thickness and extent of the subglacial till layer beneath an antarctic paleo ice stream fast flowing ice streams and outlet glaciers currently account for as much as 90 of the discharge from the antarctic and greenland ice sheets although the deformation of subglacial material has been proposed as the mechanism for this rapid motion such sediment is usually hidden under several kilometers of ice marine geophysical records have allowed reconstruction of the three dimensional thickness of the sedimentary bed beneath a large antarctic paleo ice stream for the first time fast flow is indicated by streamlined seafloor lineations that form the surface of a layer of low shear strength unsorted sediment averaging 4 6 m thick rapid motion of the paleo ice stream was a result of subglacial deformation within this layer

the interrelation of glaciotectonic and glaciodepositional processes within the glacial environment abstract in recent years it has been recognised that ice sediment coupling occurred beneath the quaternary ice sheets that advanced over the soft sediments of lowland areas this paper looks in detail at the effects of this coupling on the sediments which results in glaciotectonic deformation and also discusses the interaction of deformation and deposition within the subglacial environment two types of glaciotectonic deformation are discussed that are produced by the active movement of ice 1 proglacial tectonics at the margin which include compressive fold styles such as listric thrusts and faults and open folding 2 subglacial tectonics formed beneath the glacier which include fold styles resulting from simple shear and represent a soft rock purely dynamic shear zone styles of deformation associated with stagnant ice are also investigated we argue that glaciotectonic deformation is a common phenomenon and an integral part of geological record from continental ice sheets it is suggested that zones of deformation within the sediment are related to similar zones of strain in the ice sheet and complex deformation sequences are produced by the superimposition of these differing styles upon one another as the ice sheet advances and retreats it is also argued that subglacial deposition and deformation are related and that on soft beds underformed till is rare whilst deformed till is very common

iceberg calving flux and mass balance of the austfonna ice cap on nordaustlandet svalbard 1 satellite radar interferometry 60 mhz airborne ice penetrating radar data and visible band satellite imagery were used to calculate the velocity structure ice thickness and the changing ice marginal extent of austfonna 8000 km2 and 2500 km3 the largest ice cap in the eurasian arctic ice cap motion is generally less than about 10 m a 1 except where faster flowing curvilinear features with velocities of several tens to over 200 m a 1 are present most drainage basins of austfonna have undergone ice marginal retreat over the past few decades at an average of a few tens of meters per year integrating margin change around the whole ice cap gives a total area loss of about 10 km2 a 1 iceberg flux from the marine margins of austfonna is about 2 5 0 5 km3 a 1 water equivalent about 45 of the total calving flux from the whole svalbard archipelago when mass loss by iceberg production is taken into account the total mass balance of austfonna is negative by between about 2 5 and 4 5 km3 a 1 this iceberg flux represents about 33 5 of total annual mass loss from austfonna with the remainder lost through surface ablation iceberg flux should be included in calculations of the total mass balance of the many large arctic ice caps including those located in the russian and canadian arctic that end in tidewater the neglect of this term has led to underestimates of mass loss from these ice caps and thus to underestimates of the contribution of arctic ice caps to global sea level rise

the retreat of a tidewater glacier observations and model calculations on hansbreen spitsbergen based on observations and model calculations the retreat over the last two decades of hansbreen a tidewater glacier in southern spitsbergen svalbard is investigated the observations of the calving front position between 1982 and 1998 show an abrupt retreat in 1990 which is suggested to be related to a depression in the glacier bed the observed seasonal variations of the front position are mainly due to variations of the calving rate the observations of hansbreen further indicate that during periods of slow front position changes melting at the water line may play an important role in triggering the process of calving the evolution of hansbreen between 1982 and 1998 is simulated with a numerical model for the dynamics of tidewater glaciers using a flotation criterion for calving in which for each time step the part of the glacier terminus which is below a critical height above buoyancy is removed we are able to reproduce the observed rapid retreat of hansbreen through the depression in the glacier bed from the observations and model calculations we conclude that the rapid retreat is mainly an effect of basal topography in the terminus region and not a direct response to a change in mass balance

assemblages of submarine landforms produced by tidewater glaciers in svalbard 1 high resolution swath bathymetry from the marine margins of several svalbard tidewater glaciers shows an assemblage of submarine landforms that is probably linked to glacier surging these landforms are essentially unmodified since their initial deposition over the past hundred years or so because they have not been subjected to subaerial erosion or periglacial activity swath images comprise an assemblage of superimposed landforms allowing reconstruction of relative age of deposition 1 large transverse ridges interpreted as recessional moraines overridden by a subsequent ice advance 2 a series of curvilinear streamlined bedforms orientated parallel to former ice flow interpreted as lineations formed subglacially during rapid advance 3 large terminal ridges marking the farthest extent of ice at the last advance with flow lobes immediately beyond interpreted as submarine debris flows 4 a series of interconnected rhombohedral ridges interpreted as a product of soft sediment squeezing into crevasses formed at the glacier bed probably formed during immediate post surge stagnation and 5 a series of fairly evenly spaced small transverse ridges interpreted as push moraines produced annually at tidewater glacier termini during retreat a simple descriptive landsystem model for tidewater glaciers of probable surge type is derived from these observations we also show that megascale glacial lineations can form not only beneath large ice streams but are also produced beneath surging tidewater glaciers lying on deforming sedimentary beds

