The hydrochemistry of runoff from a ‘cold-based’ glacier in the High Arctic (Scott Turnerbreen,Svalbard)

There are still relatively few hydrochemical studies of glacial runoff and meltwater routing from the high latitudes, where non-temperate glacier ice is frequently encountered. Representative samples of glacier meltwater were obtained from Scott Turnerbreen, a ‘cold-based’ glacier at 78° N in the Norwegian high Arctic archipelago of Svalbard, during the 1993 melt season and analysed for major ion chemistry. Laboratory dissolution experiments were also conducted, using suspended sediment from the runoff. Significant concentrations of crustal weathering derived SO²⁻₄ are present in the runoff, which is characterized by high ratios of SO²⁻₄: (SO²⁻₄+HCO⁻₃) and high p(CO₂). Meltwater is not routed subglacially, but flows to the glacier terminus through subaerial, ice marginal channels, and partly flows through a proglacial icing, containing highly concentrated interstitial waters, immediately afront the terminus. The hydrochemistry of the runoff is controlled by: (1) seasonal variations in the input of solutes from snow- and icemelt; (2) proglacial solute acquisition from the icing; and (3) subaerial chemical weathering within saturated, ice-cored lateral moraine adjoining drainage channels at the glacier margins, sediment and concentrated pore water from which is entrained by flowing meltwater. Diurnal variations in solute concentration arise from the net effects of variable sediment pore water entrainment and dilution in the ice marginal streams. Explanation of the hydrochemistry of Scott Turnerbreen requires only one major subaerial flow path, the ice marginal channel system, in which seasonally varying inputs of concentrated snowmelt and dilute icemelt are modified by seepage or entrainment of concentrated pore waters from sediment in lateral moraine, and by concentrated interstitial waters from the proglacial icing, supplied by leaching, slow drainage at grain intersections or simple melting of the icing itself. The ice marginal channels are analogous neither to dilute supra/englacial nor to concentrated subglacial flow components. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The hydrochemistry of meltwaters draining a polythermal-based,high Arctic glacier,south Svalbard: I. The ablation season

Solute and runoff time-series at Finsterwalderbreen, Svalbard, provide evidence for considerable basal routing of water and the existence of at least two contrasting subglacial chemical weathering environments. The hydrochemistry of a subglacial upwelling provides evidence for a snowmelt-fed subglacial reservoir that dominates bulk runoff during recession flow. High concentrations of Cl⁻ and crustal ions, high pCO₂ and ratios of [*SO²⁻₄/(*SO²⁻₄+HCO⁻₃)] close to 0·5 indicate the passage of snowmelt through a subglacial weathering environment characterized by high rock:water ratios, prolonged residence times and restricted access to the atmosphere. At higher discharges, bulk runoff becomes dominated by icemelt from the lower part of the glacier that is conveyed through a chemical weathering environment characterized by low rock:water ratios, short residence times and free contact with atmospheric gases. These observations suggest that icemelt is routed via a hydrological system composed of basal/ice-marginal, englacial and supraglacial components and is directed to the glacier margins by the ice surface slope. Upwelling water flows relatively independently of icemelt to the terminus via a subglacial drainage system, possibly constituting flow through a sediment layer. Cold basal ice at the terminus forces it to take a subterranean routing in its latter stages. The existence of spatially discrete flow paths conveying icemelt and subglacial snowmelt to the terminus may be the norm for polythermal-based glaciers on Svalbard. Proglacial mixing of these components to form the bulk meltwaters gives rise to hydrochemical trends that resemble those of warm-based glaciers. These hydrochemical characteristics of bulk runoff have not been documented on any other glacier on Svalbard to date and have significance for understanding interactions between thermal regime and glacier hydrology. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Hydrochemistry of meltwaters draining a polythermal‐based,high‐Arctic glacier,south Svalbard: II. Winter and early Spring

