Middle Pleistocene glacial and glaciomarine sedimentation in the west central North Sea

A sequence of Middle Pleistocene (approximately early 'Cromerian Complex') sediments has been subdivided into subglacial, proximal glaciomarine, distal glaciomarine and marine facies. The subglacial facies represents lodgement till deposited during the final stages of ice-sheet advance. At the onset of ice-sheet retreat, streams deposited their load into a shallow-water; glaciomarine environment; gravelly sediments immediately in front of the ice-grounding line and finer material, in suspension, to more distal areas. Ice-rafting, slumping and traction currents were also active within the glaciomarine environment. The lithofacies characteristics of this sequence are consistent with deposition from a grounded tidewater ice-sheet. The glacigenic succession is restricted to the Forth Approaches area, which implies that the ice-sheet had a limited offshore extent.     

Middle Weichselian glacial event in the central part of the Scandinavian Ice Sheet recorded in the Hitura pit, Ostrobothnia, Finland

The Hitura open pit exposes a sedimentary sequence up to 50 m thick representing Late Saalian to Holocene glacial and non-glacial sediments. The sequence was investigated using sedimentological methods, OSL-dating and pollen and diatom analyses to reconstruct the Middle Weichselian (MWG) glacial event in the central part of the Scandinavian Ice Sheet (SIS). The results indicate that the sediment succession represents two entire glacial advance and retreat cycles. The lowermost deposits are Late Saalian esker and delta sediments overlain by sediments that correlate with the early Eemian lacustrine phase. Remnants of the Eemian soil post-dating the lacustrine phase were also observed. The area was ice-free during the entire Early Weichselian (EWG). The first glacial advance recorded in the sediments is related to the MWG. It started 79 kyr ago, deformed underlying sediments and deposited an immature till, including large detached sediment pods containing remains of organic material, soils and fluvial sediments representing allochthonous material from EWG ice-free stadials and interstadials. The glacial deposits are conformably overlain by glaciolacustrine and littoral accumulations, indicating MWG deglaciation between 62 and 55 kyr ago. Based on the fabric measurements from the till unit overlying the MWG sediments, ice advance during the Late Weichselian (LWG) was initially from the west and later from a north-northwesterly direction. The Hitura strata provide the first dating of the MWG deglaciation (55 to 62 kyr ago) from central parts of the SIS. It can be considered as a key site for studying the growth and decay of SIS during the poorly known early parts of the glaciation.     

Assessment of potential outburst floods from the Tsho Rolpa glacial lake in Nepal

Flood and sediment disasters caused by glacial lake outbursts have occurred frequently in recent years in the Himalayas of Nepal. Glacial lake outburst floods (GLOFs) can cause catastrophic flooding in downstream areas with serious damage to lives and property. It is thus important to investigate outburst floods from potentially dangerous glacial lakes. In this study, the characteristics of potential outburst floods from the Tsho Rolpa glacial lake due to two types of moraine dam failure caused by seepage flow or water overtopping were analyzed with various scenarios by using integrated modeling system of three numerical models: (1) the flow and bed-surface erosion model, (2) the seepage model and (3) the slope stability model. Flood inundation areas were also identified by using the numerical model of the flow and moraine dam failure and geographical information system tools. Possible threats and damages due to the potential GLOF events from the lake were also analyzed based on numerical results, flood inundation maps and field investigations.     

Deglacial history of glacial lake windermere,UK: implications for the central British and Irish Ice Sheet