submarine landforms in the fjords of southern chile implications for glacimarine processes and sedimentation in a mild glacier influenced environment abstract chilean fjords are the lowest latitude at which glaciers reach the sea today high accumulation and mass throughput sustain tidewater glacier margins in this relatively mild climatic and oceanographic setting 27 000 km 2 of swath bathymetry allow mapping of sea floor landforms and inferences on glacimarine sediments and sedimentation tidewater glaciers are present in several fjords beyond retreating tempano glacier a terminal moraine marks the limit of probable little ice age advance with smaller transverse ridges closer to the glacier beyond advancing pio xi glacier there are few signs of organised submarine landforms older moraine ridges along several fjords formed at still stands during deglaciation elsewhere meltwater fed braided rivers connect the glacial and marine sedimentary systems swath imagery shows glacifluvial and fluvial deltas with small channels and chutes that develop into long and sinuous turbidity current channels few iceberg ploughmarks and submarine slope failures were observed but several fields of pockmarks were present the fjords of chile are dominated by sediment delivery from turbid meltwater which distributes fine grained debris widely producing sorted and laminated fine grained ice proximal wedges and draping ice distal seismic architecture to give a predominantly smooth sea floor turbidity currents also transfer sediments to some ice distal environments the chilean fjordlands represent the mildest climatic and oceanographic end member of a continuum of glacier influenced marine settings similar to south east alaska in the northern hemisphere components of a landform assemblage model for climatically mild meltwater dominated fjords include ice contact moraine ridges glacifluvial and fluvial deltas and turbidity current channels full glacial and deglacial streamlined subglacial landforms are likely to have been buried in many areas by subsequent glacimarine sedimentation

size and shape characteristics of drumlins derived from a large sample and associated scaling laws abstract ice sheets flowing across a sedimentary bed usually produce a landscape of blister like landforms streamlined in the direction of the ice flow and with each bump of the order of 102 to 103 m in length and 101 m in relief such landforms known as drumlins have mystified investigators for over a hundred years a satisfactory explanation for their formation and thus an appreciation of their glaciological significance has remained elusive a recent advance has been in numerical modelling of the land forming process in anticipation of future modelling endeavours this paper is motivated by the requirement for robust data on drumlin size and shape for model testing from a systematic programme of drumlin mapping from digital elevation models and satellite images of britain and ireland we used a geographic information system to compile a range of statistics on length l width w and elongation ratio e where e l w for a large sample mean l is found to be 629 m n 58 983 mean w is 209 m and mean e is 2 9 n 37 043 most drumlins are between 250 and 1000 metres in length between 120 and 300 metres in width and between 1 7 and 4 1 times as long as they are wide analysis of such data and plots of drumlin width against length reveals some new insights all frequency distributions are unimodal from which we infer that the geomorphological label of drumlin is fair in that this is a true single population of landforms rather than an amalgam of different landform types drumlin size shows a clear minimum bound of around 100 m horizontal maybe drumlins are generated at many scales and this is the minimum or this value may be an indication of the fundamental scale of bump generation proto drumlins prior to them growing and elongating a relationship between drumlin width and length is found with r2 0 48 and that is approximately w 7 l 1 2 when measured in metres a surprising and sharply defined line bounds the data cloud plotted in e w l space and records a scale dependent maximum elongation limit approximated by emax l1 3 when l measured in metres for a given length for some reason as yet unknown drumlins do not exceed the elongation ratio defined by this scaling law we also report and compare our statistics to an amalgamated sample 25 907 drumlins of measures derived from around 50 published investigations any theory must be able to explain the drumlin statistics and fundamental scaling properties reported herein and they thus provide powerful tests for drumlin modelling

submarine landforms characteristic of glacier surges in two spitsbergen fjords abstract well preserved submarine landforms all less than 100 years old are imaged on high resolution swath bathymetry obtained from van keulenfjorden and rindersbukta inner van mijenfjorden spitsbergen svalbard several tidewater glaciers in these fjords have surged in the last few hundred years streamlined landforms found within the limits of known surges are interpreted as mega scale glacial lineations msgl formed subglacially beneath actively surging ice large transverse ridges are terminal moraines formed by thrusting at the maximum position of glacier surges sediment lobes at the distal margins of terminal moraines are interpreted as glacigenic debris flows formed either by failure of the frontal slopes of thrust moraines or from deforming sediment extruded from beneath the glacier sinuous ridges are eskers formed after surge termination by the sedimentary infilling of subglacial conduits concordant ridges parallel to former ice margins are interpreted as minor push moraines probably formed annually during winter glacier readvance discordant ridges oblique to former ice margins are interpreted as crevasse squeeze ridges forming when soft subglacial sediments are injected into basal crevasses these submarine landforms have been deposited in the following sequence based on cross cutting relationships between them linked to stages of the surge cycle 1 msgl 2a terminal moraines and 2b lobe shaped debris flows 3 isolated areas of crevasse fill ridges 4 eskers and 5 annual retreat ridges a descriptive landsystem model for tidewater surge type glaciers has been developed whose wider applicability is emphasised by comparison with two areas in isfjorden spitsbergen the model also has a number of features in common with landsystem models for terrestrial surge type glaciers but is likely to be more complete since submarine landforms are particularly well preserved the landforms discussed here may be produced and preserved in different proportions in the varied environmental settings where surging glaciers are found