The hydrochemistry of naled and upwelling water sampled from the forefields of Finsterwalderbreen, Svalbard, during spring are used for the first time to infer the hydrology of overwinter meltwaters at a polythermal‐based glacier. Hydrochemical variations in naled are explained in terms of different water sources and their chemical alteration during freezing. Two water sources to naled are identified: surficially routed snowmelt and subglacial water. Naled that results from the freezing of the former is enriched in atmospherically derived ions such as Na⁺ and Cl⁻, and is believed to be formed during winter warm periods. Naled of subglacial origin contains relatively high proportions of crustally derived solute. It reflects the freezing of subglacial meltwaters that continue to issue from a subterranean upwellling during winter. An increasing dominance of SO²⁻₄ Mg²⁺, Na⁺ and Cl⁻ in subglacial naled with increasing distance from the upwelling reflects the progressive freezing of this water body and the associated removal of Ca²⁺ and HCO by calcite precipitation. These spatial trends are accentuated by the leaching of soluble ions from the naled close to its source by subsequent upwelling waters. The chemistry of spring upwelling waters, also of subglacial origin, strongly reflects this process. Meltwater produced by geothermal heating of glacier basal ice is believed to be the principal source of water to the subglacial drainage system during winter. Solute acquisition by this meltwater is limited by a scarcity of proton suppliers. Evolution of this dilute meltwater carries an imprint of ion exchange processes. Some stored subglacial water from the end of the previous ablation season may supplement the basal meltwater component in early winter. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Hydrology and dynamics of a polythermal (mostly cold) High Arctic glacier

To improve our understanding of the interactions between hydrology and dynamics in mostly cold glaciers (in which water flow is limited by thermal regime), we analyse short‐term (every two days) variations in glacier flow in the ablation zone of polythermal John Evans Glacier, High Arctic Canada. We monitor the spatial and temporal propagation of high‐velocity events, and examine their impacts upon supraglacial drainage processes and evolving subglacial drainage system structure. Each year, in response to the rapid establishment of supraglacial–subglacial drainage connections in the mid‐ablation zone, a ‘spring event’ of high horizontal surface velocities and high residual vertical motion propagates downglacier over two to four days from the mid‐ablation zone to the terminus. Subsequently, horizontal velocities fall relative to the spring event but remain higher than over winter, reflecting channelization of subglacial drainage but continued supraglacial meltwater forcing. Further transient high‐velocity events occur later in each melt season in response to melt‐induced rising supraglacial meltwater inputs to the glacier bed, but the dynamic response of the glacier contrasts with that recorded during the spring event, with the degree of spatial propagation a function of the degree to which the subglacial drainage system has become channelized. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Using synchronous fluorescence spectroscopy and principal components analysis to monitor dissolved organic matter dynamics in a glacier system

The molecular characteristics of dissolved organic matter (DOM) reflect both its source material and its biogeochemical history. In glacial systems, DOM characteristics might be expected to change over the course of a melt season as changes in the glacier drainage system cause the mobilization of DOM from different OM pools. To test this hypothesis we used Principal Components Analysis (PCA) of synchronous fluorescence spectra to detect and describe changes in the DOM in meltwater from a glacier system in the Coast Mountains of northern British Columbia, Canada. For most of the melt season, the dominant component of subglacially routed meltwater DOM is characterized by a tyrosine‐like fluorophore. This DOM component is most likely derived from supraglacial snowmelt. During periods of high discharge, a second component of DOM is present which is humic in character and similar to DOM sampled from a nearby non‐glacial stream. This DOM component is inferred to be derived from a moss‐covered soil environment that has been glacially overrun. It is probably entrained into glacial melt waters when the supraglacial meltwater flux exceeds the capacity of the principal subglacial drainage channels and water floods areas of the glacier bed that are normally isolated from the subglacial drainage system. Another source of DOM also appears to be mobilized during periods of high air temperatures. It is characterized by both humic and proteinaceous fluorophores and may be derived from the drainage of supraglacial cryoconite holes. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Structure,morphology and water flux of a subglacial drainage system,Midtdalsbreen, Norway

Digital elevation models of the surface and bed of Midtdalsbreen, Norway are used to calculate subglacial hydraulic potential and infer drainage system structure for a series of subglacial water pressure assumptions ranging from atmospheric to ice overburden. A distributed degree‐day model is used to calculate the spatial distribution of melt on the glacier surface throughout a typical summer, which is accumulated along the various drainage system structures to calculate water fluxes beneath the glacier and exiting the portals for the different water pressure assumptions. In addition, 78 dye‐tracing tests were performed from 33 injection sites and numerous measurements of water discharge were made on the main proglacial streams over several summer melt seasons. Comparison of the calculated drainage system structures and water fluxes with dye tracing results and measured proglacial stream discharges suggests that the temporally and spatially averaged steady‐state water pressures beneath the glacier are ~70% of ice overburden. Analysis of the dye return curves, together with the calculated subglacial water fluxes shows that the main drainage network on the eastern half of the glacier consists of a hydraulically efficient system of broad, low channels (average width/height ratio ≈ 75). The smaller drainage network on the west consists of a hydraulically inefficient distributed system, dominated by channels that are exceptionally broad and very low (average width/height ratio ≈ 350). The even smaller central drainage network also consists of a hydraulically inefficient distributed system, dominated by channels that are very broad and exceptionally low (average width/height ratio ≈ 450). The channels beneath the western and central glacier must be so broad and low that they can essentially be thought of as a linked cavity system. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Basal sediment evacuation by subglacial meltwater: suspended sediment transport from Haut Glacier d'Arolla,Switzerland

