Punctuated equilibrium of the surface above subglacial Lake Vostok in antarctica

Progress in understanding the surface dynamics above the subglacial Lake Vostok is achieved owing to use of the ICESat satellite laser elevation measurements, which enabled us to determine surface fluctuations with precision up to 3 cm. A new idea on punctuated equilibrium of the surface above Lake Vostok is elaborated; this idea is concluded in irregular, sharp vertical displacements of the ice surface by up to 40 cm. Deformation of the surface is accompanied with a common raising or lowering, and with local vertical displacements up to 20 cm in amplitude. It has been proved experimentally that snow transport on the surface above the lake causes only redistribution of snow and forms fractal structures that do not have any effect on surface deformation. The form of the surface is not an inclined plane due to many bends that are particularly related to ice flowing on the lake water area.     

Middle to Late Pleistocene lake‐level fluctuations of Lake El'gygytgyn,far‐east Russian Arctic

Lake El'gygytgyn, located in central Chukotka, Russian Arctic, was the subject of an international drilling project that resulted in the recovery of the longest continuous palaeoclimatic and palaeoenvironmental record for the terrestrial Arctic covering the last 3.6 million years. Here, we present the reconstruction of the lake‐level fluctuations of Lake El'gygytgyn since Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 7 based on lithological and palynological as well as chronological studies of shallow‐water sediment cores and subaerial lake terraces. Reconstructed lake levels show an abrupt rise during glacial–interglacial terminations (MIS 6/5 and MIS 2/1) and during the MIS 4/3 stadial–interstadial transition. The most prominent lowstands occurred during glacial periods associated with a permanent lake‐ice cover (namely MIS 6, MIS 4 and MIS 2). Major triggering mechanisms of the lake‐level fluctuations at Lake El'gygytgyn are predominantly changes in air temperature and precipitation. Regional summer temperatures control the volume of meltwater supply as well as the duration of the lake‐ice cover (permanent or seasonal). The duration of the lake‐ice cover, in turn, enables or hampers near‐shore sediment transport, thus leading to long‐term lake‐level oscillations on glacial–interglacial time scales by blocking or opening the lake outflow, respectively. During periods of seasonal ice cover the lake level was additionally influenced by changes in precipitation. The discovered mechanism of climatologically driven level fluctuations of Lake El'gygytgyn are probably valid for large hydrologically open lakes in the Arctic in general, thus helping to understand arctic palaeohydrology and providing missing information for climate modelling.     

What is the deepest part of the Vostok ice core telling us?

This review paper is mainly concerned with a geochemical investigation of the deepest part of the Vostok ice core between 3310 m, the depth at which the palaeoenvironmental record present in the ice above is lost, and the bottom of the core about 130 m above subglacial Lake Vostok. Two sections constitute this part of the core.The upper section (3310–3539 m depth) still consists of ice of meteoric origin but subjected to widespread complex deformation. This deformation is analysed in light of a δD–deuterium excess diagram and information on microparticles, crystal sizes and chemical elements distributions in that part of the core. Such ice deformation occurred when the ice was still grounded upstream from Vostok station in a region with subfreezing temperatures.The lower section from 3539 m to the bottom of the core at 3623 m depth is lake ice formed by freezing of subglacial Lake Vostok waters. This is indicated by the isotopic properties (δD, δ¹⁸O and deuterium excess), by electrical conductivity measurements (ECM), crystallography and gas content of the ice. These ice core data together with data on ionic chemistry favour an origin of the lake ice by frazil ice generation in a supercooled (below pressure melting point) water plume existing in the lake followed by accretion and consolidation by subsequent freezing of the host water.The helium profile of this deepest part of the Vostok core is quite unusual and surprising. It has important implications for the interactions between the ice sheet and the lake. Two constrasting scenarios can be satisfactorily constructed so that the lake residence time is not well constrained.     