the morphological characteristics of ribbed moraine abstract ribbed rogen moraines are large subglacially formed transverse ridges that cover extensive areas of the former laurentide scandinavian and irish ice sheets given their ubiquitous and conspicuous nature it is surprising that their characteristics are poorly understood to date most ribbed moraine studies have been spatially restricted and rely on small sample sizes thus published accounts of their characteristics are most likely unrepresentative of ribbed moraines generally this study addresses this deficit by producing the first representative data set on ribbed moraine size shape pattern and distribution and we describe their spatial characteristics various remote sensing and gis techniques were used to map ribbed moraines over a combined area of 81 000 km 2 in canada ireland and sweden producing a database of just over 33 000 individual landforms in all 25 082 ridges were mapped in two areas in central and northern quebec the lac naococane and river kaniapiskau regions 5637 in the lake rogen area of central sweden and 2500 in north central ireland in comparison against the published accounts of ribbed moraine we demonstrate that some widely held assertions are inaccurate or untrue and we show that ribbed moraine morphological characteristics are more complex than has been hitherto reported our data reveals they exist over a larger scale range than was previously stated this study concludes by presenting a list of ribbed moraine characteristics and argues that formational hypotheses must account for these if they are to remain valid explanations of ribbed moraine genesis

submarine landforms and the behavior of a surging ice cap since the last glacial maximum the open marine setting of eastern austfonna svalbard abstract multi beam swath bathymetry data and topographic parametric sonar topas 3 5 khz sub bottom acoustic profiles were acquired from the inlet of hartogbutka an open marine setting offshore of austfonna northeastern nordaustlandet svalbard the largest ice cap in the eurasian arctic using these marine geophysical data the seafloor morphological and sedimentary evidence of former ice extent and dynamics of the three drainage basins basins 3 4 and 5 adjacent to hartogbukta were examined submarine landforms and landform assemblages that provide evidence of past ice dynamics are described and interpreted in the context of previous studies of surge affected submarine environments elsewhere in svalbard a sequence of four distinct ice flow episodes in hartogbukta from the late weichselian deglaciation to the present is identified to explain the morphological evolution of the seafloor a full glacial ice sheet extended over hartogbukta during the late weichselian flowing ese at intervals throughout the holocene the drainage basins adjacent to hartogbukta probably underwent repeated surges most recently basins 3 and 4 probably surged as one cohesive ice mass in the late 1800s and basin 5 most likely underwent a less extensive surge in the 20th century these ice flow events are interpreted in the context of the glaciology and known glacial history of austfonna and the nw barents sea the 200 km long ice cliffs of eastern austfonna provide an unusual and important analog for open marine deposition that would have been much more prevalent under full glacial conditions where ice sheets in many parts of the arctic advanced from fjord systems onto the adjacent continental shelves

fjords as temporary sediment traps history of glacial erosion and deposition in muir inlet glacier bay national park southeastern alaska glacimarine sedimentary deposits within the basins of muir inlet a 48 km long silled fjord are interpreted from complimentary sets of high resolution seismic reflection profiles using known glacial advance and retreat history two prominent glacial erosion surfaces are identified the lowest attributed to the last glacial maximum lgm advance and the upper coincident with the little ice age lia advance the lgm ice sheet which advanced onto the continental shelf was 1700 m thick in muir inlet and eroded bedrock whereas the thinner lia ice did not lgm deposits 300 m thick occur beneath the lia erosion surface in the deepest basins evidence for earlier neoglacial advances is present in subaerial deposits however neoglacial sediments preserved within the marine record are restricted to one depositional package on the entrance sill volumes of lia retreat sediments were calculated within basins an average annual sediment flux was calculated by modeling the duration of sediment contributed from muir glacier and from tributary glaciers and side entry sources the annual sediment flux ranged from 1 3 10 6 m 3 yr to 4 6 10 7 m 3 yr and increases logarithmically with increasing drainage basin area similar to fluvial systems this sediment flux does not only represent bedrock erosion additional sediment is contributed from persistent tributary glaciers and from lgm sediment stored within deeper basins basin wide reflections characterize the most common seismic facies and indicate that strata are horizontal and continuous across each basin confirming the importance of sediment gravity flows originating from sills and sloping fjord walls

the evolution of a submarine landform record following recent and multiple surges of tunabreen glacier svalbard this study focuses on the glacial landform record associated with recent surge events of tunabreen a calving tidewater glacier in tempelfjorden spitsbergen submarine geomorphology and recent te

the geomorphic imprint of glacier surges into open marine waters examples from eastern svalbard abstract seafloor morphology beyond nine tidewater glaciers terminating in open marine settings in eastern svalbard has been investigated using multibeam swath bathymetry historical information on tidewater glacier fluctuations over the past century or so shows that the seafloor offshore has been exposed only recently most glaciers have been observed to surge or have looped surface moraines indicating past surges during these ice advances and subsequent retreat a well preserved submarine landform assemblage has been produced a subglacial landforms include overridden moraine ridges mega scale glacial lineations msgls other streamlined lineations elongate drumlins and medial moraines small ridges forming a complex boxwork or rhombohedral pattern and meltwater related eskers and channels b ice marginal landforms include large terminal moraines with debris flow lobes on their outer flanks and indentations on their inner sides small transverse retreat moraines and crater like kettle holes c glacimarine features include iceberg ploughmarks and an otherwise relatively smooth sedimentary seafloor produced by fine grained debris rain out a schematic plan view landform assemblage model for tidewater glaciers advancing into open marine settings is developed arcuate terminal moraines marking the ice advance limit provide a distinctive component submarine basin s exposed inside these moraine ridges when ice retreats contain suites of individual landforms produced subglacially and ice marginally with a consistent order of timing of deposition and stratigraphic superposition the new schematic model is compared with earlier models based on submarine landforms associated with surges in the more topographically constrained setting of spitsbergen fjords differences include i the overall arcuate shape of the open marine assemblage ii the indented ice proximal sides of terminal moraine ridges iii the fan shaped pattern of streamlined lineations iv crater like kettle holes at the inner lateral margins of many submarine basins v prominent systems of eskers and channels modern glaciological analogues from ongoing surges of ice caps in eastern svalbard and severnaya zemlya provide contemporary observations of ice advance into open marine settings including heavily crevassed ice lobes with finger like termini

