scholarly journals About this title ‐ Atlas of Submarine Glacial Landforms: Modern, Quaternary and Ancient

10.1144/m46 ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 46 (1) ◽  
pp. NP.1-NP ◽  

New geophysical techniques (multibeam echo sounding and 3D seismics) have revolutionized high-resolution imaging of the modern seafloor and palaeo-shelf surfaces in Arctic and Antarctic waters, generating vast quantities of data and novel insights into sedimentary architecture and past environmental conditions. The Atlas of Submarine Glacial Landforms is a comprehensive and timely summary of the current state of knowledge of these high-latitude glacier-influenced systems.The Atlas presents over 180 contributions describing, illustrating and discussing the full variability of landforms found on the high-latitude glacier-influenced seafloor, from fjords and continental shelves to the continental slope, rise and deep-sea basins beyond. The distribution and geometry of these submarine landforms provide key information on past ice-sheet extent and the direction and nature of ice flow and dynamics. The papers discuss individual seafloor landforms, landform assemblages and entire landsystems from relatively mild to extreme glacimarine climatic settings and on timescales from the modern margins of tidewater glaciers, through Quaternary examples to ancient glaciations in the Late Ordovician.

2014 ◽  
Vol 92 ◽  
pp. 292-309 ◽  
Author(s):  
J.A. Dowdeswell ◽  
K.A. Hogan ◽  
C. Ó Cofaigh ◽  
E.M.G. Fugelli ◽  
J. Evans ◽  
...  

2016 ◽  
Vol 57 (73) ◽  
pp. 25-38 ◽  
Author(s):  
Timothy C. Bartholomaus ◽  
Leigh A. Stearns ◽  
David A. Sutherland ◽  
Emily L. Shroyer ◽  
Jonathan D. Nash ◽  
...  

ABSTRACTNeighboring tidewater glaciers often exhibit asynchronous dynamic behavior, despite relatively uniform regional atmospheric and oceanic forcings. This variability may be controlled by a combination of local factors, including glacier and fjord geometry, fjord heat content and circulation, and glacier surface melt. In order to characterize and understand contrasts in adjacent tidewater glacier and fjord dynamics, we made coincident ice-ocean-atmosphere observations at high temporal resolution (minutes to weeks) within a 10 000 km2 area near Uummannaq, Greenland. Water column velocity, temperature and salinity measurements reveal systematic differences in neighboring fjords that imply contrasting circulation patterns. The observed ocean velocity and hydrography, combined with numerical modeling, suggest that subglacial discharge plays a major role in setting fjord conditions. In addition, satellite remote sensing of seasonal ice flow speed and terminus position reveal both speedup and slow-down in response to melt, as well as differences in calving style among the neighboring glaciers. Glacier force budgets and modeling also point toward subglacial discharge as a key factor in glacier behavior. For the studied region, individual glacier and fjord geometry modulate subglacial discharge, which leads to contrasts in both fjord and glacier dynamics.


1984 ◽  
Vol 30 (105) ◽  
pp. 180-187 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roger Leb. Hooke

AbstractRecent theoretical studies of glacier hydrology have assumed that subglacial conduits are completely filled with water under steady-state conditions. This, however, is not necessarily the case. Where discharges are larger than a few tens of liters per second and the down-glacier slope of the bed is more than a few degrees, the potential energy released by water descending this slope may be capable of melting the walls of a subglacial conduit many times faster than the conduit can close by plastic flow of the ice. As a result, the pressure in such tunnels may normally be atmospheric, or possibly even at the triple-point pressure if there is no open connection to the glacier surface. Simple calculations suggest that such pressures in subglacial conduits may be more common than heretofore anticipated.The positions of such “open” conduits may be unstable to small perturbations in discharge or ice velocity. This is because the mechanical energy available in excess of that needed to balance closure can instead offset the general flow of the ice. Conduits can thus trend diagonally across the direction of ice flow. If an increase in the angle which such a conduit makes with the ice flow direction also results in an increase in slope of the conduit, more mechanical energy will become available, resulting in a positive feedback process.Subglacial channels at atmospheric pressure may influence the origin and morphology of certain glacial landforms, such as eskers and “plastically-molded” features.


