap in mainland Europe</article-title>
</title-group>
<contrib-group><contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple"><name name-style="western"><surname>Åkesson</surname>
<given-names>Henning</given-names>
<ext-link>https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9625-1976</ext-link>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff1">
<sup>1</sup>
</xref>
</contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple"><name name-style="western"><surname>Sjursen</surname>
<given-names>Kamilla Hauknes</given-names>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff2">
<sup>2</sup>
</xref>
</contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple"><name name-style="western"><surname>Vikhamar Schuler</surname>
<given-names>Thomas</given-names>
<ext-link>https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0972-3929</ext-link>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff1">
<sup>1</sup>
</xref>
</contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple"><name name-style="western"><surname>Dunse</surname>
<given-names>Thorben</given-names>
<ext-link>https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4362-4265</ext-link>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff2">
<sup>2</sup>
</xref>
</contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple"><name name-style="western"><surname>Andreassen</surname>
<given-names>Liss Marie</given-names>
<ext-link>https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6494-4252</ext-link>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff3">
<sup>3</sup>
</xref>
</contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple"><name name-style="western"><surname>Kusk Gillespie</surname>
<given-names>Mette</given-names>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff2">
<sup>2</sup>
</xref>
</contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple"><name name-style="western"><surname>Robson</surname>
<given-names>Benjamin Aubrey</given-names>
<ext-link>https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4987-7378</ext-link>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff4">
<sup>4</sup>
</xref>
</contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple"><name name-style="western"><surname>Schellenberger</surname>
<given-names>Thomas</given-names>
<ext-link>https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2501-3700</ext-link>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff1">
<sup>1</sup>
</xref>
</contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple"><name name-style="western"><surname>Clement Yde</surname>
<given-names>Jacob</given-names>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff2">
<sup>2</sup>
</xref>
</contrib>
</contrib-group><aff id="aff1">
<label>1</label>
<addr-line>Department of Geosciences, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway</addr-line>
</aff>
<aff id="aff2">
<label>2</label>
<addr-line>Department of Civil Engineering and Environmental Sciences, Western Norway University of Applied Sciences, Sogndal, Norway</addr-line>
</aff>
<aff id="aff3">
<label>3</label>
<addr-line>Norwegian Water Resources and Energy Directorate (NVE), Oslo, Norway</addr-line>
</aff>
<aff id="aff4">
<label>4</label>
<addr-line>Department of Earth Science, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway</addr-line>
</aff>
<pub-date pub-type="epub">
<day>24</day>
<month>02</month>
<year>2025</year>
</pub-date>
<volume>2025</volume>
<fpage>1</fpage>
<lpage>47</lpage>
<permissions>
<copyright-statement>Copyright: &#x000a9; 2025 Henning Åkesson et al.</copyright-statement>
<copyright-year>2025</copyright-year>
<license license-type="open-access">
<license-p>This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. To view a copy of this licence, visit <ext-link ext-link-type="uri"  xlink:href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/</ext-link></license-p>
</license>
</permissions>
<self-uri xlink:href="https://egusphere.copernicus.org/preprints/2025/egusphere-2025-467/">This article is available from https://egusphere.copernicus.org/preprints/2025/egusphere-2025-467/</self-uri>
<self-uri xlink:href="https://egusphere.copernicus.org/preprints/2025/egusphere-2025-467/egusphere-2025-467.pdf">The full text article is available as a PDF file from https://egusphere.copernicus.org/preprints/2025/egusphere-2025-467/egusphere-2025-467.pdf</self-uri>
<abstract>
<p>Glaciers and ice caps worldwide are in strong decline, and models project this trend to continue with future warming, with strong environmental and socio-economic implications. The Jostedalsbreen ice cap is the largest ice cap on the European continent (458 km&lt;sup&gt;2&lt;/sup&gt; in 2019) and occupies 20 % of the total glacier area of mainland Norway. Here we simulate the evolution of Jostedalsbreen since 1960, and its fate in a changing climate in the 21st-century and beyond (2300). This ice cap consists of glacier units with a great diversity in shape, steepness, hypsometry, and flow speed. We employ a coupled model system with higher-order 3-d ice dynamics forced by simulated surface mass balance that fully accounts for the mass-balance elevation feedback. We find that Jostedalsbreen may lose 12&amp;ndash;74 % of its present-day volume until 2100, depending on future greenhouse gas emissions. Regardless of emission scenario, the ice cap is likely to split into three parts during the second half of the 21st century. Our results suggest that Jostedalsbreen will likely be more resilient than many smaller glaciers and ice caps in Scandinavia. However, we show that by the year 2100, the ice cap may be committed to a complete disappearance during the 22nd century, under high emissions (RCP8.5). Under medium 21st-century emissions (RCP4.5), the ice cap is bound to shrink by 90 % until 2300. Further simulations indicate that substantial mass losses undergone until 2100 are irreversible. Our study demonstrates a model approach for complex ice masses with numerous outlet glaciers such as ice caps, and how tightly linked future mass loss is to future greenhouse-gas emissions. Finally, uncertainties in future climate conditions, particularly precipitation, appear to be the largest source of uncertainty in future projections of maritime ice masses like Jostedalsbreen.</p>
</abstract>
<counts><page-count count="47"/></counts>
<funding-group>
<award-group id="gs1">
<funding-source>Norges Forskningsråd</funding-source>
<award-id>302458</award-id>
<award-id>315971</award-id>
</award-group>
<award-group id="gs2">
<funding-source>European Research Council</funding-source>
<award-id>01096057</award-id>
</award-group>
</funding-group>
</article-meta>
</front>
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