Proglacial suspended sediment transport was monitored at Haut Glacier d'Arolla, Switzerland, during the 1998 melt season to investigate the mechanisms of basal sediment evacuation by subglacial meltwater. Sub‐seasonal changes in relationships between suspended sediment transport and discharge demonstrate that the structure and hydraulics of the subglacial drainage system critically influenced how basal sediment was accessed and entrained. Under hydraulically inefficient subglacial drainage at the start of the melt season, sediment availability was generally high but sediment transport increased relatively slowly with discharge. Later in the melt season, sediment transport increased more rapidly with discharge as subglacial meltwater became confined to a spatially limited network of channels following removal of the seasonal snowpack from the ablation area. Flow capacity is inferred to have increased more rapidly with discharge within subglacial channels because rapid changes in discharge during highly peaked diurnal runoff cycles are likely to have been accommodated largely by changes in flow velocity. Basal sediment availability declined during channelization but increased throughout the remainder of the monitored period, resulting in very efficient basal sediment evacuation over the peak of the melt season. Increased basal sediment availability during the summer appears to have been linked to high diurnal water pressure variation within subglacial channels inferred from the strong increase in flow velocity with discharge. Basal sediment availability therefore appears likely to have been increased by (1) enhanced local ice‐bed separation leading to extra‐channel flow excursions and[sol ]or (2) the deformation of basal sediment towards low‐pressure channels due to a strong diurnally reversing hydraulic gradient between channels and areas of hydraulically less‐efficient drainage. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Initial results from a distributed,physically based model of glacier hydrology

This paper describes the development and testing of a distributed, physically based model of glacier hydrology. The model is used to investigate the behaviour of the hydrological system of Haut Glacier d'Arolla, Valais, Switzerland. The model has an hourly time-step and three main components: a surface energy balance submodel, a surface flow routing submodel and a subglacial hydrology submodel. The energy balance submodel is used to calculate meltwater production over the entire glacier surface. The surface routing submodel routes meltwater over the glacier surface from where it is produced to where it either enters the subglacial hydrological system via moulins or runs off the glacier surface. The subglacial hydrology submodel calculates water flow in a network of conduits, which can evolve over the course of a melt season simulation in response to changing meltwater inputs. The main model inputs are a digital elevation model of the glacier surface and its surrounding topography, start-of-season snow depth distribution data and meteorological data. Model performance is evaluated by comparing predictions with field measurements of proglacial stream discharge, subglacial water pressure (measured in a borehole drilled to the glacier bed) and water velocities inferred from dye tracer tests. The model performs best in comparison with the measured proglacial stream discharges, but some of the substantial features of the other two records are also reproduced. In particular, the model results show the high amplitude water pressure cycles observed in the borehole in the mid-melt season and the complex velocity/discharge hysteresis cycles observed in dye tracer tests. The results show that to model outflow hydrographs from glacierized catchments effectively, it is necessary to simulate spatial and temporal variations in surface melt rates, the delaying effect of the surface snowpack and the configuration of the subglacial drainage system itself. The model's ability to predict detailed spatial and temporal patterns of subglacial water pressures and velocities should make it a valuable tool for aiding the understanding of glacier dynamics and hydrochemistry. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Trickle or treat: The dynamics of nutrient export from polar glaciers