In the UK, a combination of outcrop mapping, satellite digital elevation models, high‐resolution marine geophysical data and a range of dating techniques have constrained the maximum limit and overall retreat behaviour of the British and Irish Ice Sheet (BIIS). The changing styles of deglaciation have been most extensively studied in the west and north‐western sectors of the BIIS, primarily using offshore geophysical surveys. The surviving record in the southern, terrestrial sector is fragmentary, permitting only large‐scale (tens of kilometres) and longer timescale (c. 1 ka) reconstructions of ice‐margin movement, with limited information on deglacial processes. Here we present a high‐resolution study of the retreat behaviour for a section of the southern ice‐margin from Windermere in the Lake District, using high‐resolution two‐dimensional multi‐channel seismic data, processed using prestack depth migration. By combining the seismic stratigraphy with landform morphologies, extant cores and seismic velocity measurements, we are able to distinguish between: over‐consolidated till; recessional moraines; De Geer moraines; flowed till/ice‐front fan; supra‐/en‐glacial melt‐out till; and subsequent glaciolacustrine/lacustrine sedimentation. The results reveal a complex and active valley glacier withdrawal from Windermere that changed character between basins and produced two small, localized areas of ice‐stagnation and downwasting. This study indicates that similar active ice‐margin retreats probably took place in other valleys of the Lake District during the Late Devensian deglaciation rather than the previously held view of rapid ice‐stagnation and downwasting. When combined with the regional terrestrial record, this supports a model of early ice loss in terrestrial England compared with other parts of the UK. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Landslides in moraines as triggers of glacial lake outburst floods: example from Palcacocha Lake (Cordillera Blanca,Peru)

Studies focusing on moraine deposits which slide into glacial lakes are scarce, even though they can trigger impact waves responsible for generating glacial lake outburst floods. We focused on landslides in lateral moraines as possible triggers. Detailed geomorphological, geophysical, and satellite radar interferometric investigations of the Palcacocha Lake moraine (Cordillera Blanca, Peru) together with laboratory tests on samples from the site provided data for slope stability calculations using GeoSlope software and hydrodynamic impact wave modeling using the Iber code. We identified landslides that could affect Palcacocha Lake and calculated their stability (factor of safety) under specified conditions, including variable water saturation and earthquake effects. Calculations showed that the moraine slopes are close to the threshold value (Fs?=?1) for stability and are especially sensitive to water saturation. The height of impact waves triggered by a landslide in 2003 and the potential wave heights from newly identified, possibly active landslides were calculated, based on landslide volume estimates, detailed lake bathymetry, and basin topography. Results show that potential future landslide-triggered waves could have similar properties to the 2003 impact wave. Evidence gathered in this study suggests that glacial lake outburst floods triggered by landslides from moraines, however, would be probably smaller than floods resulting from other types of slope processes (e.g., ice/rock avalanches) if dam breach is not taken into account. This assumption has to be critically evaluated against site-specific conditions at a given lake and any possible environmental factors, such as climate change or earthquake that may mobilize larger volumes of moraine material.     

Pleistocene glacial deposits along the eastern periphery of the Scandinavian ice sheets - an overview

The Quaternary glacial sequences in the Baltic region in Estonia. Latvia and Lithuania are relatively complete and reasonably well studied. The maximum thickness of deposits (200 300 m) is found in the uplands and ancient valleys. Tills of several genetic types have been described and in this paper the present view on the structure of the Pleistocene cover is given. The ice movement and glacial sedimentation were controlled by climate. underlying topography and tectonic processes.     

Geomorphic,sedimentary and hydraulic reconstruction of a glacial lake outburst flood in northern Alberta,Canada

Glacial lake outburst floods occurred frequently during the last deglaciation of the Laurentide Ice Sheet. Within the Interior Plains, these floods carved large spillway systems; however, due to a lack of abundant sediment, deposits within prairie spillways are rarely preserved. Here, we present geomorphic and sedimentary evidence and hydraulic modelling of the eastern Beaver River Spillway, formed by the catastrophic drainage of the ice‐dammed glacial Lake Algar, in north central Alberta. During this flood, coarse‐grained sediment eroded from local till formed large pendant bars. Within the first ~50 km of the spillway (Reach 1), pendant bars contain downstream orientated foresets overlain by horizontally bedded coarser gravels. The remaining pendant bars (Reach 2), present downflow of a moraine barrier, differ, comprising massive, matrix‐supported, inversely graded gravels capped by a boulder layer. We use a HEC‐GeoRAS/HEC‐RAS system in conjunction with palaeostage indicators to estimate the steady‐state water surface elevation. Modelling results show that peak discharge within Reach 1 of the eastern Beaver River Spillway was approximately 14 000–21 000 m³ s^?1. For Reach 2, 30 km downstream, the peak discharge was estimated at 23 000–40 000 m³ s^?1 (n_bulked 18 000–26 000 m³ s^?1). The downstream discharge increase, consistent with the sedimentary change in pendant bar deposits, is attributed to sediment bulking of the flood flow. This provides the opportunity to observe a range of flow conditions, and associated sedimentology, from a single flood event. The reconstructed flow conditions, coupled with lake volume estimates from the ponding above the moraine barrier suggest a minimum flow duration of 3–5 days.     

