Refining the pattern and style of Cordilleran Ice Sheet retreat: palaeogeography,evolution and implications of lateglacial ice‐dammed lake systems on the southern Fraser Plateau,British Columbia,Canada

Decay of the last Cordilleran Ice Sheet (CIS) near its geographical centre has been conceptualized as being dominated by passive downwasting (stagnation), in part because of the lack of large recessional moraines. Yet, multiple lines of evidence, including reconstructions of glacio‐isostatic rebound from palaeoglacial lake shoreline deformation suggest a sloping ice surface and a more systematic pattern of ice‐margin retreat. Here we reconstructed ice‐marginal lake evolution across the subdued topography of the southern Fraser Plateau in order to elucidate the pattern and style of lateglacial CIS decay. Lake stage extent was reconstructed using primary and secondary palaeo‐water‐plane indicators: deltas, spillways, ice‐marginal channels, subaqueous fans and lake‐bottom sediments identified from aerial photograph and digital elevation model interpretation combined with field observations of geomorphology and sedimentology, and ground‐penetrating radar surveys. Ice‐contact indicators, such as ice‐marginal channels, and grounding‐line moraines were used to refine and constrain ice‐margin positions. The results show that ice‐dammed lakes were extensive (average 27 km²; max. 116 km²) and relatively shallow (average 18 m). Within basins successive lake stages appear to have evolved by expansion, decanting or drainage (glacial lake outburst flood, outburst flood or lake maintenance) from southeast to northwest, implicating a systematic northwestward retreating ice margin (rather than chaotic stagnation) back toward the Coast Mountains, similar in style and pattern to that proposed for the Fennoscandian Ice Sheet. This pattern is confirmed by cross‐cutting drainage networks between lake basins and is in agreement with numerical models of North American ice‐sheet retreat and recent hypotheses on lateglacial CIS reorganization during decay. Reconstructed lake systems are dynamic and transitory and probably had significant effects on the dynamics of ice‐marginal retreat, the importance of which is currently being recognized in the modern context of the Greenland Ice Sheet, where >35% of meltwater streams from land‐terminating portions of the ice sheet end in ice‐contact lakes.     

The last deglaciation of the Norwegian Channel – geomorphology,stratigraphy and radiocarbon dating

Based on high‐resolution TOPAS acoustic data, bathymetric data sets and sediment cores from the Norwegian Channel, the last retreat of the Norwegian Channel Ice Stream has been investigated. Mapping of ice‐marginal features such as grounding‐zone wedges and terminal moraines off western Norway suggest that the retreat of the grounding line in this part of the channel was interrupted by frequent stillstands, whereas the channel south of the threshold at Jæren does not have crossing ice‐marginal landforms. Three main seismic units have been identified, and, based on their seismic characteristics, in addition to study of sediment cores, these units are interpreted as till (U1), glacial marine sediment (U2) and Holocene hemipelagic sediment (U3). Based on new and published radiocarbon dates of the lower part of U2, combined with dates from the adjacent areas, it is concluded that the grounding line started to retreat from the shelf edge at about 19 ka and that the inner part of Skagerrak was ice free at 17.6 ka. This gives an average retreat rate of 450 m a⁻¹, which is generally higher than mean retreat rates estimated for other palaeo‐ice streams (15–310 m a⁻¹).     

The ice lobes of the Scandinavian ice sheet during the deglaciation in Finland.

On the basis of glacial landforms interpreted by means of Landsat satellite imagery and ice-flow data obtained by other methods, the Scandinavian ice sheet has been observed to have divided at the deglaciation stage into several ice lobes. The ice lobes were more active parts of the uniform ice sheet. They represent parts that had bordered on each other in different directions or on more passive portions of the ice. The reasons for the appearance of separate ice lobes were evidently the Fennoscandian topography, the location of accumulation areas, and regional differences in the amounts of ice generated. In the boundary zones of the different ice lobes, there occur exceptionally large glaciofluvial forms and moraines (interlobate complexes). An area of passive ice was often between ice lobes, and in such areas there occur no noteworthy eskers, marginal formations or streamlined forms. In the part of Finland located on the southern side of the Arctic Circle, six different ice lobes and four major areas of passive ice are interpreted to have existed.     