Cold‐based polar glacier watersheds contain well‐defined supraglacial, ice‐marginal, and proglacial elements that differ in their degree of hydrologic connectivity, sources of water (e.g., snow, ice, and/or sediment pore water), meltwater residence times, allochthonous and autochthonous nutrient, and sediment loads. We investigated 11 distinct hydrological units along the supraglacial, ice marginal, and proglacial flow paths that drain Joyce Glacier in the McMurdo Dry Valleys of Antarctica. We found that these units play unique and important roles as sources and/or sinks for dissolved inorganic nitrogen and dissolved inorganic phosphorus and for specific fractions of dissolved organic matter (DOM) as waters are routed from the glacier into nutrient‐poor downstream ecosystems. Changes in nutrient export from the glacial system as a whole were observed as the routing and residence times of meltwater changed throughout the melt season. The concentrations of major ions in the proglacial stream were inversely proportional to discharge, such that there was a relatively constant “trickle” of these solutes into downstream ecosystems. In contrast, NO₃^? concentrations generally increased with discharge, resulting in delivery of episodic pulses of dissolved inorganic nitrogen‐rich water (“treats”) into those same ecosystems during high discharge events. DOM concentrations or fluorescence did not correlate with discharge rate, but high variability in DOM concentrations or fluorescence suggests that DOM may be exported downstream as episodic treats, but with spatial and/or temporal patterns that remain poorly understood. The strong, nutrient‐specific responses to changes in hydrology suggest that polar glacier drainage systems may export meltwater with nutrient compositions that vary within and between melt seasons and watersheds. Because nutrient dynamics identified in this study differ between glacier watersheds with broadly similar hydrology, climate, and geology, we emphasize the need to develop conceptual models of nutrient export that thoroughly integrate the biogeochemical and hydrological processes that control the sources, fate, and export of nutrients from each system.     

Subglacial drainage system structure and morphology of Brewster Glacier,New Zealand

A global positioning system and ground penetrating radar surveys is used to produce digital elevation models of the surface and bed of Brewster Glacier. These are used to derive maps of subglacial hydraulic potential and drainage system structure using three different assumptions about the subglacial water pressure (P_w): (i) P_w = ice overburden; (ii) P_w = half ice overburden; (iii) P_w = atmospheric. Additionally, 16 dye‐tracing experiments at 12 locations were performed through a summer melt season. Dye return curve shape, together with calculations of transit velocity, dispersivity and storage, are used to infer the likely morphology of the subglacial drainage system. Taken together, the data indicate that the glacier is underlain by a channelised but hydraulically inefficient drainage system in the early summer in which water pressures are close to ice overburden. By mid‐summer, water pressures are closer to half‐ice overburden and the channelised drainage system is more hydraulically efficient. Surface streams that enter the glacier close to the location of major subglacial drainage pathways are routed quickly to the channels and then to the glacier snout. Streams that enter the glacier further away from the drainage pathways are routed slowly to the channels and then to the snout because they first flow through a distributed drainage system. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Englacial and subglacial water flow at Skálafellsjökull,Iceland derived from ground penetrating radar,in situ Glacsweb probe and borehole water level measurements

We reconstruct englacial and subglacial drainage at Skálafellsjökull, Iceland, using ground penetrating radar (GPR) common offset surveys, borehole studies and Glacsweb probe data. We find that englacial water is not stored within the glacier (water content ~0–0.3%). Instead, the glacier is mostly impermeable and meltwater is able to pass quickly through the main body of the glacier via crevasses and moulins. Once at the glacier bed, water is stored within a thin (1 m) layer of debris‐rich basal ice (2% water content) and the till. The hydraulic potential mapped across the survey area indicates that when water pressures are high (most of the year), water flows parallel to the margin, and emerges 3 km down glacier at an outlet tongue. GPR data indicates that these flow pathways may have formed a series of braided channels. We show that this glacier has a very low water‐storage capacity, but an efficient englacial drainage network for transferring water to the glacier bed and, therefore, it has the potential to respond rapidly to changes in melt‐water inputs. © 2015 The Authors. Earth Surface Processes and Landforms published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.     