A polyphase glacitectonic model for ice-marginal retreat and terminal moraine development: the Middle Pleistocene British Ice Sheet,northern Norfolk,UK

Recent investigations from modern environments demonstrate that many terminal moraines do not simply record a single glacial maximum, but instead reveal a complex oscillatory pattern of ice-marginal behaviour including polyphase retreat. Within this study, we examine the geomorphology, geology and internal structure of a terminal moraine complex – the ‘Cromer Ridge’ in north Norfolk to reconstruct patterns of ice-marginal behaviour. Previously, this landform was interpreted as the limit of a southern extension of the British Ice Sheet during a Middle Pleistocene glaciation. Evidence presented here reveals a more complicated pattern of ice-marginal behaviour with the ‘Cromer Ridge’ reinterpreted as a ‘complex’ comprising several ridge elements. We propose that the maximum ice extent lay further to the south, with the size and morphology of the largest ridge element (the ‘Cromer Ridge’ as previously defined) a facet of thrust-stacking at an ice-marginal still-stand. We recognise multiple oscillations of the ice-front recorded against a twelve-stage model for the decay of the southern margins of a fast-flowing lobe of North Sea ice. Changes in ice-marginal dynamics are identified by the superimposition and lateral and vertical evolution of glacitectonic styles. Differences between these various states, and switches between ‘shallow’ and ‘deep’ thin-skinned glacitectonics, are strongly influenced by sub-marginal and proglacial water availability. Examination of the evidence for the morphostratigraphic proposals for the glacitectonic assemblage, within the context of the above interpretation, suggests that many of the ‘glacigenic landforms’ are erosional and a MIS 12 age of formation is favoured although several anomalies remain to be explained.     

Sedimentologic evidence for outburst floods from the Laurentide Ice Sheet margin in Wisconsin, USA: implications for tunnel-channel formation

Clast-supported boulder gravel in outwash-fans along the glacial-maximum margin of the Laurentide Ice Sheet in Wisconsin indicates the occurrence of outburst floods. These sediments, with clast intermediate axes of up to 2 m, are located downstream of tunnel channels and were deposited shortly before cessation of glaciofluvial activity on each fan. Since tunnel channels with fans are widespread along the ice-sheet margin in the western Great Lakes region, these outburst floods were probably common. Paleodischarge estimates derived from the boulder deposits are poorly constrained, but values of at least several hundred m³ s⁻¹ are likely. Four potential water sources for the floods exist: an extreme surface-melt event, an extreme precipitation event, drainage of supraglacial lakes, or drainage of stored subglacial meltwater. We focus on the storage of subglacial meltwater behind the ice-sheet margin, as proglacial permafrost was present as ice advanced to its maximum extent, and a frozen-bed zone upstream from the margin probably impeded drainage through groundwater aquifers. Decay of this permafrost ‘seal’ would have eventually allowed trapped water to drain through the tunnel channels. We suggest that the 2-m boulders were entrained in an outburst of subglacial water that enlarged a pre-existing channel cut by ablation-derived flows.     

Analyzing the triggering factors of glacial lake outburst floods with SAR and optical images: a case study in Jinweng Co,Tibet, China

Landslides - On June 25, 2020, Jinweng Co in Yiga, Tibet, experienced an outburst flood that resulted in catastrophic damage to farmland and roads. The complex causal factors for glacial lake...     