A morphometric analysis of tunnel valleys in the eastern North Sea based on 3D seismic data

A 1250 km² 3D seismic volume is used to provide a detailed spatial and geometrical analysis of fifteen Pleistocene tunnel valleys in the Danish North Sea. All the valleys are buried; they are up to 39 km long, 3–4 km wide and up to 350 m deep. The valleys are part of a vast tunnel valley province covering an area of some 0.5 million km² of the formerly glaciated lowland areas of North West Europe. The valleys consist of non‐branching, non‐anastomosing troughs; they exhibit strongly undulating bottom profiles with numerous sub‐basins and thresholds, and are characterised by adverse end slopes. Cross‐cutting relationships and theoretical considerations suggest the occurrence of seven major episodes of valley incision attributed to ice marginal oscillations within a few glacials. Calculations considering the valley end gradients and theoretical ice‐surface profiles suggest that the valleys were formed by pressurised subglacial meltwater erosion. Given a range of theoretical ice‐surface profiles, the adverse end slopes are well beyond the supercooling threshold, which suggests that the water was not in thermal equilibrium with the basal ice and that flow was concentrated in substantial conduits with sufficient mass and flux to maintain water temperature well above the freezing point. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

楚科奇海融冰过程中的海水结构研究

楚科奇海是北冰洋的陆架海,中部凸起的Herald浅滩对海水流动和海冰融化过程有显著影响。利用我国1999年夏季北冰洋考察数据,讨论了楚科奇海海冰融化过程中的海水结构。结果表明,海区内存在2个相继进入的水团,一个是海冰覆盖期进入的阿纳德尔水(AW),具有低温、高盐、高硅酸盐的特点;另一个是海冰融化后进入的白令海陆架水(BSW),具有高温、低盐、低硅酸盐的特点。在开阔水域,表层水温度达到7℃以上,高于当地气温,是当地太阳辐射的加热作用形成的。开阔海域的水体向冰下扩展,表层水温在1℃以上,形成冰下暖水区,加速了海冰的融化;Her-ald浅滩阻挡了海水的流动形成绕流,其北部处于绕流的死角,表层水温在-1℃以下,形成冰下冷水区。在开阔海域,上层海水的混合深度达到15~20 m,而渗入冰下的暖水深度小于5 m,体现了海冰对暖水渗入的阻滞作用。所有海冰覆盖站位10 m层的叶绿素-a含量都很高,表明冰下海水处于浮游植物大量繁殖的状态,有可能对海水吸收热量和海冰融化产生显著的影响。     

Retreat pattern of the Cordilleran Ice Sheet in central British Columbia at the end of the last glaciation reconstructed from glacial meltwater landforms

The Cordilleran Ice Sheet (CIS) covered much of the mountainous northwestern part of North America at least several times during the Pleistocene. The pattern and timing of its growth and decay are, however, poorly understood. Here, we present a reconstruction of the pattern of ice‐sheet retreat in central British Columbia at the end of the last glaciation based on a palaeoglaciological interpretation of ice‐marginal meltwater channels, eskers and deltas mapped from satellite imagery and digital elevation models. A consistent spatial pattern of high‐elevation (1600–2400 m a.s.l.), ice‐marginal meltwater channels is evident across central British Columbia. These landforms indicate the presence of ice domes over the Skeena Mountains and the central Coast Mountains early during deglaciation. Ice sourced in the Coast Mountains remained dominant over the southern and east‐central parts of the Interior Plateau during deglaciation. Our reconstruction shows a successive westward retreat of the ice margin from the western foot of the Rocky Mountains, accompanied by the formation and rapid evolution of a glacial lake in the upper Fraser River basin. The final stage of deglaciation is characterized by the frontal retreat of ice lobes through the valleys of the Skeena and Omineca Mountains and by the formation of large esker systems in the most prominent topographic lows of the Interior Plateau. We conclude that the CIS underwent a large‐scale reconfiguration early during deglaciation and was subsequently diminished by thinning and complex frontal retreat towards the Coast Mountains.     