Water and sediment outbursts from advanced Franz Josef Glacier,New Zealand

The Franz Josef Glacier, Westland, New Zealand, has a history of catastrophic sediment‐laden outburst ?oods associated with extreme rainfall events when the glacier toe is advanced over its own sediments. Consideration of these events and inspection of recent sediment deposits suggest that there are three distinct modes of outburst. The ?rst is associated with fans fed by over?ow along the glacier margin. As the glacier has advanced across its own fore?eld gravels, it is inferred that the primary drainage conduit has developed a reach of negative slope. In high ?ows massive boulders can block the conduit, trapping lesser clasts. The resulting backup of water causes over?ows through marginal moulins, producing the fan type of deposit. The second type of outburst deposits massive imbricated boulders at a greater or lesser distance from the glacier portal. In this case, pressure buildup drives the blockage out of the portal where the boulders deposit. Smaller materials are generally carried away. The third type consists of very shallow ?ows, and produces massive gravel deposits of uncertain provenance. In this condition, the excess pressure in the conduit results in slight uplift of the glacier and widespread discharge of water and sediment below the glacier snout; gravels and smaller sediments are laid down in a massive deposit across the fore?eld. The massive, boulder‐veneered deposit from the December 1995 outburst is interpreted in the light of the above mechanisms as a hyperconcentrated ?ow deposit from hydraulic jacking, overlain by boulders emplaced by a subsequent conduit outburst. A possible association of outbursts with the present advanced position of the glacier is suggested. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Impact of post-mixing chemical reactions on the major ion chemistry of bulk meltwaters draining the haut glacier d'arolla,valais, Switzerland

Until now, alpine glacial meltwaters have been assumed to consist of two components, dilute quickflow and concentrated delayed flow, the mixing of which has been regarded as chemically conservative for the major dissolved ions and electrical conductivity. Dye tracing results suggest that this two-component model adequately represents the sub-glacial hydrology of the Haut Glacier d'Arolla, Switzerland. However, laboratory dissolution experiments in which various concentrations of glacial rock flour are placed in dilute solutions show that this rock flour is highly reactive and suggest that bulk meltwaters may acquire significant amounts of solute through rapid chemical reactions with suspended sediment which occur after mixing of the two components. This view is supported by detailed analysis of variations in the hydrochemistry of meltwaters draining from the Haut Glacier d'Arolla over three diurnal cycles during the 1989 melt season. Variations in the composition of bulk meltwaters are controlled by two main factors: dilution of the delayed flow component by quickflow, and the extent of post-mixing reactions. The latter depends on the suspended sediment concentration in bulk meltwaters and on the duration of contact between these waters and suspended sediment. Seasonal changes in the magnitude of these factors result in changes in the character and causes of diurnal variations in meltwater chemistry. In June, these variations reflect discharge-related variations in residence time within a distributed subglacial drainage system; in July, when a channelized drainage system exists beneath the lower glacier, they primarily reflect the dilution of delayed flow by quickflow; in August, when suspended sediment concentrations are particularly high, they reflect varying degrees of solute acquisition by post-mixing reactions with suspended sediment that take place in arterial channels at the glacier bed.     

Characteristics of water stable isotopes and hydrograph separation in Baishui catchment during the wet season in Mt.Yulong region,south western China

Glaciers are of crucial importance for the livelihood of the local populations, which depend on their meltwater for water and energy supplies. For this reason, seasonal variations of oxygen‐18 of glacial stream water and their sources within a small glacial catchment in south western China were investigated during the wet season. The results showed significant difference of oxygen‐18 existed among meltwater, rainwater, ground water and stream water, and significantly seasonal variation of precipitation occurred during the observed period. The streamflow of Baishui catchment was separated into components of ice‐snowmelt and precipitation using oxygen‐18. As shown by the result of the two‐component mixing model, on average, 53.4% of the runoff came from ice‐snowmelt during the wet season, whereas the remaining 46.6% were contributed by precipitation in the catchment. According to monthly hydrograph, the contribution of snow and glacier meltwater varied from 40.7% to 62.2%, and that of precipitation varied from 37.8% to 59.3% in wet season. Uncertainties for this separation were mainly caused by the variation of tracer concentrations. The roles of glacier and snow meltwater should be noticed in water resource management in those glacial regions in south western China. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Glacial conditions that contribute to the regeneration of Fountain Glacier proglacial icing,Bylot Island,Canada

Proglacial icings are one of the most common forms of extrusive ice found in the Canadian Arctic. However, the icing adjacent to Fountain Glacier, Bylot Island, is unique due to its annual cycle of growth and decay, and perennial existence without involving freezing point depression of water due to chemical characteristics. Its regeneration depends on the availability of subglacial water and on the balance between ice accretion and hydro‐thermal erosion. The storage and conduction of the glacial meltwater involved in the accretion of the icing were analyzed by conducting topographic and ground penetrating radar surveys in addition to the modelling of the subglacial drainage network and the thermal characteristics of the glacier base. The reflection power analysis of the geophysical data shows that some areas of the lower ablation zone have a high accumulation of liquid water, particularly beneath the centre part of the glacier along the main supraglacial stream. A dielectric permittivity model of the glacier – sediment interface suggests that a considerable portion of the glacier is warm based; allowing water to flow through unfrozen subglacial sediments towards the proglacial outwash plain. All these glacier‐related characteristics contribute to the annual regeneration of the proglacial icing and allow for portions of the icing to be perennial. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