size shape and spatial arrangement of mega scale glacial lineations from a large and diverse dataset mega scale glacial lineations msgls are a characteristic landform on ice stream beds solving the puzzle of their formation is key to understanding how ice interacts with its bed and how this in turn influences the dynamics of ice streams however a comprehensive and detailed characterization of this landform s size shape and spatial arrangement which might serve to test and refine formational theories is largely lacking this paper presents a detailed morphometric analysis and comparison of 4043 msgls from eight palaeo ice stream settings three offshore norway and antarctica four onshore canada and one from under a modern ice stream in west antarctica the length of msgls is lower than previously suggested mode 1000 2000 m median 2892 m and they initiate and terminate at various locations on an ice stream bed their spatial arrangement reveals a pattern that is characterized by an exceptional parallel conformity 80 of all mapped msgls have an azimuth within 5 from the mean values and a fairly constant lateral spacing mode 200 300 m median 330 m which we interpret as an indication that msgls are a spatially self organized phenomenon results show that size shape and spatial arrangement of msgls are consistent both within and also generally between different ice stream beds we suggest this results from a common mechanism of formation which is largely insensitive to local factors although the elongation of msgls mode 6 8 median 12 2 is typically higher than features described as drumlins these values and those of their width mode 100 200 m median 268 m overlap which suggests the two landforms are part of a morphological continuum and may share a similar origin we compare their morphometry with explicit predictions made by the groove ploughing and rilling instability theories of msgl formation although the latter was most compatible neither is fully supported by observations 2014 the authors earth surface processes and landforms published by john wiley sons ltd

stabilization of glaciers terminating in closed water bodies evidence and broader implications 1 the behavior of glaciers terminating in deep water is determined by the interaction of buoyancy iceberg production and the sensitivity of ice flow to subtle changes in resistance at the glacier bed modeling efforts assume rapid evacuation of icebergs but some glaciers terminate in closed basins where icebergs may accumulate multibeam bathymetric survey of a glacial lake in iceland that received outlet glaciers during the little ice age document near parallel flow of narrow ice fingers that extended up to 1 km beyond the grounding line these previously unseen features apparently occurred when iceberg production exceeded iceberg melt resulting in iceberg buttressing of the ice margin similar stabilization of ice flow may resolve long standing debates about past continental ice sheet behavior including the rapid readvance of the laurentide ice sheet into lake superior ca 11 ka and the genesis of glacial flutes observed in the central arctic ocean basin

formation of mega scale glacial lineations observed beneath a west antarctic ice stream most discharge from large ice sheets takes place through fast flowing ice streams and their speed is strongly modulated by interactions between the ice and the underlying sediments seismic surveys and investigations through boreholes have revealed a spatial association between fast ice flow and saturated deformable sediments nevertheless our knowledge of the morphology of the interface between ice and sediments is still limited resulting in only rudimentary understanding of the basal boundary conditions beneath ice streams and the generation of subglacial bedforms here we present radar data from the bed of a west antarctic ice stream that reveal the presence of mega scale glacial lineations we combine these data with previously published seismic data and show that these lineations develop in areas of dilatant deforming till and are part of a dynamic sedimentary system that undergoes significant change by erosion and deposition on decadal timescales we find that the mega scale glacial lineations are indistinguishable from those found on beds of palaeo ice streams providing conclusive evidence for the hypothesis that highly elongate bedforms are a characteristic of fast flow regions in ice sheets

push moraines and glacier contact fans in marine and terrestrial environments the local climatic regime and the mass balance state are important determinants of the dynamics of terrestrial and marine glacier fronts which in turn determine the sediments and landforms produced at the glacier front many modern glaciers undergoing overall retreat in areas of maritime climate produce winter push moraines during a late winter readvance followed by a summer retreat whilst in more continental regions no significant winter readvance occurs and annual push moraines are absent the frontal dynamics which lead to these changes are analysed and the form structure sequence and field relations of both terrestrial and marine push moraines are described from iceland spitsbergen and baffin island long term changes in mass balance leading to major glacier advances or readvances also generate large push moraines in terrestrial environments push moraine formation is accompanied by uplift rejuvenation and down cutting of outwash systems whose sediments become closely associated with glaciotectonic structures which permit pre syn and post tectonic sequences to be identified the development of ice marginal fan moraine complexes is modelled as a function of the relative magnitude of two parameters the velocity of ice movement and the calving rate a high ice velocity just exceeded by the calving rate gives closely spaced push moraines and confluent ice marginal fans a high velocity far exceeded by the calving rate produces closely spaced moraines but separate ice marginal fans a low ice velocity in combination with a high calving rate results in well separated and feebly developed push moraines while a low ice velocity and a low calving rate produces feeble push moraines and coalescent fans