An alternative Weichselian glaciation model, with special reference to the glacial history of Skåne, South Sweden

A revised lithostratigraphy of Skåne, South Sweden, constitutes the basis of an alternative Weichselian glaciation model for southern Scandinavia, progressively anchored to the stratigraphy. Skåne was not glaciated during the Weichselian until 21,000 B.P. The concepts, outlet surge and marginal dome (the main tools of the model) are defined. The palaeogeography of the Baltic and Kattegatt basins during the Mid-Weichselian are reconstructed. Shorelines, during the advance stage, are calculated from an inferred proglacial depression. Outlet surges, which occurred in three basins of the Baltic, guided the ice sheet during its growth. The growth of marginal domes on the outlet surge lobes resulted in changes in the configuration of the ice sheet and in the lowering of its surface profile. The South Scandinavian ice divide became located over a former outlet surge lobe NNE-NE of the island of Gotland in the northern Baltic. This gave the main ice in South Sweden and Denmark a NE ice movement during the whole glaciation until the deglaciation of SE Sweden. The Kattegatt Ice Lake was formed due to damming in the Skagerack area. Surging ice tilled in the basin resulting in the formation of vast areas of stagnant ice in front of the advancing NE-ice. Marginal domes were formed on these giving rise to the early glacial episodes in the southwest of Sweden and Denmark. During the deglactanon, tnree pnases of marginal dome formation are recorded in the soutnern Baltic area and the growth of these domes resulted in the East Jylland advance, the Bælthav readvance and the Simrishamn readvance. The marginal domes were formed on vast fields of stagnant ice left behind by the receding main ice. Baltic erratics, englacially present in the main ice as well as in the stagnant ice in front of it, were transported (stepwise) towards the west and northwest, partly by the advancing marginal domes and partly by ice streams formed between the marginal domes and the main (NE-) ice. It is argued that the classical, so-called Low Baltic ice stream in the sense of a readvancing glacier lobe never existed. The first two marginal domes collapsed due to starvation and the ice movement returned gradually to the independent NE ice movement of the main ice. The third marginal dome collapsed due to a downdraw caused by a large transgression recorded in the Kattegatt and the Öresund regions. The transgression took place roughly around 13,300 B.P. and was possibly caused by damming of the Kattegatt basin in the north in connection with a marine downdraw. The collapse of the third marginal dome and the subsequent ‘ice lake downdraw’ of the dome centre NNE-NE of Gotland took place during a cold period of the deglaciation. This resulted in an extremely high recessional rate on the Swedish cast coast compared with the west coast and a contemporaneous westwards displacement of the South Scandinavian ice divide. After the downdraw, the recession rate on the east coast slowed down markedly and became more or less equal to that of the west coast. Pure dynamic causes for the extremely high recession rate in SE Sweden are expected because the decrease in this rate coincides with the onset of a recorded, marked climatic amelioration at around 12,600 B.P. Formation of the marginal domes during the deglaciation indicates periods of increased cyclon activity at the southwest margin of the Weichsclian Scandinavian ice sheet alternating with periods of ice sheet starvation. Detailed modelling of the marginal domes is therefore expected to have significant palaeoclimatic implications. The marginal dome concept is believed to he useful also in the reconstruction of earlier glaciations.     

Reconstruction of the surface of the Late Valdai ice sheet in the area of Khibini and Lovozerskii mountain ranges on the Kola Peninsula

On the basis of location levels of push marginal formations and maximal distribution heights of charted lateral moraine, the surface form of the Late Valdai ice sheet in the region of Khibini and Lovozerskii massifs during cool stadial phases of the Middle and Younger Dryas was reconstructed. It has been established that the glacier surface came to 700 m and 500 m, respectively, and its inclination varied from 30 to 70 m per 10 km, which is well below that in marginal fields of ice sheets of Western Greenland and East Antarctica. The maximal ice thickness in the Middle Dryas came to about 600 m, and in the Younger Dryas, it was about 400 m. The inclination of the glacier surface increased during the cool stadial phase. On the whole, it coincides well with the drift directions of detrital sediments by ice streams, established by the transfer direction of detrital sediments, orientation of drumlins, ice scars, and other factors of ice activity.     