Age and paleoclimatic significance of the Stansbury shoreline of Lake Bonneville, Northeastern Great Basin

The Stansbury shoreline, one of the conspicuous late Pleistocene shorelines of Lake Bonneville, consists of tufa-cemented gravel and barrier beaches within a vertical zone of about 45 m, the lower limit of which is 70 m above the modern average level of Great Salt Lake. Stratigraphic evidence at a number of localities, including new evidence from Crater Island on the west side of the Great Salt Lake Desert, shows that the Stansbury shoreline formed during the transgressive phase of late Pleistocene Lake bonneville (sometime between about 22,000 and 20,000 yr B.P.). Tufa-cemented gravel and barrier beaches were deposited in the Stansbury shorezone during one or more fluctuations in water level with a maximum total amplitude of 45 m. We refer to the fluctuations as the Stansbury oscillation. The Stansbury oscillation cannot have been caused by basin-hypsometric factors, such as stabilization of lake level at an external overflow threshold or by expansion into an interior subbasin, or by changes in drainage basin size. Therefore, changes in climate must have caused the lake level to reverse its general rise, to drop about 45 m in altitude (reducing its surface area by about 18%, 5000 km²), and later to resume its rise. If the sizes of Great Basin lakes are controlled by the mean position of storm tracks and the jetstream, which as recently postulated may be controlled by the size of the continental ice sheets, the Stansbury oscillation may have been caused by a shift in the jetstream during a major interstade of the Laurentide ice sheet.     

Response of faults to climate‐induced changes of ice sheets,glaciers and lakes

Glacial–interglacial cycles are characterized by strong variations in climatic conditions, which affect the size of continental ice sheets, glaciers and lakes. Such climate‐triggered fluctuations in ice and water masses lead to transient stresses in the Earth's crust, which can be large enough to affect the slip behaviour of faults. In particular, postglacial unloading may increase the slip rate of active faults or re‐activate dormant faults. In the past, numerical modelling has helped to better understand the response of faults to mass fluctuations on Earth's surface. This article provides an overview of the mechanisms and controlling parameters of climate‐induced variations in fault slip as derived from the numerical models. Geological records of postglacial faulting from Scandinavia, the European Alps and the Basin‐and‐Range Province (western USA) are presented. Taken together, modelling and case studies provide a basis for evaluating the future seismic potential in regions that are currently experiencing ice loss or lake regression.     

达里诺尔湖水体稳定氢、氧同位素组成变化对结冰过程的响应

利用自然界中广泛分布的环境同位素进行湖泊水体演化过程分析已经成为现代湖泊科学的重要研究方向.通过采集内蒙古达里诺尔湖(简称"达里湖") 2013年1月份的湖冰、湖水, 2012年夏季湖水与湖区大气降水等, 共分析了77个样品中稳定氢(H)、氧(O)同位素值的变化情况, 在此基础上对达里湖水体稳定H、O同位素组成变化及其对结冰过程的响应进行了详细分析, 结果显示: (1)伴随结冰过程的完成, 各站点深层冰体(厚度~65 cm)中δD、δ18O值比表层冰体(厚度~15 cm)中的值出现不同幅度的偏重.而冰下水体中δD、δ18O平均值则比冰体中的平均值分别偏轻约13.85‰、2.23‰.在冰层形成的快速与稳定阶段, δD、δ18O值的变化幅度也存在差异.同时, 冬季外源水体的输入对各站点间同位素值差异的影响比夏季更明显; (2)夏季湖水、冬季湖水与湖冰的同位素值均落在全球大气降水线与湖区大气降水线之外, 显示湖泊冰封之前, 蒸发对湖泊水体同位素偏移存在一定程度的影响; 而冬季湖水与湖冰的同位素值基本位于同一斜率区间, 且全部落在夏季湖水同位素值的右侧, 显示两者之间并不存在明显的蒸发分馏作用, 造成上述现象的因素只能归结于结冰过程.      

