DC resistivity soundings and geomorphological surveys have been carried out in the marginal zones and adjacent outwash plains of two glaciers in central Spitsbergen, Norwegian Arctic: Ebbabreen and Hörbyebreen. The study has revealed complex relationships between landforms, buried glacier ice and permafrost. From this work it is possible to distinguish between moraine ridges which are ice-cored and those which are not. The latter occur in areas which have possibly been affected by glacier surge. The active layer thickness was found to be 0.4 to 2.5 m for diamicton deposits (moraines) and 0.3 to 1.6 m in outwash glacifluvial sediments. The sediment infill thickness in valleys was determined to be as much as 20 m, thereby demonstrating that sandurs have important role in sediment storage in a glacial system. Typical resistivity values for sediment types in both the active layer and in permafrost were also determined.