Marginal formation of De Geer moraines and their implications to the dynamics of grounding‐line recession

De Geer moraine ridges occur in abundance in the coastal zone of northern Sweden, preferentially in areas with proglacial water depths in excess of 150 m at deglaciation. From detailed sedimentological and structural investigations in machine‐dug trenches across De Geer ridges it is concluded that the moraines formed due to subglacial sediment advection to the ice margin during temporary halts in grounding‐line retreat, forming gradually thickening sediment wedges. The proximal part of the moraines were built up in submarginal position as stacked sequences of deforming bed diamictons, intercalated with glaciofluvial canal‐infill sediments, whereas the distal parts were built up from the grounding line by prograding sediment gravity‐flow deposits, distally interfingering with glaciolacustrine sediments. The rapid grounding‐line retreat (ca. 400 m yr^?1) was driven by rapid calving, in turn enhanced by fast iceflow and marginal thinning of ice due to deforming bed conditions. The spatial distribution of the moraine ridges indicates stepwise retreat of the grounding line. It is suggested that this is due to slab and flake calving of the ice cliff above the waterline, forming a gradually widening subaqueous ice ledge which eventually breaks off to a new grounding line, followed by regained sediment delivery and ridge build‐up. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Esker formation and glacier dynamics in eastern Skane and adjacent areas, southern Sweden

Eskers were investigated in an area with overall terrestrial deglaciation - the eastern part of the province of Skåne and adjacent areas in southern Sweden. On the basis of the proposed model of esker formation, the dynamics of the receding Weichselian Ice Sheet are discussed. The deglaciation was characterized by the gradual retreat of an active ice sheet, bordered by a zone of thin, stagnant ice. For the most part, the ice sheet was probably at the pressure melting point in a marginal zone, where it was penetrated by surface meltwater which constituted most of the subglacially flowing meltwater. The esker sediments, consisting of glaciofluvially reworked basal debris and basal till, accumulated progressively in an up-glacier direction. Deposition took place close to the live ice boundary in the zone with stagnant ice that fringed the receding ice sheet. The time-transgressive formation of the eskers is reflected by repeated sediment sequences (morphosequences), i.e. sedimentary units composed of ridges that merge into extended hummocky deposits in a down-glacier direction. They represent the momentary deposition of stratified drift in the proximal portion of the zone with stagnant ice.     

Age of the Pomeranian ice‐marginal position in northeastern Germany determined by Optically Stimulated Luminescence (OSL) dating of glaciofluvial sediments

Lüthgens, C., Böse, M. & Preusser, F. 2011: Age of the Pomeranian ice‐marginal position in northeastern Germany determined by Optically Stimulated Luminescence (OSL) dating of glaciofluvial sediments. Boreas, 10.1111/j.1502‐3885.2011.00211.x. ISSN 0300‐9843 The Pomeranian ice margin is one of the most prominent ice‐marginal features of the Weichselian glaciation in northern Europe. Previous results of surface‐exposure dating (SED) of this ice margin disagree with established chronologies and ice retreat patterns, i.e. are much younger than previously expected. We crosscheck the age of the Pomeranian ice‐marginal position in northeastern Germany using single‐grain quartz Optically Stimulated Luminescence (OSL) dating of glaciofluvial sediments. OSL dating indicates an active ice margin between 20.1±1.6 ka and 19.4±2.4 ka forming outwash plains attributed to the Pomeranian ice‐marginal position. On the basis of these results, we suggest a critical reassessment of previous SED data available for the Pomeranian ice‐marginal position within their respective regional geomorphological contexts. From a process‐based point of view, SED ages derived from glacigenic boulders document the stabilization of the landscape after melting of dead ice and landscape transformation under periglacial conditions rather than the presence of an ice margin. SED indicates a first phase of boulder stabilization at around 16.4±0.7 ka, followed by landscape stabilization within the area attributed to the recessional Gerswalder subphase around 15.2±0.5 ka. A final phase of accumulation of glaciolacustrine and glaciofluvial sediments at around 14.7±1.0 ka documents the melting of buried dead ice at that time.     