large scale ice moulding a discussion of genesis and glaciological significance abstract landsat images reveal a previously unsuspected large scale pattern of streamlining within drift which comprises a number of components drumlins and megaflutes form part of the pattern but in addition there are two previously undocumented ice moulded landform elements streamlined lineations of much greater proportions referred to as mega scale glacial lineations and a distinctive cross cutting topology within the grain consideration of the genesis and glaciological significance of such landforms leads to a number of conclusions it is suggested that mega scale glacial lineations were formed under conditions of fast ice flow and their presence may thus record former locations of ice streams or surge events many lineations of varying scales display a pattern that reveals that they were not formed in sub marginal positions extensive sets of lineations must have been formed approximately synchronously thus indicating that lineation generation occurs over a wide range of glaciodynamic conditions from sub marginal positions to interior portions of ice sheets subglacial deformation of tills has been widely invoked to account for rapid glacier motion criteria for identifying such tills are restricted to structures viewed in cross section and it is thus hard to assess how widespread the processes of deformation may have been lineations provide a surface marker of structure that records subsequent deformation from other ice flow events it is argued that the palaeo flow record including cross cutting patterns provides the surface or plan expression of subglacial deformation the degree of modification to pre existing lineations should permit the identification of zones favoured by deformation and thus assist in an assessment of how pervasive deforming bed processes were in influencing ice sheet dynamics

thermally controlled glacier surging bakaninbreen in svalbard and trapridge glacier in yukon territory canada are two prominent examples of surging glaciers which are thought to be controlled by their thermal regime both glaciers have developed large bulges which have propagated forward as travelling wave fronts and which are thought to divide relatively stagnant downstream cold based ice from faster moving warm based upstream ice additionally both glaciers are underlain by a wet metres thick layer of deforming till we develop a simple model for the cyclic surging behaviour of these glaciers which interrelates the motion of the ice and till through a description of the subglacial hydrology we find that oscillations surges can occur if the subglacial hydrological transmissivity is sufficiently low and the till layer is sufficiently thin and we suggest that these oscillations are associated with the development and propagation of a travelling wave front down the glacier we therefore interpret the travelling wave fronts on both trapridge glacier and bakaninbreen as manifestations of surges in addition we find that the violence of the surge in the model is associated with the resistance to ice flow offered by undulations in the bed and the efficiency with which occasional hydrological events can release water accumulated at the glacier sole

ice stream retreat dynamics inferred from an assemblage of landforms in the northern barents sea abstract palaeo records of rapid ice stream retreat are important as they can be used to identify the processes involved and inform investigations of present day ice masses here we document a previously unknown retreat stage in northernmost bjornoyrenna bear island trough in the northern barents sea representing the youngest stage in a stepwise retreat of the bjornoyrenna ice stream we present a descriptive landsystem model for retreat of a marine based ice stream which provides new insights into the glacial dynamics of the episodic retreat stages this model captures the landforms produced during a cycle of 1 fast ice stream flow 2 intense calving of large icebergs locked in a dense matrix of smaller icebergs probably from a collapsed ice shelf 3 ice stream stagnation 4 ice stream floating off forming an ice shelf as the grounding line retreats and eventually 5 ice shelf disintegration we hypothesize that the presented ice stream retreat model reflects glacial surging the formation of corrugated furrows in the study area is consistent with interpretation of similar features in pine island bay west antarctica which are interpreted to have been formed during a massive ice shelf break up and associated grounding line retreat two directions of past ice flow are indicated from streamlined glacial landforms in the study area ice flow from north north east is indicated for the last glacial maximum and an early phase of deglaciation whereas a shift to flow from north north west from an ice dome located over hinlopenstretet svalbard is indicated for the latest deglaciation phases of the bjornoyrenna ice stream

glacimarine processes at grounding line fans and their growth to ice contact deltas abstract grounding line fans originate from subglacial and basal stream tunnels at grounding lines of glaciers terminating in a marine environment during melt seasons discharge forms a turbulent jet beyond the efflux over the initial zone of flow establishment in the jet it may remain in contact with the sea floor for up to 13 4 d d tunnel diameter along a runout distance if velocity is constant plug flow in this zone deposits marine outwash sediment commonly having chaotic texture and graded and welded contacts texture may vary rapidly because of discharge pulses and the jet may move laterally to produce sheet or cut and fill geometries imbricate gravel is deposited near the efflux then farther out are sheet or weakly channelized finer grained gravels and sands in some instances a migrating barchanoid bar forms at the detachment zone and forms large scale trough cross beds beyond the detachment zone the turbulent jet becomes vertical and sediment cascades from it in a veil this sediment is added to by flows from continuous failures of bed load sediment in the detachment zone resulting deposits are interstratified sediment gravity flows and thick coarse end members of cyclopsams the jet changes to a plume when inertial forces become less than buoyancy forces turbulent vorticies within the jet can re entrain particles into a buoyant plume the plume remains vertical although continuously spreading until reaching neutral buoyancy fan depocentres have been observed to accumulate at over 10 6 m 3 a 1 in temperate glacial areas eventually at quasi stable grounding lines fans may aggrade to sea level to form ice contact deltas at incipient deltas when the delta plain is intertidal coarse sediment is redistributed to the prodelta with each tidal cycle intense prodelta rhythmites mark the transition of a fan into a delta