基于NPP-VIIRS数据的喜马拉雅山北坡典型湖泊湖冰提取分析

现阶段使用遥感数据监测湖冰物候特征已成为主要的技术手段.NPP-VIIRS是一个较新的卫星数据,它具有空间分辨率较高、波段数多、重访周期短等优点,使用该数据提取湖冰信息是对该领域的一个有益补充.基于NPP-VIIRS数据利用阈值法对拉昂错、玛旁雍错、佩枯错、普莫雍错等典型湖泊进行湖冰提取.获得四个湖泊逐日的冻结百分比,...     

季节性冰封热融浅湖水温原位观测及其分层特征

为探究季节性冰封浅湖热力学特征,于2010年10月至2013年7月对高原腹地一典型热融湖塘冰层生消、水/冰温及气象条件开展原位观测,分析了水温分布时间变化、温跃层以及冰生消对水温结构的影响。结果发现:冰面升华显著,贯穿整个冰期;水温日变化、季节变化和垂直结构受气温、大气辐射、风速、冰生消和湖底沉积层热贡献影响显著;在"无冰期-结冰前-冰生长期-冰融化期-融化后-无冰期"年循环过程中水温垂直结构分别呈现出"分层-翻转-逆温分层-逆温与正温共存-翻转-分层"的循环过程。分层期水温结构仅由上部混合层和温跃层构成,且偶因强风搅动而全湖翻转混合。可见,相比大中型湖泊,季节性冰封浅湖热力学结构差异显著。     

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.     

Lithostratigraphy of the Mérida (Wisconsinan) glaciation and Pedregal interstade, Mérida Andes, northwestern Venezuela

At Pedregal, more than 40 m of sediments are exposed within a ‘fan complex’ formed between lateral moraines of the adjacent Mucuchache and El Caballo valleys. Early and late Mérida (Wisconsinan) glaciations are represented by till and till plus proglacial sediments, respectively. A middle Wisconsinan interstadial event, here termed the Pedregal interstade, began at the end of the Early Mérida glaciation at approximately 60 ka BP. Following the retreat of ice from the small Pedregal Basin, a lake formed when the local drainage was blocked due to movement of the Mesa de Caballo along the Boconó Fault. Shallow lake or no-lake phases lasted approximately a few hundred to, at most, 2000 years, and each lake phase was marked by peat accumulation. Four of seven peats identified formed during sufficiently long intervals for soil profiles (incipient to mature Spodosols) also to develop. The Spodosol with the strongest development (Eb/Bsb/Coxb/Cub horizons) is found adjacent to the lowest peat and reflects ongoing early Mérida stadial (MIS 3) conditions; the youngest peats, associated with weak podzolic soils (Eb/Bsb horizons), formed under slightly warmer interstadial conditions, presumably with less soil water. Cyclic lacustrine deposition is related to lake level and relative depth fluctuations, due in part to variable shoreline/delta progradation and shallowing as the lake deepened in general. Whereas final drainage of the lake is related to movement of the Boconó Fault and breach of the moraines that form the Mesa de Caballo, earlier lake level fluctuations appear related to climate change. Radiocarbon dating of the peats suggests they are related to warmer periods and may tentatively correlate with small ‘interstadials’ or ‘D-O events’ detected in the oxygen-isotope record of Greenland ice cores and North Atlantic marine sediments.     

Ice‐distal landscape and sediment signatures evidencing damming and drainage of large pro‐glacial lakes,northwest Russia

