Ice cap erosion patterns from bedrock 10Be and 26Al,southeastern Tibetan Plateau

Quantifying glacial erosion contributes to our understanding of landscape evolution and topographic relief production in high altitude and high latitude areas. Combining in situ ¹⁰Be and ²⁶Al analysis of bedrock, boulder, and river sand samples, geomorphological mapping, and field investigations, we examine glacial erosion patterns of former ice caps in the Shaluli Shan of the southeastern Tibetan Plateau. The general landform pattern shows a zonal pattern of landscape modification produced by ice caps of up to 4000 km² during pre-LGM (Last Glacial Maximum) glaciations, while the dating results and landforms on the plateau surface imply that the LGM ice cap further modified the scoured terrain into different zones. Modeled glacial erosion depth of 0–0.38 m per 100 ka bedrock sample located close to the western margin of the LGM ice cap, indicates limited erosion prior to LGM and Late Glacial moraine deposition. A strong erosion zone exists proximal to the LGM ice cap marginal zone, indicated by modeled glacial erosion depth >2.23 m per 100 ka from bedrock samples. Modeled glacial erosion depths of 0–1.77 m per 100 ka from samples collected along the edge of a central upland, confirm the presence of a zone of intermediate erosion in-between the central upland and the strong erosion zone. Significant nuclide inheritance in river sand samples from basins on the scoured plateau surface also indicate restricted glacial erosion during the last glaciation. Our study, for the first time, shows clear evidence for preservation of glacial landforms formed during previous glaciations under non-erosive ice on the Tibetan Plateau. As patterns of glacial erosion intensity are largely driven by the basal thermal regime, our results confirm earlier inferences from geomorphology for a concentric basal thermal pattern for the Haizishan ice cap during the LGM. © 2018 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The influence of rock mass strength on glacial valley cross-profile morphometry: A case study from the Southern Alps,New Zealand

The erosional morphology in the vicinity of the Main Divide of the Southern Alps, and Fiordland, New Zealand, appears to be a product of the interaction between Alpine Fault-induced tectonic processes, rock mass strength of the uplifted and eroded bedrock, and the processes acting to denude the developing mountain landscape. The magnitude of the effects of glacial erosion on the landscape is directly controlled by the size and physical properties of the glaciers, whilst the form of the trough is a direct consequence of the rock mass strength (RMS) properties of the slope rock. Realistic models of development of the cross-profile shape of glacial valleys must take into consideration the RMS properties of the eroded substrate.     

Using a GIS filtering approach to replicate patterns of glacial erosion

In order to extend our knowledge of glacial relief production in mountainous areas new methods are required for landscape reconstructions on a temporal resolution of a glacial cycle and a spatial resolution that includes the most important terrain components. A generic data set and a 50 m resolution digital elevation model over a study area in northern Sweden and Norway (the present day landscape data set) were employed to portray spatial patterns of erosion by reconstructing the landscape over successive cycles of glacial erosion. A maximum‐value geographic information system (GIS) filtering technique using variable neighbourhoods was applied such that existing highpoints in the landscape were used as erosional anchor points for the reconstruction of past landscape topography. An inherent assumption, therefore, is that the highest surfaces have experienced insignificant down‐wearing over the Quaternary. Over multiple reconstruction cycles, proceeding backwards in time, the highest summits increase in area, valleys become shallower, and the valley pattern becomes increasingly simplified as large valleys become in‐filled from the sides. The sum of these changes reduces relief. The pattern of glacial erosion, which is to 60% correlated to slope angle and to 70% correlated to relative relief, is characterized by (i) an abrupt erosional boundary below preserved summit areas, (ii) enhanced erosion in narrow valleys, (iii) restricted erosion of smooth areas, independently of elevation, (iv) eradication of small‐scale irregularities, (v) restricted erosion on isolated hills in low‐relief terrain, and (vi) a valley widening independent of valley directions. The method outlined in this paper shows how basic GIS filtering techniques can mimic some of the observed patterns of glacial erosion and thereby help deduce the key controls on the processes that govern large‐scale landscape evolution beneath ice sheets. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A rational explanation of cross-profile morphology for glacial valleys and of glacial valley development