how do glaciers surge a review the quasi periodic oscillations between normal and fast motion exhibited by surge type glaciers provide the best observational opportunity to determine limiting conditions that allow fast motion the measurements from variegated glacier prove that its surge motion is caused by rapid sliding induced by high water pressure this arises from a major restructuring of the basal hydraulic system which impedes water discharge prior to and during surge although the evolving glacier geometry and stress distribution play a principal enabling role the seasonal timing of two distinct surge pulses each initiated in winter and terminated in summer indicates a major influence from variable external water inputs this influence is not considered in existing surge models and should promote caution in the use of data from temperate and subpolar surge type glaciers to deduce surge potential in polar ice masses the spatial spreading of surge motion from a zone of local initiation occurs by stress redistribution which may spread the surging zone rapidly upglacier or downglacier inside a region of active ice and by mass redistribution with compressional thickening at the surge front which enables down glacier propagation into less active ice the data from other surge type glaciers including the extensive data from medvezhiy glacier are not inconsistent with the above processes but are inadequate to establish whether completely different mechanisms operate in some surges the way by which water accumulates and produces fast sliding is not established in detail for any surge type glacier and may be different on different glaciers depending for example on the presence or absence of unconsolidated debris between the ice and rock

controls on glacier surging in svalbard the geographical distribution of surge type glaciers worldwide displays a remarkably non random pattern surge type glaciers tend to be concentrated in certain glacierized areas and to be completely absent in others this observation suggests that special conditions are required for surges to occur however the factors controlling the spatial occurrence of surge type behaviour are not known to investigate this problem we performed probability statistical analysis on a sample population of 615 glaciers in svalbard the probability that a glacier in the sample population is surge type is 36 4 within the sampled area there is a spatial variation in the concentration of surge type glaciers several geometric and environmental factors associated with glaciers in the sample population were measured and tested to determine if they are related to the probability of surging of the geometric factors tested length slope elevation orientation and presence or absence of tributaries only glacier length is related to surging with surge probability increasing with increasing length elevated probabilities of surging were also found for glaciers associated with sedimentary subglacial rocks and sub polar thermal regimes the distributions of related factors were used to predict the spatial distribution of surge type glaciers however in each case the individual factors were unable to reproduce the observed pattern of surge type glacier distribution

controls on the distribution of surge type glaciers in svalbard we analyzed the possible controls on the distribution of surge type glaciers in svalbard using multivariate logit models including 504 glaciers and a large number of glacial and geological attributes specifically we examined the potential effect of geological boundaries mass balance conditions and thermal regime on surging it was found that long glaciers with relatively steep slopes overlying young fine grained sedimentary lithologies with orientations in a broad arc clockwise from northwest to southeast are most likely to be of surge type no relation between lithological boundaries and surge potential could be established possible explanations for length being conducive to surging are transport distance related substrate properties distance related attenuation of longitudinal stresses and the possible relation between thermal regime and glacier size analysis of glaciers with recorded radioecho sounding reveals that a polythermal regime accumulation area ratios close to balance and a large elevation span increase the surge potential the logit models also enabled us to detect 19 new surge type glaciers to reclassify six glaciers as normal and to identify unusual surge type glaciers our model results suggest that a polythermal regime and fine grained potentially deformable beds are conducive to the surge potential of svalbard glaciers

tectonic models for early cretaceous rifting in southeastern arizona the early cretaceous tectonic setting of southeastern arizona was one of northeast southwest extensiomal deformation characterized by differential vertical movements along northwest trending normal faults local fault block uplifts created a basin and range type paleogeography that included local clastic filled basins and mountain ranges rimmed by alluvial fans the glance conglomerate the basal formation of the lower cretaceous bisbee group represents the proximal parts of these syntectonic alluvial fans this extensional back arc tectonic setting is strikingly different from the compressional setting found behind the continental margin magmatic arc farther to the north sevier orogeny possible explanations for this profound difference in back arc tectonic style include propagation of an aulacogen from the gulf of mexico to southeastern arizona variable dip subduction along the continental margin magmatic arc and an apparent anticlockwise rotation of the north american plate relative to the continental margin arc

sea floor morphology outside a grounded surging glacier brasvellbreen svalbard abstract acoustical profiling and bottom photography reveal several different sea floor morphological features adjacent to the grounded brasvellbreen glacier on svalbard northwestern barents sea some of the features and their distribution may be closely related to a major glacial surge in 1936 1938 and as such are valuable in identifying former surges in other locations a continuous wide ridge with a characteristic asymmetrical cross section running subparallel to the glacier is the end moraine defining the maximum extent of the surge a large part of the material forming this ridge is most likely rapidly deposited from meltwater during the surge a rhombohedral pattern of smaller mounds inside the ridge is probably an expression of relief in the glacier sole during the surge discontinuous arcuate ridges define local minor oscillations during retreat of the ice at a later stage iceberg plough marks are most frequent seaward of the end moraine their orientation is controlled by the combination of a coastal current offshore katabatic winds and topography superimposed on plough marks are secondary features such as a washboard pattern and striae most likely caused by push up of overconsolidated material during gouging and multi keel icebergs respectively bottom sediments observed in photographs and cores are loose pebbly muds with high variability in clast content resting on overconsolidated material probably basal till mud deposition presently prevails close to the glacier

rapid dynamic activation of a marine based arctic ice cap we use satellite observations to document rapid acceleration and ice loss from a formerly slow flowing marine based sector of austfonna the largest ice cap in the eurasian arctic during the past two decades the sector ice discharge has increased 45 fold the velocity regime has switched from predominantly slow 101 m yr to fast 103 m yr flow and rates of ice thinning have exceeded 25 m yr at the time of widespread dynamic activation parts of the terminus may have been near floatation subsequently the imbalance has propagated 50 km inland to within 8 km of the ice cap summit our observations demonstrate the ability of slow flowing ice to mobilize and quickly transmit the dynamic imbalance inland a process that we show has initiated rapid ice loss to the ocean and redistribution of ice mass to locations more susceptible to melt yet which remains poorly understood