Lyså, A., Jensen, M. A., Larsen, E., Fredin, O. & Demidov, I. N.^* 2010: Ice‐distal landscape and sediment signatures evidencing damming and drainage of large pro‐glacial lakes, northwest Russia. Boreas, Vol. 40, pp. 481–497. 10.1111/j.1502‐3885.2010.00197.x. ISSN 0300‐9483. Sediments from river sections and the morphology of the upper reaches of Severnaya Dvina and Vychegda in northwest Russia show evidence of the existence of large ice‐dammed lakes in the area twice during the Weichselian. During the Late Weichselian, three separate ice‐dammed lakes (LGM lake(s)) existed, the largest one at about 135 m a.s.l. having a volume of about 1510 km³. Stepwise and rapid lake drainage is suggested to have taken place within less than 1000 years. The locations of various passpoints controlled the drainage, and when the lake was at its maximum level water spilled southeastwards into the Volga basin. Later, but before the lake water finally drained into the White Sea, water was routed northeastwards into the southeastern part of the Barents Sea. The oldest lake, the White Sea lake, existed around 67–57 ka ago, slightly in conflict with earlier palaeogeographic reconstructions regarding the chronology. The extent of the lake was constrained by, in addition to the Barents Sea ice‐sheet margin in the north, thresholds in the drainage basin. Later, one threshold was eroded and lowered during the LGM lake drainage. Given a lake level of about 115 m a.s.l., a lake area of about 2.5 × 10⁴ km³ and a water volume of about 4800 km³, the lake drainage northwards and into the ocean probably impacted the ocean circulation.     

Sedimentation in ice-covered Lake Hoare, Antarctica

The sedimentation mechanisms that occur in ice-covered Lake Hoare, Antarctica are examined, to determine how sediment enters the lake, and how the sedimentation pattern affects blue-green algal growth at the lake bottom. The 3 m-thick ice cover contains pebbly sand as much as 2 m below the surface. Sediment with similar texture and mineralogy is found at the lake bottom. This evidence, together with the lack of sediment in the inflowing stream and the markedly different texture of sediment from the other terrains around the lake suggest that most of the sediment at the lake bottom comes in through the ice cover. Sand grains intermittently migrate through porous ice on the surface, water-filled vertical gas-channels penetrating two-thirds of the ice cover, and possibly through cracks in the ice that act as conduits. The algae at the lake bottom are able to survive in part because sediment that comes through the ice cover does not obliterate them.     

Thermal regime of a supraglacial lake on the debris-covered Koxkar Glacier, southwest Tianshan, China

A supraglacial lake was surveyed on the Koxkar Glacier in southwest Tianshan from July to September 2007 and July to September 2008, and the temperature variation characteristics of the lake, debris and debris-free ice were analyzed at different depths to determine the thermal regimes. In addition, the discrepancies of temperature variation characteristics were investigated for different geomorphic units of the ablation zone of the Koxkar Glacier. It was found that daily temperature variation curves for deep water are V-shaped because meltwater from the glacier surface at temperatures of around 0°C feeds the lake and mixes with the relatively high-temperature surface water during the day. As the water temperature rises to approximately 4°C, the mixed water sinks and forms a low-temperature trough in the deep water of the lake in the middle of the day. The vertical lapse rate of the lake water temperature against depth (?0.33°C/m) has a magnitude lower than that of the debris (?4.29°C/m) and that of the debris-free ice (?0.38°C/m) in the Koxkar Glacier??s ablation zone. The temperature curve for the surface water largely varied between the temperature curves for the debris at depths of 0.2 and 0.5?m. The surface thermal condition of the ablation zone is significantly affected by the daily weather, and there is a limited influence in debris at a depth of 1?m and in the lake at a depth of 5?m.     

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.     

Global maps of lake-level fluctuations since 30,000 yr B.P.

This paper presents selected world maps of lake-level fluctuations since 30,000 yr B.P. These are based on a literature survey of 141 lake basins with radiocarbon-dated chronologies. The resulting patterns are subcontinental in scale and show orderly variations in space and time. They reflect substantial changes in continental precipitation, evaporation, and runoff, which are due to glacial/interglacial fluctuations in the atmospheric and oceanic circulations. In the tropics, high lake levels are essentially an interglacial or interstadial phenomenon, although there are important exceptions. Since extensive lakes during the Holocene corresponded with relatively high sea-surface temperatures, and therefore presumably with high evaporation rates on land, they are interpreted as the result of higher precipitation. Tropical aridity culminated in most areas at, or just after, the glacial maximum, although the present day is also characterized by a below-average abundance of surface water. In extratropical regions the mapped patterns are more complex. They vary markedly with latitude and proximity to major ice sheets. In these areas, evidence is at present insufficient to evaluate the relative contributions of precipitation and temperature to the observed lake-level record.     