Streamlined bedrock terrain and fast ice flow, Jakobshavns Isbrae, West Greenland: implications for ice stream and ice sheet dynamics

This study investigates the marginal subglacial bedrock bedforms of Jakobshavns Isbrae, West Greenland, in order to examine the processes governing bedform evolution in ice stream and ice sheet areas, and to reconstruct the interplay between ice stream and ice sheet dynamics. Differences in bedform morphology (roche moutonnee or whaleback) are used to explore contrasts in basal conditions between fast and slow ice flow. Bedform density is higher in ice stream areas and whalebacks are common. We interpret that this is related to higher ice velocities and thicker ice which suppress bed separation. However, modification of whalebacks by plucking occurs during deglaciation due to ice thinning, flow deceleration, crevassing and fluctuations in basal water pressure. The bedform evidence points to widespread basal sliding during past advances of Jakobshavns Isbrae. This was encouraged by increased basal temperatures and melting at depth, as well as the steep marginal gradients of Jakobshavns Isfjord which allowed rapid downslope evacuation of meltwater leading to strong ice/bedrock coupling and scouring. In contrast to soft-bedded ice stream bedforms, the occurrence of fixed basal perturbations and higher bed roughness in rigid bed settings prevents the basal ice subsole from maintaining a stable form which, coupled with secondary plucking, counteracts the development of bedforms with high elongation ratios. Cross-cutting striae and double-plucked, rectilinear bedforms suggest that Jakobshavns Isbrae became partially unconfined during growth phases, causing localised diffluent flow and changes in ice sheet dynamics around Disko Bugt. It is likely that Disko Bugt harboured a convergent ice flow system during repeated glacial cycles, resulting in the formation of a large coalesced ice stream which reached the continental shelf edge.     

Sedimentology of an ice lobe margin esker with implications for the deglacial dynamics of the Finnish Lake District lobe trunk

We provide evidence for the subglacial to ice‐marginal successive deposition of the Lohtaja?Kivijärvi ice lobe margin esker influenced by the changes in the meltwater delivery and proglacial water depth within the Finnish Lake District lobe trunk during the last deglaciation in Finland. The study is mostly based on the sedimentological data from the 100 km long esker chain with 15 logged sites. The long breaks in the lobe margin esker and the re‐emerged deposition along the stable position of the subglacial meltwater route were related to the discontinuities and reappearances of the neighbouring eskers. This considerable variability in the meltwater discharge and debris transport under the described deglacial conditions cannot be explained by markedly decreased meltwater production due to palaeoclimatic factors or lack of debris within the trunk region. The primary control on the changes in meltwater availability and related esker deposition was thus due to the spatial and temporal changes in ice mass properties and shifting of the meltwater flow paths within the trunk. These changes were initiated by the topographically higher and partly supra‐aquatic Suomenselkä watershed area with subsequent deepening of the proglacial water during the deglaciation. The understanding of the long‐lived esker deposition along the former ice‐stream trunk margin adds to the evaluation of palaeoglaciological reconstructions and geomorphologically based spatial models for ice‐stream landscapes.     