distribution of glacial geomorphic features on the antarctic continental shelf and correlation with substrate implications for ice behavior surveys were conducted seaward of all the major drainage outlets of the antarctic ice sheet from the pennell coast north victoria land to marguerite bay antarctic peninsula the results show that the ice sheet extended onto the outer shelf glacial troughs occur offshore of all major glacial outlets where the substrate is crystalline bedrock ice flow tended to follow the structural grain of the bedrock deposited little sediment and eroded the underlying bedrock where ice flowed over relatively soft more easily eroded sedimentary strata the direction of ice flow was more directly offshore and depositional features characterize the sea floor in these areas the signature of the grounded ice consists of till deposits and large scale geomorphic features drumlins occur within the region of contact between crystalline and sedimentary substrates the different geological substrates are interpreted to have exerted a fundamental control on the behavior of past ice sheets the troughs in the areas of bedrock composed of sedimentary substrate are interpreted to have been occupied by relatively fast flowing ice ice streams and the troughs in the areas of crystalline substrate are interpreted to have been occupied by slower moving ice the area between these two zones was characterized by ice acceleration and is marked by drumlins

glacimarine sedimentary processes and facies on the polar north atlantic margins abstract major contrasts in the glaciological oceanic and atmospheric parameters affecting the polar north atlantic both over space between its eastern and western margins and through time from full glacial to interglacial conditions have lead to the deposition of a wide variety of sedimentary facies in these ice influenced seas the dynamics of the glaciers and ice sheets on the hinterlands surrounding the polar north atlantic have exterted a major influence on the processes rates and patterns of sedimentation on the continental margins of the norwegian and greenland seas over the late cenozoic the western margin is influenced by the cold east greenland current and the svalbard margin by the northernmost extent of the warm north atlantic drift and the passage of relatively warm cyclonic air masses in the fjords of spitsbergen and the northwestern barents sea glacial meltwater is dominant in delivering sediments in the fjords of east greenland the large numbers of icebergs produced from fast flowing outlets of the greenland ice sheet play a more significant role in sedimentation during full glacials sediments are delivered to the shelf break from fast flowing ice streams which drain huge basins within the parent ice sheet large prograding fans located on the continental slope offshore of these ice streams are made up of stacked debris flows large scale mass failures turbidity currents and gas escape structures also rework debris in continental slope and shelf settings even during interglacials both the margins and the deep ocean basins beyond them retain a glacimarine overprint derived from debris in far travelled icebergs and sea ice under full glacial conditions the glacier influence is correspondingly stronger and this is reflected in the glacial and glacimarine facies deposited at these times

iceberg scouring in scoresby sund and on the east greenland continental shelf modern and relict scours produced by iceberg keels have been reported from a number of high latitude continental shelves in the northern hemisphere and antarctica but observations are largely absent from the east greenland shelf about 18 km3 yr 1 of icebergs are calved into the scoresby sund fjord system east greenland these icebergs have submarine keels with drafts up to 550 m modern iceberg contacts with the sea floor are inferred from calculated keel depths and stationary icebergs identified on sequential landsat imagery acoustic profiles parasound 3 5 khz of the sea floor show that scouring is a significant process in water depths 550 m iceberg scouring intensity varies inversely with water depth the most intense scouring occurs at depths of 300 400 m iceberg scours were observed on over 25 000 km2 of the east greenland shelf at 69 72 n and 75 n scours are being actively produced on the modern shelf but relict scours probably dating back to the late weichselian are also present the rate of iceberg production from greenland ice sheet outlet glaciers and iceberg drift tracks on the shelf suggests that iceberg scouring is important over a significant proportion of the 500 000 km2 area above the shelf break around greenland

holocene moraine chronology spitsbergen svalbard lichenometric evidence for multiple neoglacial advances in the arctic late holocene neoglacial moraines occurring within 1 or 2 km of present glacier margins are prominent features in the forefields of spitsbergen glaciers little ice age moraines are typically the most extensive and best preserved moraines of older holocene advances are much less common where observed older moraines occur as moraine remnants and provide irrefutable evidence of earlier neoglacial advances the fragmentary moraine record indicates two little ice age advances and two older neoglacial advances lichenometry provides calibrated ages for periods of moraine stabilization the oldest moraines stabilized by ca 1500 years ago and a second group of moraines stabilized by ca 1000 years ago little ice age moraines were deposited during two periods an early group of moraines stabilized ca 650 years ago and a later group during the last several centuries the proposed moraine chronology compares well with other proxy climate records on spitsbergen and with moraine records from areas borde

evidence for abundant subglacial meltwater beneath the paleo ice sheet in pine island bay antarctica marine geological and geophysical data collected from the continental shelf in pine island bay antarctica reveal a complex paleo subglacial drainage system controlled by bedrock topography and subglacial meltwater discharge significant amounts of freely flowing meltwater existed beneath former ice sheets in pine island bay subglacial drainage is characterized by descriptions of glacial landforms imaged on the sea floor and sedimentary deposits collected in piston cores bedrock geology is characterized using seismic data large scale landforms on the shelf include channels and cavities incised into impermeable crystalline bedrock there is a transition from randomly oriented channels on the inner shelf to a dendritic pattern of elongate channels on the middle shelf on the outer shelf a change in basal conditions occurs where sedimentary deposits bury crystalline bedrock no evidence for flowing meltwater exists on sedimentary substrates instead meltwater formed a the ice sediment contact was incorporated into the sediments contributing to development of a deforming lied which was sampled in piston cores characterization of subglacial meltwater processes that occurred in the past may aid in understanding the role meltwater plays in stability of the west antarctic ice sheet today