The 2020 glacial lake outburst flood process chain at Lake Salkantaycocha (Cordillera Vilcabamba,Peru)

Glacial lakes represent a threat for the populations of the Andes and numerous disastrous glacial lake outburst floods (GLOFs) occurred as a result of sudden dam failures or dam overtoppings triggered by landslides such as rock/ice avalanches into the lake. This paper investigates a landslide-triggered GLOF process chain that occurred on February 23, 2020, in the Cordillera Vilcabamba in the Peruvian Andes. An initial slide at the SW slope of Nevado Salkantay evolved into a rock/ice avalanche. The frontal part of this avalanche impacted the moraine-dammed Lake Salkantaycocha, triggering a displacement wave which overtopped and surficially eroded the dam. Dam overtopping resulted in a far-reaching GLOF causing fatalities and people missing in the valley downstream. We analyze the situations before and after the event as well as the dynamics of the upper portion of the GLOF process chain, based on field investigations, remotely sensed data, meteorological data and a computer simulation with a two-phase flow model. Comparison of pre- and post-event field photographs helped us to estimate the initial landslide volume of 1–2 million m³. Meteorological data suggest rainfall and/or melting/thawing processes as possible causes of the landslide. The simulation reveals that the landslide into the lake created a displacement wave of 27 m height. The GLOF peak discharge at the dam reached almost 10,000 m³/s. However, due to the high freeboard, less than 10% of the lake volume drained, and the lake level increased by 10–15 m, since the volume of landslide material deposited in the lake (roughly 1.3 million m³) was much larger than the volume of released water (57,000 m³, according to the simulation). The model results show a good fit with the observations, including the travel time to the uppermost village. The findings of this study serve as a contribution to the understanding of landslide-triggered GLOFs in changing high-mountain regions.

     

Age and Position of the Maximum Boundary of the Scandinavian Ice Sheet in the Valdai (Weichselian,Vistulian) Glaciation and Relief in the Peripheral Area of the Ice Sheet

Doklady Earth Sciences - After the end of the Mikulino interglacial, in connection with the increasing cooling trend, the Scandinavian ice sheet began to form on the territory of Fennoscandia. Its...     

Pleistocene glacial relief of the central part of Mt. Prokletije (Albanian Alps)

The central and highest area of Mt. Prokletije (Albanian Alps) is situated in northern Albania and eastern Montenegro (at 42°30′N). The highest peak is Maja e Jezerces (2694 m). Detailed geomorphological mapping was used to reconstruct the positions of former glaciers. The longest Ropojana glacier had a length of 12.5 km and surface of 20 km²; others include Valbona Glacier (9.5 km, 10.5 km²), Grbaja Glacier (5 km, 6.7 km²) and Bogićevica Glacier (6 km, 6.9 km²). Three series of moraines can be distinguished: the lowest at an average altitude of 990 m (average ELA 1750 m), the middle series at 1350 m (ELA 1942 m), and the highest at 1900 m (ELA 2123 m). As no advanced dating methods have yet been used to provide a numerical chronological framework for these features, hypotheses are made based on the comparison with the advanced studies of other similar mountains in the Mediterranean region. The moraines of the first stage (lowest series) correspond to one of pre-LGM glaciations (Middle or even Early Würmian), the second stage moraines probably correspond to LGM, and the third stage could be attributed to Younger Dryas. The mapping included a number of inactive and active rock glaciers, as well as three small active glaciers (surface 5 ha and less), at 1980–2100 m altitude, in the area close to Maja e Jezerces.     