The fact that the cross-profile of the glacial valley could be well approximated by parabolas (Y = aX^b, b = 2.0) is explained by the variation principle, assuming that the glacier erosion works towards minimizing thefriction between ice and bedrock. The variation principle proves that the ideal or fully-developed morphology of the glacial valley should be a catenary, the curve which a chain hanging from two fixed points forms. Maclaurin's series expansion of the catenary equation shows that a parabola is a very good approximation of the catenary; hence, the good approximation of the cross-profile by parabolas. Different catenaries are generated by changing the form ratio (depth/rim width) and are then approximated by Y = aX^b by the method of last-squares. The b values obtained become only fractionally larger than 2.0 with invreasing form ratios of up to 1.0, indicating that b values would range, in practice, between 1.0 and about 2.0 Two types of trend in the relationship between b values and the form ratio were obtained from several glaciers. For one type the b value becomes larger with increasing form ratios, and for the other the opposite. The first type is called the Rocky Mountain model after its source of data and represents overdeepening of the glacial valley development. The second type is caalled the Patagonia-Antarctica model, representing a widening, instead of a deepening, process of development. These differences are attributed to the nature of the glaciers which produced these valleys, i.e. alpine glaciers and continental ice sheets.     

The effect of glaciation on the intensity of seismic ground motion

Seismicity is known to contribute to landscape denudation through its role in earthquake‐triggered slope failure; but little is known about how the intensity of seismic ground motions, and therefore triggering of slope failures, may change through time. Topography influences the intensity of seismic shaking – generally steep slopes amplify shaking more than flatter slopes – and because glacial erosion typically steepens and enlarges slopes, glaciation may increase the intensity of seismic shaking of some landforms. However, the effect of this may be limited until after glaciers retreat because valley ice or ice‐caps may damp seismic ground motions. Two‐dimensional numerical models (FLAC 6.0) were used to explore how edifice shape, rock stiffness and various levels of ice inundation affect edifice shaking intensity. The modelling confirmed that earthquake shaking is enhanced with steeper topography and at ridge crests but it showed for the first time that total inundation by ice may reduce shaking intensity at hill crests to about 20–50% of that experienced when no ice is present. The effect is diminished to about 80–95% if glacier ice level reduces to half of the mountain slope height. In general, ice cover reduced shaking most for the steepest‐sided edifices, for wave frequencies higher than 3 Hz, and when ice was thickest and the rock had shear stiffness well in excess of the stiffness of ice. If rock stiffness is low and shear‐wave velocity is similar to that of ice, the presence of ice may amplify the shaking of rock protruding above the ice surface. The modelling supports the idea that topographic amplification of earthquake shaking increases as a result of glacial erosion and deglaciation. It is possible that the effect of this is sufficient to have influenced the distribution of post‐glacial slope failures in glaciated seismically active areas. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Lateral plucking as a mechanism for elongate erosional glacial bedforms: explaining megagrooves in Britain and Canada

Megagrooves are kilometre‐scale linear topographic lows carved in bedrock, separated by ridges, typically in areas of largely devoid of till. They have been reported from several areas covered by Pleistocene glaciations, such as Canadian Northwest (NW) Territories, Michigan and NW Scotland. Here we report two previously undocumented megagroove fields from Ungava, Canada, and northern England, and present new analyses of the megagrooves from NW Scotland. This paper seeks to determine the nature of the lithological and structural controls on the occurrence and formation of megagrooves. Analysis of both geomorphological and bedrock properties shows that megagrooves are generally:

1. confined to well stratified or layered bedrock, such as (meta)sedimentary rocks with closely spaced joints, and tend not to occur on massive rocks such as gneiss or granite, or thick‐bedded sedimentary rocks;
2. subparallel to palaeo‐ice flow and the strike of the strata; and tend not to occur where palaeo‐ice flow is at high angles to the strike of strata;
3. produced by significant glacial erosion by sustained unidirectional ice flow.