西天山托木尔峰南麓大型山谷冰川冰舌区消融特征分析

基于对托木尔峰南麓托木尔型山谷冰川的野外考察和典型冰川的定位观测,对冰面被表碛广泛覆盖的所谓“托木尔型”冰川冰舌区表碛与冰面消融的关系进行了研究. 结果表明：表碛对冰面消融、冰川水文过程、冰川变化等均具有重要影响,当表碛厚度超过3 cm时,表碛对冰面消融就产生明显抑制作用,且随着厚度增加,冰面消融显明减弱. 科其喀尔冰川表面的观测表明,由末端向上,表碛厚度逐渐减薄. 受表碛影响,科其喀尔冰川区最大的消融量出现在海拔3 800~3 900 m之间、表碛物厚度小于10 cm的区域内;冰川消融强度由此向上随着海拔的升高而下降,向下随表碛厚度的增大而减弱. 冰面湖的发育是表碛覆盖冰川的又一主要特征,湖水对冰面的融蚀和快速排泄成为冰面产汇流的主要过程. 科其喀尔冰川研究表明,两三个冰面湖排泄形成的融蚀冰量就相当于冰川末端退缩造成的冰量损失. 因此,冰面湖等热喀斯特地形的形成、扩张融蚀、融穿排泄、形成湖区低地,这一周而复始的过程不仅是其主要消融方式之一,而且也强烈的影响着冰川水文及冰川变化. 托木尔峰南麓地区大型冰川变化主要以厚度减薄为主,而不是像大多数冰川显著的变化主要表现在末端和面积减少方面.     

Wastage features of the inland ice sheet in central South Norway

Detailed field mapping of different lateral phenomena, striae, texture and till fabric forms the basis of a reconstruction of five deglaciation phases in the east Jotunheimen-Gudbrandsdalen area, a land scape with moderate relief in the vicinity of the ice divide. During wastage, the inland ice sheet separated into several ice lobes situated in valleys enclosed by large ice-free uplands. The slope of the ice surface varied with local changes in the ice movement pattern and with the breaking of ice dams, which caused reversal of drainage from ice-dammed lakes. Non-climatic, large margianl moraines are thought to have fomed as a result of locally increased steepness of the ice surface. By tracing the deglaciation phases through two different valley systems which converge in the lake Mjøsa area, deglaciation events in the ice divide zone are correlated with marginal deposits at the front of the ice lobes.     

Lake Hoare, Antarctica: sedimentation through a thick perennial ice cover

Lake Hoare in the Dry Valleys of Antarctica is covered with a perennial ice cover more than 3 m thick, yet there is a complex record of sedimentation and of growth of microbial mats on the lake bottom. Rough topography on the ice covering the lake surface traps sand that is transported by the wind. In late summer, vertical conduits form by melting and fracturing, making the ice permeable to both liquid water and gases. Cross-sections of the ice cover show that sand is able to penetrate into and apparently through it by descending through these conduits. This is the primary sedimentation mechanism in the lake. Sediment traps retrieved from the lake bottom indicate that rates of deposition can vary by large amounts over lateral scales as small as 1 m. This conclusion is supported by cores taken in a 3 × 3 grid with a spacing of 1.5 m. Despite the close spacing of the cores, the poor stratigraphic correlation that is observed indicates substantial lateral variability in sedimentation rate. Apparently, sand descends into the lake from discrete, highly localized sources in the ice that may in some cases deposit a large amount of sand into the lake in a very short time. In some locations on the lake bottom, distinctive sand mounds have been formed by this process. They are primary sedimentary structures and appear unique to the perennially ice-covered lacustrine environment. In some locations they are tens of centimetres high and gently rounded with stable slopes; in others they reach ～ 1 m in height and have a conical shape with slopes at angle of repose. A simple formation model suggests that these differences can be explained by local variations in water depth and sedimentation rate. Rapid colonization and stabilization of fresh sand surfaces by microbial mats composed of cyanobacteria, eukaryotic algae, and heterotrophic bacteria produces a complex intercalation of organic and sandy layers that are a distinctive form of modern stromatolites.     