藏北羌塘中部中更新世以来构造活动的证据

在西藏1∶5万双湖区戈木日东部地区4幅区域地质调查期间,对羌塘中部大沙河泥火山群、河流构造阶地、活动断层进行了详细的野外调查,查明泥火山60个,获得的2个泥火山喷出物热释光年龄分别为151.97ka±12.92ka和10.76ka±0.91ka,表明泥火山群自晚更新世至早全新世存在多次喷发活动。大沙河实测剖面显示,大沙河存在Ⅱ级河流阶地,3次新构造活动。获得的6个热释光年龄分别为中更新世（167.17ka±14.21ka）、晚更新世（113.27ka±9.63ka、83.84ka±7.13ka 、75.47ka±6.41ka、42.22 ka±3.59ka）和全新世（7.61ka±0.65ka）。结合大沙河流域特殊的泥火山-断层构造组合,认为中更新世以来大沙河地区受北西西向活动断层的控制,经历了3次阶段性差异隆升与强烈剥蚀。     

藏北羌塘中部中更新世以来构造活动的证据

在西藏1∶5万双湖区戈木日东部地区4幅区域地质调查期间,对羌塘中部大沙河泥火山群、河流构造阶地、活动断层进行了详细的野外调查,查明泥火山60个,获得的2个泥火山喷出物热释光年龄分别为151.97ka±12.92ka和10.76ka±0.91ka,表明泥火山群自晚更新世至早全新世存在多次喷发活动。大沙河实测剖面显示,大沙河存在Ⅱ级河流阶地,3次新构造活动。获得的6个热释光年龄分别为中更新世（167.17ka±14.21ka）、晚更新世（113.27ka±9.63ka、83.84ka±7.13ka 、75.47ka±6.41ka、42.22 ka±3.59ka）和全新世（7.61ka±0.65ka）。结合大沙河流域特殊的泥火山-断层构造组合,认为中更新世以来大沙河地区受北西西向活动断层的控制,经历了3次阶段性差异隆升与强烈剥蚀。     

西藏喜马拉雅山地区冰湖溃决的预测模型及其应用研究

以西藏喜马拉雅山地区的冰湖为研究对象,基于现有的冰湖溃决预测方法,提出了建立冰湖溃决预测方法的关键点,即选取的指标必须能够体现冰湖的动态变化特征.在定量分析的建模过程中应该采用不确定性的数学理论,对于冰湖溃决可能性的等级划分需要进行合理性及实用性验证.选取坝顶宽度、湖水面距坝顶高度与坝高之比、冰湖面积和补给冰川面积为预测指标,通过对西藏喜马拉雅山地区29个冰湖样本进行逻辑回归分析,建立了冰湖溃决的预测模型,并用所有样本进行了交叉验证.结果表明：该模型能够在分类应用中取得较好效果,根据溃决冰湖累积百分数随冰湖溃决可能性大小的变化曲线,将冰湖溃决的可能性划分为四个等级.以黄湖为例,把湖水面距坝顶高度与坝高之比作为冰湖溃决的诱变指标,分析了冰湖溃决可能性大小的变化规律.结合现有的冰湖溃决预测的定性方法,讨论了所建立的冰湖溃决预测模型的优点和缺点.     

Middle and late Pleistocene glaciations in the Campo Felice Basin (central Apennines, Italy)

The present paper refers to research conducted in the tectonic-karst depression of Campo Felice in the central Apennines (Italy), in which glacial, alluvial and lacustrine sediments have been preserved. Stratigraphic interpretations of sediments underlying the Campo Felice Plain are based on evidence obtained from nine continuous-core boreholes. The boreholes reach a depth of 120 m and provide evidence of five sedimentation cycles separated by erosion surfaces. Each cycle is interpreted as an initial response to a mainly warm stage, characterized by low-energy alluvial and colluvial deposition, pedogenesis, and limited episodes of marsh formation. In turn, a mainly cold stage follows during which a lake formed, and glaciers developed and expanded, leading to deposition of glacial and fluvioglacial deposits. The chronological framework is established by eleven accelerator mass spectrometer ¹⁴C ages and three ³⁹Ar-⁴⁰Ar ages on leucites from interbedded tephra layers. These age determinations indicate five glacial advances that respectively occurred during marine oxygen isotope stages 2, 3-4, 6, 10 and 14.     