Detailed analysis of megagrooves in NW Scotland shows that neither glacio‐fluvial erosion, nor differential abrasion was the dominant mechanism of formation. A mechanism, here termed ‘lateral plucking’, is suggested that involves block plucking on rock steps parallel to ice flow. Removal of joint‐bounded blocks from such rock steps involves a component of rotation along a vertical axis. Block removal may be enhanced by a direct component of shear stress onto the vertical stoss sides. The lateral plucking mechanism results in horizontal erosion at right angles to the ice flow, and enhances the groove/ridge topography. Megagrooves are potentially useful as palaeo‐ice flow indicators in areas devoid of till, and can thus complement the palaeo‐ice stream datasets which are presently largely based on soft‐sediment landform studies. British Geological Survey © NERC 2011     

Calculating basal temperatures in ice sheets: an Excel spreadsheet method

The flow of ice sheets and their geomorphological impact is greatly influenced by their basal thermal regime. Calculations of basal temperatures in ice sheets are therefore fundamental in evaluating glacier dynamics and in determining the spatial distribution of zones of erosion and deposition beneath ice masses. Calculations of basal temperatures are not frequently attempted, however, primarily because of the techniques required to solve the heat conduction equation between the ice surface and the base. This paper describes a new Excel spreadsheet method of solving this equation that can readily be applied to both former and contemporary ice sheets. The application of the spreadsheet is illustrated with two examples. The first provides a calculation of basal thermal regime beneath the north eastern part of the Scottish ice sheet during the last glacial maximum; the second shows how basal ice temperatures can be calculated beneath the modern Antarctic ice sheet. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Snow cornice dynamics as a control on plateau edge erosion in central Svalbard

Snow cornices grow extensively on leeward edges of plateau mountains in central Svalbard. A dominant wind direction, a snowdrift source area and a sharp slope transition largely control the formation of snow cornices in a barren peri‐glacial landscape. Seasonal snow cornice dynamics control bedrock weathering and erosion in sedimentary bedrock on the Gruvefjellet plateau edge in the valley Longyeardalen. Air, snow and ground temperature sensors, as well as automatic time‐lapse cameras on a leeward facing plateau edge were used to study seasonal cornice dynamics. These techniques allowed for monitoring of cornice accretion, deformation and collapse/melting in great detail. The active layer of the top plateau edge is characterized by high moisture content due to rain before freeze‐up in autumn and cornice meltdown during spring thaw. Thus frost weathering there can be very efficient in this otherwise cold and dry environment. Within the first autumn snowstorms, a vertical fully developed cornice was in place (190 cm thick). The backwall surface beneath the thickest part of the cornice remained in the ice segregation ‘frost cracking window’ for almost nine months. Highly weathered rock material from the plateau edge is thus incorporated into the cornice during cornice accretion. Brittle snow deformation leads to the opening of cornice tension cracks between the cornice mass and the snowpack on the plateau. These cracks are a prerequisite for cornice collapses, and often trigger cornice fall avalanches on the slope beneath. In these open cornice tension cracks, weathered rock debris, plucked from the plateau edge, can be visible, demonstrating the erosional property of the cornices. The cornice will either collapse or melt, resulting in suspended sediment transport downslope by cornice fall avalanche or release as rock fall respectively. Therefore, cornices both promote and trigger high weathering rates on Gruvefjellet, and thus control presently the development of the rockwall free faces and the talus cones. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Deciphering topographic signals of glaciation and rock uplift in an active orogen: a case study from the Olympic Mountains,USA