Sedimentation and Iithostratigraphy of the North Sea Drift and Lowestoft Till Formations in the Coastal cliffs of northeast Norfolk,England

The most complete terrestrial sequence of Anglian (Elsterian) glacial sediments in western Europe was investigated in northeast Norfolk, England in order to reconstruct the evolution of the contemporary palaeoenvironments. Lithostratigraphically the glacial sediments in the northeast Norfolk coastal cliffs can be divided into the Northn Sea Drift and Lowestoft Till Formations. Three of the diamicton members of the North Sea Drift Formation (Happisburgh, Walcott and Cromer Diamictons) were deposited as lodgement and/or subglacial deformation till by grounded ice, but one, the Mundesley Diamicton, is waterlain and was deposited in an extensive glacial lake. Sands and fine sediments interbedded between the diamictons represent deltaic sands and glaciolacustrine sediments derived not solely from the melting ice in the north but also from extra-marginal rivers in the south. The Lowestoft Till Formation is not well preserved in the cliffs but includes lodgement till (Marly Drift till) and, most probably, associated meltwater deposits. Extensive glaciotectonism in the northern part of the area is shown to relate to oscillating ice that deposited the Cromer Diamicton and also partially to the ice sheet that deposited the Marly Drift till. It is suggested that during the Anglian Stage the present day northeast Norfolk coast was situated on the northwestern margin of an extensive glaciolacustrine basin. This basin was dammed by the Scandinavian ice sheet in the north and northeast. Because the grounding line of this ice sheet oscillated in space and time, part of the North Sea Drift diamictons were deposited directly by this ice. However, during ice retreat phases glaciolacustrine deposition comprised waterlain diamicton, sands and fines. When the Scandinavian ice sheet was situated in northernmost Norfolk, the British ice sheet (responsible for depositing the Marly Drift facies) entered the area from the west. This ice sheet partially deformed the North Sea Drift Formation sediments in the northern part of the area but not in the south, where the British ice sheet apparently terminated in water. The interplay of these two ice sheets on the northern and western margins of the glacial lake is thought to be the major determining factor for the accumulation of thick glacial deposits in this area during the Anglian glaciation.     

Construction of an evolutionary deglaciation model for the Irish midlands based on the integration of morphostratigraphic and geophysical data analyses

Alternative, established models for the deglaciation of the midlands of Ireland are tested against an interpretation of a suite of deglacial sediments covering an area of 600 km² in the east central midland area. Interpretation of the sediments is based on geomorphological mapping, lithostratigraphic characterization of exposures and geotechnical data supported by electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) and ground penetrating radar (GPR). GPR depicted small‐scale sedimentological and deformational structures within low‐conductivity soft sediments, such as cross‐bedding, planar bedding, channel‐like features and faulting planes, and revealed the internal architecture of eskers, glaciodeltas, subaqueous fans and raised bogs. ERT data permitted the detection of depth to bedrock and the lithological characterization of unconsolidated sediments. The ten sites presented were surveyed by traditional mapping methods and/or geophysical techniques. This allowed the construction of a local model of the deglaciation of the area which recognized five main stages. An ice sheet covering most of Ireland withdrew as a single body as far as the midlands. At this stage, two main directions of ice retreat are identified from the spatial distribution of meltwater/overflow channels, esker and morainic ridges, and ice‐marginal glaciolacustrine deposits. A pattern of deglacial sedimentation into an expanding ice‐marginal glacial lake is depicted. The glacial lake was dammed to the west by two ice dome fronts, one decaying to the north‐west and another to the south‐west, and by the Shannon Basin watershed to the east. Glacial lake outlets identified along the watershed and the altitude of the topset/foreset interface zone depicted in glaciodeltaic deposits allowed the identification of three lake water levels. The highest level is at 87–89 m Ordnance Datum (OD), the second lake level at 84 m OD and the third at 78 m OD. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.