VARIABILITY IN THE CHEMICAL COMPOSITION OF IN SITU SUBGLACIAL MELTWATERS

Meltwaters collected from boreholes drilled to the base of the Haut Glacier d'Arolla, Switzerland have chemical compositions that can be classified into three main groups. The first group is dilute, whereas the second group is similar to, though generally less concentrated in major ions, than contemporaneous bulk glacial runoff. The third group is more concentrated than any observed bulk runoff, including periods of flow recession. Waters of the first group are believed to represent supraglacial meltwater and ice melted during drilling. Limited solutes may be derived from interactions with debris in the borehole. The spatial pattern of borehole water levels and borehole water column stratification, combined with the chemical composition of the different groups, suggest that the second group represent samples of subglacial waters that exchange with channel water on a diurnal basis, and that the third group represent samples of water draining through a ‘distributed’ subglacial hydraulic system. High NO⁻₃ concentrations in the third group suggest that snowmelt may provide a significant proportion of the waters and that the residence time of the waters at the bed in this particular section of the distributed system is of the order of a few months. The high NO⁻₃ concentrations also suggest that some snowmelt is routed along different subglacial flowpaths to those used by icemelt. The average SO²⁻₄: (HCO⁻₃ + SO²⁻₄) ratio of the third group of meltwaters is 0.3, suggesting that sulphide oxidation and carbonate dissolution (which gives rise to a ratio of 0.5) cannot provide all the HCO⁻₃ to solution. Hence, carbonate hydrolysis may be occurring before sulphide oxidation, or there may be subglacial sources of CO₂, perhaps arising from microbial oxidation of organic C in bedrock, air bubbles in glacier ice or pockets of air trapped in subglacial cavities. The channel marginal zone is identified as an area that may influence the composition of bulk meltwater during periods of recession flow and low diurnal discharge regimes. © 1997 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Surface melt-driven seasonal behaviour (englacial and subglacial) from a soft-bedded temperate glacier recorded by in situ wireless probes

We investigate the spatial and temporal englacial and subglacial processes associated with a temperate glacier resting on a deformable bed using the unique Glacsweb wireless in situ probes (embedded in the ice and the till) combined with other techniques [including ground penetrating radar (GPR) and borehole analysis]. During the melt season (spring, summer and autumn), high surface melt leads to high water pressures in the englacial and subglacial environment. Winter is characterized by no surface melting on most days (‘base’) apart from a series of positive degree days. Once winter begins, a diurnal water pressure cycle is established in the ice and at the ice/sediment interface, with direct meltwater inputs from the positive degree days and a secondary slower englacial pathway with a five day lag. This direct surface melt also drives water pressure changes in the till. Till deformation occurred throughout the year, with the winter rate approximately 60% that of the melt season. We were able to show the bed comprised patches of till with different strengths, and were able to estimate their size, relative percentage and temporal stability. We show that the melt season is characterized by a high pressure distributed system, and winter by a low pressure channelized system. We contrast this with studies from Greenland (overlying rigid bedrock), where the opposite was found. We argue our results are typical of soft bedded glaciers with low englacial water content, and suggest this type of glacier can rapidly respond to surface-driven melt. Based on theoretical and field results we suggest that the subglacial hydrology comprises a melt season distributed system dominated by wide anastomosing broad flat channels and thin water sheets, which may become more channelized in winter, and more responsive to changes in meltwater inputs. © 2019 The Authors. Earth Surface Processes and Landforms published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.     