Estimating recent patterns of erosion and rock uplift within Cenozoic orogens has proven difficult as signals of these processes have been obfuscated by Plio‐Pleistocene glaciation. The topography of many mountain ranges integrates the effects of long‐lived rock uplift, Late‐Cenozoic climate variation, and post‐glacial landscape adjustment. In this study, we employ a suite of topographic analyses to study the relief of an active mountain range on a sub‐catchment scale in an effort to the separate the long‐term signal of rock uplift from perturbations due to shorter‐lived climate signals. We focus on the Olympic Mountains, USA, where patterns of exhumation and glaciation have been previously estimated; however, our methods and results are broadly applicable to other orogens. Our analysis shows that Plio‐Pleistocene alpine glaciers and the Cordilleran Ice Sheet have reduced the elevations of channel profiles and created anomalously low channel relief in the Olympic Mountains. Large low‐gradient areas formed at lower elevations where ice sheets were present and alpine glaciers widened and deepened valleys. In the more rugged core of the range, near‐threshold hillslopes along the margins of the oversteepened glacially‐carved valleys, dominate the range. This implies a strong Plio‐Pleistocene glacial climate control on the topography over the more recent evolution of the Olympic Mountains. However, the broad relief structure of the range appears to still record the regional rock uplift pattern and is suggestive of an east‐plunging antiform, consistent with folding of the subducting plate or underplating of accreted rocks. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Landscape preservation under Fennoscandian ice sheets determined from in situ produced Be and Al

Some areas within ice sheet boundaries retain pre-existing landforms and thus either remained as ice free islands (nunataks) during glaciation, or were preserved under ice. Differentiating between these alternatives has significant implications for paleoenvironment, ice sheet surface elevation, and ice volume reconstructions. In the northern Swedish mountains, in situ cosmogenic ¹⁰Be and ²⁶Al concentrations from glacial erratics on relict surfaces as well as glacially eroded bedrock adjacent to these surfaces, provide consistent last deglaciation exposure ages (∼8-13 kyr), confirming ice sheet overriding as opposed to ice free conditions. However, these ages contrast with exposure ages of 34-61 kyr on bedrock surfaces in these same relict areas, demonstrating that relict areas were preserved with little erosion through multiple glacial cycles. Based on the difference in radioactive decay between ²⁶Al and ¹⁰Be, the measured nuclide concentration in one of these bedrock surfaces suggests that it remained largely unmodified for a minimum period of 845₋₄₁₈⁺⁴⁶¹ kyr. These results indicate that relict areas need to be accounted for as frozen bed patches in basal boundary conditions for ice sheet models, and in landscape development models. Subglacial preservation also implies that source areas for glacial sediments in ocean cores are considerably smaller than the total area covered by ice sheets. These relict areas also have significance as potential long-term subglacial biologic refugia.     

Three-dimensional numerical simulation of glacial trough forming process

The glacial trough is a common glacier erosion landscape, which plays an important role in the study of glacier erosion processes. In a sharp contrast with the developing river, which is generally meandering, the developing glacial trough is usually wide and straight. Is the straightness of the glacial trough just the special phenomenon of some areas or a universal feature? What controls the straightness of the glacial trough? Until now, these issues have not been studied yet. In this paper, we conduct systematic numerical models of the glacier erosion and simulate the erosion evolution process of the glacial trough. Numerical simulations show that:(1) while the meandering glacier is eroding deeper to form the U-shaped cross section, the glacier is eroding laterally. The erosion rate of the ice-facing slope is bigger than that of the back-slope.(2) The smaller(bigger) the slope is, the smaller(bigger) the glacier erosion intensity is.(3) The smaller(bigger) the ice discharge is, the smaller(bigger) the glacier erosion intensity is. In the glacier erosion process, the erosion rate of the ice-facing slope is always greater than that of the back-slope. Therefore, the glacial trough always develops into more straight form. This paper comes to the conclusion that the shape evolution of the glacial trough is controlled mainly by the erosion mechanism of the glacier. Thereby, the glacial trough prefers straight geometry.     

