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Edgeøya, an island in the southeastern part of the Svalbard archipelago, is defined by stark Arctic expanses and rugged terrain. Still, even here—halfway between mainland Norway and the North Pole—life persists, from mosses to polar bears. The southern lobe of Stonebreen, a glacier that flows from the Edgeøyjøkulen ice cap into the Barents Sea, gives the landscape a different kind of life. Its ice pulses like a heart.

The apparent heartbeat comes from the ice speeding up and slowing down with the seasons. This animation, based on satellite data collected between 2014 and 2022, shows how fast the glacier’s surface ice moves on average during each month. In winter and spring, the ice flows relatively slowly (pink); by late summer, it races toward the sea at speeds exceeding 1,200 meters per year in places (dark red). In summer 2020, speeds reached as high as 2,590 meters per year (23 feet per day).

In general, summer speedups are caused by meltwater that percolates from the surface down to the base of the glacier, where the ice sits on rock, explained Chad Greene, a glaciologist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). “When the base of a glacier becomes inundated with meltwater, water pressure at the base increases and allows the glacier to slide more easily,” he said.

Data for the animation are from the ITS_LIVE project, developed at JPL, which uses an algorithm to detect glacier speed based on surface features visible in optical and radar satellite images. In 2025, Greene and JPL colleague Alex Gardner used ITS_LIVE data to analyze the seasonal variability of hundreds of thousands of glaciers across the planet, including Stonebreen.

Stonebreen is a surging glacier, a type that cycles between stretches of relatively slow movement and sudden bursts of speed when ice can flow several times faster than usual. These surges can last anywhere from months to years. Globally, only about 1 percent of glaciers are surge-type, though in Svalbard, they are relatively widespread.

Before 2023, Stonebreen spent several years surging at high speeds after melting along its front likely destabilized the glacier, according to Gardner. Even during this surging period, the ice followed a seasonal rhythm—speeding up in summer and slowing through the winter—all while continuing its faster overall flow toward the Barents Sea.

Since 2023, however, the glacier has all but slowed to a halt, with only a short stretch in the summer when meltwater causes Stonebreen to glide across the ground. It has entered a phase of quiet, or “quiescence,” which is a normal part of the cycle for surge-type glaciers.

These seasonal heartbeat-like pulses and longer-term variations in ice flow at Stonebreen and other glaciers worldwide can be explored using the ITS_LIVE app.

Maps courtesy of Chad Greene and Alex Gardner, NASA/JPL, using data from the NASA MEaSUREs project ITS_LIVE. Story by Kathryn Hansen.

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References & Resources

Greene, C. A. and Gardner, A. S. (2025) Seasonal dynamics of Earth’s glaciers and ice sheets. Science, 390, 6776.
NASA Earth Observatory (2025, December 3) Satellites Detect Seasonal Pulses in Earth’s Glaciers. Accessed February 12, 2026.
NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (2026) ITS_LIVE. Accessed February 12, 2026.
Noël, B., et al. (2020) Low elevation of Svalbard glaciers drives high mass loss variability. Nature Communications, 11(4597).
Strozzi, T., et al. (2017) Frontal destabilization of Stonebreen, Edgeøya, Svalbard. The Cryosphere, 11(1) 553–566.

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A 3D map shows the town of Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy, in the foreground with tall peaks in the Dolomites rising behind it. A label indicates the location of the Olympic ski run on a mountain called Tofana di Mezzo. Snow covers the ground in most of the scene.

Nestled among high snowy peaks in northern Italy, Cortina d’Ampezzo is hosting athletes in the 2026 Winter Olympics and Paralympics who are skiing, sliding, and curling toward a spot on the podium. The scenic mountain town is the co-host, along with Milan, of the international sporting extravaganza.

Cortina sits within the Dolomites, a mountain range in the northern Italian Alps known for its sheer cliffs, rock pinnacles, tall peaks, and deep, narrow valleys. In this three-dimensional oblique map, several peaks over 3,000 meters (10,000 feet) tall rise above the town. To create the map, an image acquired with the OLI (Operational Land Imager) on Landsat 8 on January 27, 2026, was overlaid on a digital elevation model.

Tofana di Mezzo, the third-highest peak in the Dolomites at 3,244 meters (10,643 feet), is the site of the Tofane Alpine Skiing Centre, the venue for the Olympic women’s Alpine skiing and all Paralympic skiing events. Competitors on the Olympia delle Tofane course descend 750 meters (2,460 feet), reaching high speeds and catching big air along the way. A highlight is the steep, 33-degree drop through the Tofana Schuss, a chute bounded by tall rock walls near the top of the course.

More adrenaline-filled races are taking place at the Cortina Sliding Centre, the venue for bobsled, luge, and skeleton events. Athletes are competing on a rebuilt version of the track used in the 1956 Olympics, hosted by Cortina. And curlers, trading speed for strategy, are going for gold at the Cortina Curling Olympic Stadium, built for the 1956 Olympic figure skating competition and opening ceremony. (There is indeed a theme: almost all of the 2026 Games are being held in existing or refurbished facilities.)

Natural Color

False Color

Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy, co-host city of the 2026 Winter Olympics, sits in a valley surrounded by tall mountains in the Dolomites. Snow covers the ground in most of the scene.

NASA Earth Observatory

A false-color satellite image shows the town of Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy, surrounded by tall mountains in the Dolomites. Snow appears light blue, forested areas are green, and bare cliff bands and light brown.

NASA Earth Observatory

Natural Color

False Color

January 27, 2026

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NASA Earth Observatory images by Michala Garrison, using Landsat data from the U.S. Geological Survey and elevation data from TINITALY. Story by Lindsey Doermann.