Terminal zone glacial sediment transfer at a temperate overdeepened glacier system

Swift, DA, Cook, SJ, Graham, DJ, Midgley, NG ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0076-1785, Fallick, AE, Storrar, R, Toubes Rodrigo, M and Evans, DJA, 2018. Terminal zone glacial sediment transfer at a temperate overdeepened glacier system. Quaternary Science Reviews, 180, pp. 111-131. ISSN 0277-3791

Preview

Text 9785_Midgley.pdf - Published version Download (11MB) | Preview

Abstract

Continuity of sediment transfer through glacial systems is essential to maintain subglacial bedrock erosion, yet transfer at temperate glaciers with overdeepened beds, where subglacial fluvial sediment transport should be greatly limited by adverse slopes, remains poorly understood. Complex multiple transfer processes in temperate overdeepened systems has been indicated by the presence of large frontal moraine systems, supraglacial debris of mixed transport origin, thick basal ice sequences, and englacial thrusts and eskers. At Svínafellsjökull, thrusts comprising decimetre-thick debris-rich bands of stratified facies ice of basal origin, with a coarser size distribution and higher clast content than that observed in basal ice layers, contribute substantially to the transfer of subglacial material in the terminal zone. Entrainment and transfer of material occurs by simple shear along the upper surface of bands and by strain-induced deformation of stratified and firnified glacier ice below. Thrust material includes rounded and well-rounded clasts that are also striated, indicating that fluvial bedload is deposited as subglacial channels approach the overdeepening and then entrained along thrusts. Substantial transfer also occurs within basal ice, with facies type and debris content dependent on the hydrological connectedness of the adverse slope. A process model of transfer at glaciers with terminal overdeepenings is proposed, in which the geometry of the overdeepening influences spatial patterns of ice deformation, hydrology, and basal ice formation. We conclude that the significance of thrusting in maintaining sediment transfer continuity has likely been overlooked by glacier sediment budgets and glacial landscape evolution studies.

Item Type:	Journal article
Publication Title:	Quaternary Science Reviews
Creators:	Swift, D.A., Cook, S.J., Graham, D.J., Midgley, N.G., Fallick, A.E., Storrar, R., Toubes Rodrigo, M. and Evans, D.J.A.
Publisher:	Pergamon Press
Date:	15 January 2018
Volume:	180
ISSN:	0277-3791
Identifiers:	Number Type 10.1016/j.quascirev.2017.11.027 DOI S0277379117306170 Publisher Item Identifier
Rights:	© 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license
Divisions:	Schools > School of Animal, Rural and Environmental Sciences
Record created by:	Jonathan Gallacher
Date Added:	20 Dec 2017 15:51
Last Modified:	20 Dec 2017 16:50
URI:	https://irep.ntu.ac.uk/id/eprint/32223

Actions (login required)

Edit View

Statistics

Views

Downloads