Ice wastage and landscape evolution along the southern margin of the Laurentide Ice Sheet, north-central Wisconsin

The Chippewa and Wisconsin Valley Lobes of the Laurentide Ice Sheet reached their maximum extent in north-central Wisconsin about 20 000 years ago. Their terminal positions are marked by a broad area of hummocky topography, containing many ice-walled-lake plains, which is bounded on the up-ice and down-ice sides by ice-contact ridges and outwash fans. The distribution of these ice-disintegration landforms shows that a wide zone of stagnant, debris-covered, debris-rich ice separated from the active margins of both lobes as they wasted northward during deglaciation. Accumulation of thick, uncollapsed sediment in ice-walled lakes high in the ice-cored landscape indicates a period of stability. In contrast, hummocky disintegration topography indicates unstable conditions. Thus, we interpret two phases of late-glacial landscape evolution. During the first phase, ice buried beneath thick supraglacial sediment was stable. Supraglacial lakes formed on the ice surface and some melted their way to solid ground and formed ice-walled lakes. During the second phase, buried ice began to melt rapidly, hummocky topography formed by topographic inversion, and supraglacial and ice-walled lakes drained. We suggest that ice wastage was controlled primarily by climatic conditions and supraglacial-debris thickness. Late-glacial permafrost in northern Wisconsin likely delayed wastage of buried ice until after about 13 000 years ago, when climate warmed and permafrost thawed.     

Stratigraphic constraints on late Pleistocene glacial erosion and deglaciation of the Chukchi margin, Arctic Ocean

At least two episodes of glacial erosion of the Chukchi margin at water depths to ∼ 450 m and 750 m have been indicated by geophysical seafloor data. We examine sediment stratigraphy in these areas to verify the inferred erosion and to understand its nature and timing. Our data within the eroded areas show the presence of glaciogenic diamictons composed mostly of reworked local bedrock. The diamictons are estimated to form during the last glacial maximum (LGM) and an earlier glacial event, possibly between OIS 4 to 5d. Both erosional events were presumably caused by the grounding of ice shelves originating from the Laurentide ice sheet. Broader glaciological settings differed between these events as indicated by different orientations of flutes on eroded seafloor. Postglacial sedimentation evolved from iceberg-dominated environments to those controlled by sea-ice rafting and marine processes in the Holocene. A prominent minimum in planktonic foraminiferal δ¹⁸O is identified in deglacial sediments at an estimated age near 13,000 cal yr BP. This δ¹⁸O minimum, also reported elsewhere in the Amerasia Basin, is probably related to a major Laurentide meltwater pulse at the Younger Dryas onset. The Bering Strait opening is also marked in the composition of late deglacial Chukchi sediments.     

Middle to Late Holocene glacial variations, periglacial processes and alluvial sedimentation on the higher Apennine massifs (Italy)

The major climatic variations that have affected the summit slopes of the higher Apennine massifs in the last 6000 yr are shown in alternating layers of organic matter-rich soils and alluvial, glacial and periglacial sediments. The burial of the soils, triggered by environmental-climatic variations, took place in several phases. For the last 3000 yr chronological correlations can be drawn between phases of glacial advance, scree and alluvial sedimentation and development of periglacial features. During some periods, the slopes were covered by vegetation up to 2700 m and beyond, while in other phases the same slopes were subject to glacial advances and periglacial processes, and alluvial sediments were deposited on the high plateaus. Around 5740-5590, 1560-1370 and 1300-970 cal yr B.P., organic matter-rich soils formed on slopes currently subject to periglacial and glacial processes; the mean annual temperature must therefore have been higher than at present. Furthermore, on the basis of the variations in the elevation of the lower limit reached by gelifraction, it can be concluded that the oscillations in the minimum winter temperatures could have ranged between 3.0°C lower (ca. 790-150 cal yr B.P.) and 1.2°C higher (ca. 5740-5590 cal yr B.P.) than present minimum winter temperatures. During the last 3000 yr the cold phases recorded by the Calderone Glacier advance in the Apennines essentially match basically the phases of glacial advance in the Alps.