Structure and stability of the former subglacial drainage system of the glacier De Tsanfleuron,Switzerland

A well-developed subglacial drainage system consisting of large cavities developed in the lee of bedrock steps connected together by a network of Nye channels is exposed on an area of recently deglaciated limestone bedrock in front of Glacier de Tsanfleuron, Switzerland. This system covers some 51 per cent of the bedrock surface area, and is believed to have transported the bulk of supraglacially-derived meltwaters through the glacier. Using the cavity hydraulics model of Kamb (1987), it is shown that the geometry of the system rendered it stable against collapse by meltback of channel roofs into a tunnel-dominated system. For likely combinations of glacier geometry and meltwater discharge, the steady state water pressure in this system would have been only a small fraction of that required for flotation, and for discharges of less than about 0·5–5 m³ s^?1 water would have flowed at atmospheric pressure. The system appears to have adjusted to varying discharges by a combination of varying water pressure and changing the total cross-sectional area of flow by altering the number of active channels connecting cavities. Glacier sliding velocity would have been independent of meltwater discharge for discharges at which water flowed at atmospheric pressure, but would have risen with increasing discharge for higher flows. Velocities on the order of 0·1 m d^?1 are predicted for a realistic range of discharges and effective pressures, and these are believed to be plausible. Episodes of enhanced sliding in glaciers with similar drainage systems could be triggered by a rise in meltwater discharge across the threshold between flows at atmospheric pressure and flow under pressure from the glacier.     

Seasonal changes in the morphology of the subglacial drainage system,Haut Glacier d'Arolla,Switzerland

Dye tracing techniques were used to investigate the glacier-wide pattern of change in the englacial/subglacial drainage system of Haut Glacier d'Arolla during the ablation seasons of 1990 and 1991. Analysis of breakthrough curve characteristics indicate that over the course of a melt season, a system of major channels developed by headward growth at the expense of a hydraulically inefficient distributed system. By the end of the melt season, this channel system extended at least 3·3 km from the snout of the 4 km long glacier and drained the bulk of supraglacially derived meltwater passing through the glacier. The upper limit of the channel system closely followed the retreating snowline up-glacier. Rates of headward channel growth reached c. 65 m d⁻¹, although these rates decreased in the upper 1 km of the glacier where snowline retreat exposed a patchy firn aquifer. It appears that the removal of snow (with its high albedo and significant water storage capacity) from the glacier surface resulted in a dramatic increase in the volume of runoff into moulins, and in the peakedness of daily runoff cycles. This induced transient high water pressures within the distributed drainage system, which caused it to evolve rapidly into a channelised system. It is therefore likely that, at a local scale, channel growth occurred down-glacier from moulins, and that the overall up-glacier-directed pattern of channel formation was caused by the retreating snowline exposing new moulins and crevasses to inputs of ice-derived meltwater. Damping of diurnal melt inputs by storage in the firm aquifer accounts for the slowing of channel growth in the upper glacier. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Till deposition by glacier submarginal,incremental thickening

Macro‐ and micro‐scale sedimentological analyses of recently deposited tills and complex push/squeeze moraines on the forelands of Icelandic glaciers and in a stacked till sequence at the former Younger Dryas margin of the Loch Lomond glacier lobe in Scotland are used to assess the depositional processes involved in glacier submarginal emplacement of sediment. Where subglacial meltwater is unable to flush out subglacial sediment or construct thick debris‐rich basal ice by cumulative freeze‐on processes, glacier submarginal processes are dictated by seasonal cycles of refreezing and melt‐out of tills advected from up‐ice by a combination of lodgement, deformation and ice keel and clast ploughing. Although individual till layers may display typical A and B horizon deformation characteristics, the spatially and temporally variable mosaic of subglacial processes will overprint sedimentary and structural signatures on till sequences to the extent that they would be almost impossible to classify genetically in the ancient sediment record. At the macro‐scale, Icelandic tills display moderately strong clast fabrics that conform to the ice flow directions documented by surface flutings; very strong fabrics typify unequivocally lodged clasts. Despite previous interpretations of these tills as subglacial deforming layers, micro‐morphological analysis reveals that shearing played only a partial role in the emplacement of till matrixes, and water escape and sediment flowage features are widespread. A model of submarginal incremental thickening is presented as an explanation of these data, involving till slab emplacement over several seasonal cycles. Each cycle involves: (1) late summer subglacial lodgement, bedrock and sediment plucking, subglacial deformation and ice keel ploughing; (2) early winter freeze‐on of subglacial sediment to the thin outer snout; (3) late winter readvance and failure along a decollement plane within the till, resulting in the carriage of till onto the proximal side of the previous year's push moraine; (4) early summer melt‐out of the till slab, initiating porewater migration, water escape and sediment flow and extrusion. Repeated reworking of the thin end of submarginal till wedges produces overprinted strain signatures and clast pavements. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.