Quantifying periglacial erosion: insights on a glacial sediment budget,Matanuska Glacier,Alaska

Glacial erosion rates are estimated to be among the highest in the world. Few studies have attempted, however, to quantify the flux of sediment from the periglacial landscape to a glacier. Here, erosion rates from the nonglacial landscape above the Matanuska Glacier, Alaska are presented and compare with an 8‐yr record of proglacial suspended sediment yield. Non‐glacial lowering rates range from 1·8 ± 0·5 mm yr^?1 to 8·5 ± 3·4 mm yr^?1 from estimates of rock fall and debris‐flow fan volumes. An average erosion rate of 0·08 ± 0·04 mm yr^?1 from eight convex‐up ridge crests was determined using in situ produced cosmogenic ¹⁰Be. Extrapolating these rates, based on landscape morphometry, to the Matanuska basin (58% ice‐cover), it was found that nonglacial processes account for an annual sediment flux of 2·3 ± 1·0 × 10⁶ t. Suspended sediment data for 8 years and an assumed bedload to estimate the annual sediment yield at the Matanuska terminus to be 2·9 ± 1·0 × 10⁶ t, corresponding to an erosion rate of 1·8 ± 0·6 mm yr^?1: nonglacial sources therefore account for 80 ± 45% of the proglacial yield. A similar set of analyses were used for a small tributary sub‐basin (32% ice‐cover) to determine an erosion rate of 12·1 ± 6·9 mm yr^?1, based on proglacial sediment yield, with the nonglacial sediment flux equal to 10 ± 7% of the proglacial yield. It is suggested that erosion rates by nonglacial processes are similar to inferred subglacial rates, such that the ice‐free regions of a glaciated landscape contribute significantly to the glacial sediment budget. The similar magnitude of nonglacial and glacial rates implies that partially glaciated landscapes will respond rapidly to changes in climate and base level through a rapid nonglacial response to glacially driven incision. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The Role of Fluvial and Glacial Erosion in Landscape Evolution: The Ben Ohau Range,New Zealand

A morphometric comparison of valleys has been made for the Ben Ohau Range in the central Southern Alps of New Zealand. The range is undergoing rapid tectonic transport and uplift. The humid north of the range is a glacial trough-and-arête landscape, with a temperate glacial climate. The dry south has rounded divides and plateau remnants dissected by fluvial valleys. Assuming that space–time substitution allows today's spatial valley-form transition to represent evolutionary stages in valley development, the tectonic history allows time constraints to be placed on the rate of transition to an alpine glacial landscape. Morphometric change has been quantified using hypsometric curves, and distance–elevation plots of cirque and valley-floor altitudes. Ancestral fluvial valleys have less concave long profiles but are stepped at altitude owing to the presence of high-level cirques and remnant plateau surfaces, and possess a low proportion of land area at low elevation. Increasing glacial influence is manifest as smoother, more deeply concave long profiles and U-shaped cross-profiles associated with a higher proportion of the land area at lower elevation. The full morphological transition has involved up to 2.4 km of vertical denudation over the 4 Ma lifetime of the mountain range, of which 80 per cent would have occurred by preglacial fluvial erosion. Combining the trajectory of tectonic transport with reconstructed glaciation limits and climatic history, it is indicated that about 200 ka of temperate glacial erosion produces recognizable trough-and areête topography. Mean and modal relief increase where glacial activity is confined to cirques, but decrease when trough incision by ice becomes established as a dominant process in the landscape. © 1997 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Preserved landscapes underneath the Antarctic Ice Sheet reveal the geomorphological history of Jutulstraumen Basin