Litho- and chronostratigraphy of the Late Weichselian in Vendsyssel, northern Denmark, with special emphasis on tunnel-valley infill in relation to a receding ice margin

Lithostratigraphy and chronostratigraphy of samples from 18 deep boreholes in Vendsyssel have resulted in new insight into the Late Weichselian glaciation history of northern Denmark. Prior to the Late Weichselian Main advance c. 23–21 kyr BP, Vendsyssel was part of an ice‐dammed lake where the Ribjerg Formation was deposited c. 27–23 kyr BP. The timing of the Late Weichselian deglaciation is well constrained by the Main advance and the Lateglacial marine inundation c. 18 kyr BP, and thus spans only a few millennia. Rapid deposition of more than 200 m of sediments took place mainly in a highly dynamic proglacial and ice‐marginal environment during the overall ice recession. Mean retreat rates have been estimated as 45–50 m/yr in Vendsyssel with significantly higher retreat rates between periods of standstill and re‐advance. The deglaciation commenced in Vendsyssel c. 20 kyr BP, and the Troldbjerg Formation was deposited c. 20–19 kyr BP in a large ice‐dammed lake in front of the receding ice sheet, partly as glaciolacustrine sediments and partly as rapid and focused sedimentation in prominent ice‐contact fans, which make up the Jyske Ås and Hammer Bakker moraines. In the northern part of central Vendsyssel, at least four generations of north–south orientated tunnel valleys are identified, each generation related to a recessional ice margin. This initial deglaciation was interrupted by a major re‐advance from the east c. 19 kyr BP, which covered most of Vendsyssel. An ice‐dammed lake formed in front of the ice sheet as it retreated towards the east; the Morild Formation was deposited here c. 19–18 kyr BP. Related to this stage of deglaciation, eight ice‐marginal positions have been identified based on the distribution of large tunnel‐valley systems and pronounced recessional moraines. The Morild Formation consists of glaciolacustrine sediments, including the sediment infill of more than 190 m deep tunnel valleys, as well as the sediments in recessional moraines, which were formed as ice‐contact sedimentary ridges, possibly in combination with glaciotectonic deformation. The character of the tunnel‐valley infill sediments was determined by proximity to the ice margin. During episodes of rapid retreat of the ice margin, tunnel valleys were quickly abandoned and filled with fine‐grained sediments in a distal setting. During slow retreat of the ice margin, tunnel valleys were filled in an ice‐proximal environment, and the infill consists of alternating layers of fine‐ to coarse‐grained sediments. At c. 18 kyr BP, Vendsyssel was inundated by the sea, when the Norwegian Channel Ice Stream broke up, and a succession of marine sediments (Vendsyssel Formation) was deposited during a forced regression.     

格陵兰海海冰外缘线变化特征分析

格陵兰海作为北冰洋的边缘海之一,容纳了北极输出的海冰,其海冰外缘线的变化既受北极海冰输出量的影响,也受局地海冰融化和冻结过程的影响。利用2003年1月到2011年6月AMSR-E卫星亮温数据反演的海冰密集度产品,对格陵兰海海冰外缘线的变化特征进行了分析。结果表明,格陵兰海海冰外缘线不仅存在一年的变化周期,还存在比较显著的半年变化周期,与海冰在春秋两季向岸收缩有关。格陵兰海冬季的海冰外缘线极大值呈逐年下降的趋势,体现了北极增暖导致的冬季海冰范围减小;而夏季海冰外缘线离岸距离的极小值呈上升趋势,表明夏季来自北冰洋的海冰输出量增大。2003—2004年是格陵兰海夏季海冰融化最严重的2年。2007年北冰洋夏季海冰覆盖范围达到历史最小;而格陵兰海夏季的最小海冰范围最大,表明2007年北冰洋海冰的输出量大于其他年份。此外,夏季格陵兰岛冰雪融化形成的地表径流对海冰外缘线有一定的影响。对海冰外缘线影响最大的不是格陵兰海的局地风场,而是弗拉姆海峡(Fram Strait)区域的经向风,它直接驱动了北冰洋海冰向格陵兰海的输运,进而对格陵兰海海冰外缘线的分布产生滞后的影响。     

GIS‐based reconstruction of Late Weichselian proglacial lakes in northwestern Russia and Belarus