scleractinian corals produce calcite and grow more slowly in artificial cretaceous seawater the mineralogies of most biotic and abiotic carbonates have alternated in synchroneity between the calcite hexagonal and aragonite orthorhombic polymorphs of caco3 throughout the phanerozoic eon these intervals of calcite and aragonite production or calcite seas and aragonite seas are thought to be caused primarily by secular variation in the molar magnesium calcium ratio of seawater mmg ca 2 5 aragonite 1 high mg calcite mmg ca 2 5 low mg calcite a ratio that has oscillated between 1 0 and 5 2 throughout the phanerozoic in laboratory experiments we show that three species of scleractinian corals which produce aragonite in modern seawater and which have flourished as important reef builders primarily during aragonite seas of the past began producing calcite in artificial seawater with an ambient mmg ca ratio below that of modern seawater 5 2 the corals produced progressively higher percentages of calcite and calcified at lower rates with further reduction of the ambient mmg ca ratio in artificial seawater of imputed late cretaceous composition mmg ca 5 1 0 which favors the precipitation of the calcite polymorph scleractinian corals produced skeletons containing 30 low mg calcite skeletal mmg ca 0 04 these results indicate that the skeletal mineral used by scleractinian corals is partially determined by seawater chemistry furthermore slow calcification rates resulting from the production of largely aragonitic skeletons in chemically unfavorable seawater mmg ca 2 probably contributed to the scleractinians diminished reef building role in the calcite seas of late cretaceous and early cenozoic time

glacier surge mechanism 1982 1983 surge of variegated glacier alaska the hundredfold speedup in glacier motion in a surge of the kind the kind that took place in variegated glacier in 1982 1983 is caused by the buildup of high water pressure in the basal passageway system which is made possible by a fundamental and pervasive change in the geometry and water transport characteristics of this system the behavior of the glacier in surge has many remarkable features which can provide clues to a detailed theory of the surging process the surge mechanism is akin to a proposed mechanism of overthrust faulting

sedimentation and stratigraphy at eyjabakkajokull an icelandic surging glacier a model for sedimentation by surging glaciers is developed from analysis of the debris load sedimentary processes and proglacial stratigraphy observed at the icelandic surging glacier eyjabakkajokull three aspects of the behavior of surging glaciers explain the distinctive landformsediment associations which they may produce a sudden loading of proglacial sediments during rapid glacier advances results in the buildup of excess pore pressures failure and glacitectonic deformation of the overridden sediments b reactivation of stagnant marginal ice by the downglacier propagation of surges is associated with large longitudinal compressive stresses these induce intense folding and thrusting during which basal debris rich ice is elevated into an englacial position in a narrow marginal zone as the terminal area of the glacier stagnates between surges debris from this ice is released supraglacially and deposited by meltout and sediment flows c local variations in overburden pressure beneath stagnant crevassed ice cause subglacial lodgement tills which are sheared during surges to flow into open crevasses and form crevasse fill ridges

the structural geology of a surge type glacier abstract the range of deformation structures found in surge type variegated glacier alaska is similar to that found in many thin skinned thrust belts and includes foliations folds dip slip and strike slip faults thrust faults and fractures the development of structural relationships and the overall structural assemblage can be related to the deformation histories of quiescent and surge phases of motion the surge phase dominates the formation of brittle structures because of the large stresses and strain rates associated with it the relationship between downglacier verging overturned folds with hinge lines transverse to flow and a family of transverse arcuate thrust faults is characteristic of structural development in the lower part of the glacier during the surge longitudinal foliation develops mainly from sedimentary stratification in the upper part of the glacier in a marginal transpressive deformation regime during quiescent phase flow from broad accumulation basins the structural relationships in this surge type glacier may aid in the interpretation of structures in other gravity driven tectonic settings

till and moraine emplacement in a deforming bed surge an example from a marine environment the glacier sefstrombreen in spitsbergen surged across an arm of the sea between qsr 1882 and 1886 and rode up onto the island coraholmen marine and terrestrial geological observations and archive records show that the glacier advanced on a deforming carpet of marine mud which was eroded from its original location transported and smeared over the sea bed and coraholmen as a deformation till the glacier emplaced about 210sm 0 2 km 3 of drift in the terminal 2 km of its advance in a maximum of 14 years leaving a thickness of up to 20 m on coraholmen which was doubled in size as a result during the surge subglacial muds were characterised by high water pressures low effective pressures and low frictional resistance to glacier movement original sedimentary inhomogenities permit fold structures to be identified but repeated refolding and progressive remoulding produce mixing and homogenisation of deformation tills the surge was probably shortlived and as the heavily crevassed glacier stagnated underlying water saturated muds were intruded into crevasses and then extruded on the glacier surface reticulate crevasse intrusion ridges on coraholmen and the sea floor reflect the orientation of surge generated crevasses water and sediment was also extruded beyond the glacier at its maximum extent to form extensive flows producing till tongues both on coraholmen and the sea floor extending over 1 3 km from the glacier it is argued that subglacial deformation of pre existing sediment will almost invariably be associated with glaciation of marine areas and that this process will not only produce deformation tills through remoulding of pre existing sediments but will also play a fundamental role in glacier dynamics criteria which perrait glacial tills produced by such events from marine and glaciomarine muds are discussed copyright 1996 elsevier science ltd