The landscape of Antarctica, hidden beneath kilometre-thick ice in most places, has been shaped by the interactions between tectonic and erosional processes. The flow dynamics of the thick ice cover deepened pre-formed topographic depressions by glacial erosion, but also preserved the subglacial landscapes in regions with moderate to slow ice flow. Mapping the spatial variability of these structures provides the basis for reconstruction of the evolution of subglacial morphology. This study focuses on the Jutulstraumen Glacier drainage system in Dronning Maud Land, East Antarctica. The Jutulstraumen Glacier reaches the ocean via the Jutulstraumen Graben, which is the only significant passage for draining the East Antarctic Ice Sheet through the western part of the Dronning Maud Land mountain chain. We acquired new bed topography data during an airborne radar campaign in the region upstream of the Jutulstraumen Graben to characterise the source area of the glacier. The new data show a deep relief to be generally under-represented in available bed topography compilations. Our analysis of the bed topography, valley characteristics and bed roughness leads to the conclusion that much more of the alpine landscape that would have formed prior to the Antarctic Ice Sheet is preserved than previously anticipated. We identify an active and deeply eroded U-shaped valley network next to largely preserved passive fluvial and glacial modified landscapes. Based on the landscape classification, we reconstruct the temporal sequence by which ice flow modified the topography since the beginning of the glaciation of Antarctica.     

Cenozoic erosion and flexural isostasy of Scandinavia

The presence of Cenozoic deposits along the Norwegian Atlantic margin required extensive erosion of the Scandinavian Mountains in a generally cooling climate from the Oligocene to the present. The volume of the deposits implies that the transfer of mass from the inland area to the offshore shelf induced isostatic displacements on a kilometer scale. However, except for glacial excavation of the deep fjords, little is known about the distribution of Cenozoic inland erosion. A long-lasting paradigm incorporates remnants of peneplains at high elevation and assumes very little Cenozoic erosion on these surfaces through time. This scenario has recently been challenged by quantitative geomorphological studies indicating that the matrix of Cenozoic sediments deposited offshore must have been sourced from these surfaces. An alternative explanation for the present-day high-elevation low-relief surfaces is therefore that they evolved throughout the Cenozoic because of glacial and periglacial erosion processes that are known to vary strongly with altitude. Here we explore the implications of the latter scenario by reconstructing a pre-Cenozoic fluvial landscape without elevated low-relief surfaces. We use the present-day offshore sediment volumes for constraining the total Cenozoic erosion, and we find that a likely pre-Cenozoic fluvial landscape is only in few places more than 1 km higher than today. The rock mass of the offshore sediments is generally used for filling the fjords created during the Quaternary glaciations and for restoring concave river profiles from sea level to the peaks. Our reconstruction is based on a fluvial landscape algorithm and considers the isostatic response to the transfer of rock mass – from the basins onto the onshore area. A comparison between the reconstructed and the present-day topography demonstrates that offshore tilting of pre-Cenozoic strata can be partly explained by flexural isostatic compensation in response to the Cenozoic erosion and deposition. Locations of future thermochronometry studies for testing Scandinavian landscape evolution models are suggested based on temperature estimates of the present-day surface buried beneath the erosion products restored from the offshore basins.     

Role of glacial Arctic Ocean ice sheets in Pleistocene oxygen isotope and sea level records

A comparison of the oxygen isotope signal in deep-sea benthic foraminifera with the record of glacio-eustatic sea level for the last 160,000 years reveals that the amplitude of the benthic δ¹⁸O records predicts more continental ice volume than appears to be reflected in lowered sea level stands. These differences between the benthic δ¹⁸O ice volume estimates and radiometrically-dated records of eustatic sea level are consistent with the presence of a large floating Arctic Ocean ice mass during glacial intervals. The presence of an Arctic Ocean ice sheet during glacial intervals may account for the two climatic modes observed in oxygen isotope records which span the entire Pleistocene. The early Pleistocene (1.8 to 0.9 Myr B.P.) interval is characterized by low-amplitude, high-frequency δ¹⁸O fluctuations between glacial and interglacial periods, while the late Pleistocene (0.9 Myr B.P. to present) is characterized by large-amplitude, low-frequency δ¹⁸O changes. These two climatic modes can be explained by the initiation of earth orbital conditions favoring the co-occurrence of glacial period Arctic Ocean ice sheets and large continental ice sheets approximately 900,000 years before present.     