2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (24) ◽  
pp. 2919
Author(s):  
Chuan Zhan ◽  
Richard P. Allan ◽  
Shunlin Liang ◽  
Dongdong Wang ◽  
Zhen Song

Five satellite top-of-atmosphere (TOA) albedo products over land were evaluated in this study including global products from the Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) (TAL-AVHRR), Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) (TAL-MODIS), and Clouds and the Earth’s Radiant Energy System (CERES); one regional product from the Climate Monitoring Satellite Application Facility (CM SAF); and one harmonized product termed Diagnosing Earth’s Energy Pathways in the Climate system (DEEP-C). Results showed that overall, there is good consistency among these five products, particularly after the year 2000. The differences among these products in the high-latitude regions were relatively larger. The percentage differences among TAL-AVHRR, TAL-MODIS, and CERES were generally less than 20%, while the differences between TAL-AVHRR and DEEP-C before 2000 were much larger. Except for the obvious decrease in the differences after 2000, the differences did not show significant changes over time, but varied among different regions. The differences between TAL-AVHRR and the other products were relatively large in the high-latitude regions of North America, Asia, and the Maritime Continent, while the differences between DEEP-C and CM SAF in Europe and Africa were smaller. Interannual variability was consistent between products after 2000, before which the differences among the three products were much larger.


2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 630
Author(s):  
Maciej Dąbski ◽  
Anna Zmarz ◽  
Mirosław Rodzewicz ◽  
Małgorzata Korczak-Abshire ◽  
Izabela Karsznia ◽  
...  

The aim of this article is to show geomorphological mapping of remote Antarctic locations using images taken by a fixed-wing unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) during the Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) operations. We mapped landform assemblages developed in forelands of Ecology Glacier (EGF), Sphinx Glacier (SGF) and Baranowski Glacier (BGF) in Antarctic Specially Protected Area No. 128 (ASPA 128) on King George Island (South Shetland Islands) and inferred about glacial dynamics. The orthophoto and digital elevation model allowed for geomorphological mapping of glacial forelands, including (i) glacial depositional landforms, (ii) fluvial and fluvioglacial landforms, (iii) littoral and lacustrine landforms, (iv) bodies of water, and (v) other. The largest area is occupied by ground moraine and glacial lagoons on EGF and BGF. The most profound features of EGF are the large latero-frontal moraine ridges from Little Ice Age and the first half of the 20th century. Large areas of ground moraine, frequently fluted and marked with large recessional moraine ridges, dominate on SGF. A significant percentage of bedrock outcrops and end moraine complexes characterize BGF. The landform assemblages are typical for discontinuous fast ice flow of tidewater glaciers over a deformable bed. It is inferred that ice flow velocity decreased as a result of recession from the sea coast, resulting in a significant decrease in the length of ice cliffs and decrease in calving rate. Image acquisition during the fixed-wing UAV BVLOS operation proved to be a very robust technique in harsh polar conditions of King George Island.


2012 ◽  
Vol 78 (2) ◽  
pp. 341-352 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nathan D. Webb ◽  
David A. Grimley ◽  
Andrew C. Phillips ◽  
Bruce W. Fouke

AbstractThe origin of Illinois Episode (OIS 6) glacial ridges (formerly: ‘Ridged Drift’) in the Kaskaskia Basin of southwestern Illinois is controversial despite a century of research. Two studied ridges, containing mostly fluvial sand (OSL ages: ~ 150 ± 19 ka), with associated debris flows and high-angle reverse faults, are interpreted as ice-walled channels. A third studied ridge, containing mostly fine-grained till, is arcuate and morainal. The spatial arrangement of various ridge types can be explained by a glacial sublobe in the Kaskaskia Basin, with mainly fine-grained ridges along the sublobe margins and coarse-grained glaciofluvial ridges in a paleodrainage network within the sublobe interior. Illinois Episode till fabric and striation data demonstrate southwesterly ice flow that may diverge near the sublobe terminus. The sublobe likely formed as glacial ice thinned and receded from its maximum extent. The Kaskaskia Basin contains some of the best-preserved Illinois Episode constructional glacial landforms in the North American midcontinent. Such distinctive features probably result from ice flow and sedimentation into this former lowland, in addition to minimal postglacial erosion. Other similar OIS 6 glacial landforms may exist in association with previously unrecognized sublobes in the midcontinent, where paleo-lowlands might also have focused glacial sedimentation.