Reconstructing ice‐lake histories is of considerable importance for understanding deglacial meltwater budgets and the role of meltwater reservoirs for sea‐level rise in response to climate warming. We used the latest data on chronology and ice‐sheet extents combined with an isostatically adjusted digital elevation model to reconstruct the development of proglacial lakes in the area of the Karelian ice stream complex of the Late Weichselian Scandinavian Ice Sheet on the East European Plain. We derived the deglacial ice lake development in seven time‐slices from 19 to 13.8 ka, assuming the individual ice‐marginal positions to be isochronous throughout the studied domain. Modelling is based on mapping of critical drainage thresholds and filling the depressions that are potentially able to hold meltwater. Such an approach underestimates the real dimensions of the ice lakes, because the role of erosion at the thresholds is not considered. Our modelling approach is sensitive to the (local) ice‐margin location. Our results prove the southward drainage of meltwater during the glacier extent maxima and at the beginning of deglaciation whereas rerouting to the west had taken place already around 17.5 ka, which is some 1.5 ka earlier than hitherto supposed. The total ice‐lake volume in the study area was lowest (~300 km³) during the maximum glacier extent and highest (~2000 km³) during the highstand of the Privalday Lake at c. 14.6 ka. At 14.6–14.4 ka, the Privalday Lake drained to the early Baltic Ice Lake. The released ~1500 km³ of water approximately corresponds to 20% of the early Baltic Ice Lake water volume and therefore it is unlikely that it was accommodated there. Thus, we argue that the additional meltwater drained through the Öresund threshold area between the early Baltic Ice Lake and the sea, becoming a part of the Scandinavian Ice Sheet's contribution to the Meltwater Pulse 1A event.     

Processing NOAA-AVHRR satellite data for sea ice and oceanographic research in the marginal ice zone of the polar seas

This paper describes a method for NOAA-AVHRR satellite data processing in sea ice and oceanographic studies in the polar seas. This method includes geometrical processing to generate gridded and corrected images according to a polar stereographic map, ice and cloud discrimination during summer, and the production of combined sea ice and sea surface temperature imagery for watching marginal ice zone processes.     

Ice marginal dynamics during surge activity,Kuannersuit Glacier,Disko Island,West Greenland

The Kuannersuit Glacier surged 11 km between 1995 and 1998. The surge resulted in the formation of an ice cored thrust moraine complex constructed by subglacial and proglacial glaciotectonic processes. Four main thrust zones are evident in the glacier snout area with phases of compressional folding and thrusting followed by hydrofracture in response to the build-up of compressional stresses and the aquicludal nature of submarginal permafrost and naled. Various types of stratified debris-rich ice facies occur within the marginal zone: The first (Facies I) comprises laterally continuous strata of ice with sorted sediment accumulations, and is reworked and thrust naled ice. The second is laterally discontinuous stratified debris-rich ice with distinct tectonic structures, and is derived through subglacial extensional deformation and localised regelation (Facies II), whilst the third type is characterised by reworked and brecciated ice associated with the reworking and entrainment of meteoric ice (Facies III). Hydrofracture dykes and sills (Facies IV) cross-cut the marginal ice cored thrust moraines, with their sub-vertically frozen internal contact boundaries and sedimentary structures, suggesting supercooling operated as high-pressure evacuation of water occurred during thrusting, but this is not related to the formation of basal stratified debris-rich ice. Linear distributions of sorted fines transverse to ice flow, and small stratified sediment ridges that vertically cross-cut the ice surface up-ice of the thrust zone relate to sediment migration along crevasse traces and fluvial infilling of crevasses. From a palaeoglaciological viewpoint, marginal glacier tectonics, ice sediment content and sediment delivery mechanisms combine to control the development of this polythermal surge valley landsystem. The bulldozing of proglacial sediments and the folding and thrusting of naled leads to the initial development of the outer zone of the moraine complex. This becomes buried in bulldozed outwash sediment and well-sorted fines through surface ablation of naled. Up-ice of this, the heavily thrust margin becomes buried in sediment melted out from basal debris-rich ice and subglacial diamicts routed along thrusts. These mechanisms combine to deliver sediment to supraglacial localities, and promote the initial preservation of structurally controlled moraines through insulation, and the later development of kettled dead ice terrain.