Digital landscapes of deglaciation: identifying Late Quaternary glacial lake outburst floods using LiDAR

High resolution DEMs obtained from LiDAR topographic data have led to improved landform inventories (e.g. landslides and fault scarps) and understanding of geomorphic event frequency. Here we use airborne LiDAR mapping to investigate meltwater pathways associated with the Tweed Valley palaeo ice‐stream (UK). In particular we focus on a gorge downstream of Palaeolake Milfield, previously mapped as a sub‐glacial meltwater channel, where the identification of abandoned headcut channels, run‐up bars, rock‐cut terrace surfaces and eddy flow features attest to formation by a sub‐aerial glacial lake outburst flood (GLOF) caused by breaching of a sediment dam, likely an esker ridge. Mapping of these landforms combined with analysis of the gorge rim elevations and cross‐section variability revealed a two phase event with another breach site downstream following flow blockage by higher elevation drumlin topography. We estimate the magnitude of peak flow to be 1–3 × 10³ m³/s, duration of the event to range from 16–155 days, and a specific sediment yield of 10⁷–10⁹ m³/km²/yr. We identified other outburst pathways in the lower Tweed basin that help delineate an ice margin position of the retreating Tweed Valley ice stream. The results suggest that low magnitude outburst floods are under‐represented in Quaternary geomorphological maps. We therefore recommend regional LiDAR mapping of meltwater pathways to identify other GLOFs in order to better quantify the pattern of freshwater and sediment fluxes from melting ice sheets to oceans. Despite the relatively low magnitude of the Till outburst event, it had a significant impact on the landscape development of the lower Tweed Valley through the creation of a new tributary pathway and triggering of rapid knickpoint retreat encouraging new regional models of post‐glacial fluvial landscape response. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Post‐Younger Dryas deglaciation of the Greenland western margin as revealed by spatial analysis of lakes

Lake shapes and their spatial distribution are important geomorphological indicators in previously glaciated areas. Their shapes are influenced by the underlying geological structure and processes of glacial sediment deposition or erosion. Since these processes act on large areas, distribution of lakes can reflect the intensity of glacial erosional/depositional processes and their spatial extent. Landsat imagery was used to extract lake outlines from a selected pilot‐study area on the widest ice‐free coastal margin of the south‐western Greenland north of Kangerlussuaq. Analysis included image classification and spatial analysis of lakes with elevation data using geographic information system (GIS) tools. A morphometric index was applied to extract kettle lakes as indicators of a specific glacial process – ice stagnation. Analysis of their spatial distribution helped in the reconstruction of glacial dynamics in formerly glaciated terrain. Our results show that spatial lake distribution combined with elevation analysis can be used to identify zones of glacial erosion and deposition. The highest concentrations of lakes within the study area occupy the elevation range between 164 and 361 m above sea level (a.s.l.). This zone can be identified as an area where intensive glacial erosion took place in the past. The widespread distribution of modeled kettle lake features within the same elevation range and across the study area suggests that the last deglaciation process was accompanied by abandonment of blocks of stagnant ice. This conclusion is supported by surface exposure ages obtained in the same study area and published elsewhere. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Effects of glaciations and permafrost upon the development of karst in Canada

Canadian examples suggest that karst landforms may be divided into eight types in terms of their temporal relationships to the record of repeated Quaternary glaciations. Two types are postglacial, two are subglacial, one type occurs where glacial features are adapted to karstic drainage, and three types display sequences of karstic and glacial action. Glacier effects upon karst landforms and their underlying aquifers display the gamut of possibilities. They may destroy, inhibit, preserve, or stimulate karst development. Where continuous permafrost is maintained when covered by glacier ice, postglacial karst is limited to the active layer epikarst. Where permafrost is thawed beneath ice or during deglaciation there are a variety of postglacial karst developments, depending in part upon climate and in part upon local lithologic and relief conditions.