Geology ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julian A. Dowdeswell ◽  
Aleksandr Montelli ◽  
Grigorii Akhmanov ◽  
Marina Solovyeva ◽  
Yana Terekhina ◽  
...  

The locations and orientations of more than 1000 late Quaternary subglacial and ice-marginal landforms, including streamlined sedimentary bed forms, glacitectonic hill-hole pairs, meltwater channels, and eskers, were mapped from blocks of multibeam data (area of 4861 km2) in the little-known Russian Barents Sea. Between Sentralbanken and Admiralty Bank, at ~75°N, there is evidence for southward ice flow. Ice-flow indicators between Franz Josef Land and Novaya Zemlya show northeast flow into the head of St. Anna Trough. There is also evidence of southeast flow off the bank to the south of Franz Josef Land, and of flow convergence with northeast-flowing ice in Sedov Trough. Northeast flow of ice between Novaya Zemlya and Franz Josef Land suggests that the latter archipelago was not overrun by ice flowing north from the Barents Sea and, therefore, that a subsidiary ice dome was likely on Franz Josef Land. A major ice divide was also present at ~76°N –77°N in the Russian Barents Sea.


2019 ◽  
Vol 66 (255) ◽  
pp. 113-123 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eef van Dongen ◽  
Guillaume Jouvet ◽  
Andrea Walter ◽  
Joe Todd ◽  
Thomas Zwinger ◽  
...  

AbstractRetreat of calving glaciers worldwide has contributed substantially to sea-level rise in recent decades. Mass loss by calving contributes significantly to the uncertainty of sea-level rise projections. At Bowdoin Glacier, Northwest Greenland, most calving occurs by a few large events resulting from kilometre-scale fractures forming parallel to the calving front. High-resolution terrestrial radar interferometry data of such an event reveal that crevasse opening is fastest at low tide and accelerates during the final 36 h before calving. Using the ice flow model Elmer/Ice, we identify the crevasse water level as a key driver of modelled opening rates. Sea water-level variations in the range of local tidal amplitude (1 m) can reproduce observed opening rate fluctuations, provided crevasse water level is at least 4 m above the low-tide sea level. The accelerated opening rates within the final 36 h before calving can be modelled by additional meltwater input into the crevasse, enhanced ice cliff undercutting by submarine melt, ice damage increase due to tidal cyclic fatigue, crevasse deepening or a combination of these processes. Our results highlight the influence of surface meltwater and tides on crevasse opening leading to major calving events at grounded tidewater glaciers such as Bowdoin.


2003 ◽  
Vol 40 (3) ◽  
pp. 351-363 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nigel Atkinson

Geomorphic and chronologic evidence from Amund and Ellef Ringnes islands documents the configuration, dynamics, and collapse of the northwest sector of the Innuitian Ice Sheet. These data record the inundation of the Ringnes Islands by northwestward-flowing ice from divides spanning the alpine and lowland sectors of the Innuitian Ice Sheet. Ice-flow indicators and granite dispersal along eastern Amund Ringnes Island suggest Massey Sound was filled by an ice stream discharging coalescent alpine and lowland ice from Norwegian Bay. In contrast, the interior of Amund Ringnes Island was overridden by predominantly non-erosive, granite-free ice from a divide in the lowland sector of the ice sheet. Glacial landforms on Ellef Ringnes Island record coverage by largely non-erosive ice, but it remains uncertain whether these features relate to northward-flowing lowland ice or a cold-based local ice cap. Deglaciation of the Ringnes Islands commenced ~10 000 14C years ago. Deglacial dates between 9.7 and 9.2 ka BP record the sequential entry of marine fauna along Massey and Hassel sounds, concomitant with the southward retreat of trunk ice towards Norwegian Bay. These data suggest marine-based trunk glaciers were vulnerable to calving during pre-Holocene eustatic sea-level rise. However, deglacial dates from inner embayments indicate that residual ice caps persisted on Amund and Ellef Ringnes islands for 800 to 1400 14C years after retreat of trunk ice from the adjacent marine channels. Lateral meltwater channels record the subsequent retreat of these ice caps, which became increasingly confined within upland valleys after 8.6 ka BP.


1977 ◽  
Author(s):  
John B. Anderson ◽  
H.C. Clark ◽  
Fred M. Weaver

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