Contemporary terminal-moraine ridge formation at a temperate glacier: Styggedalsbreen, Jotunheimen, southern Norway

Terminal-moraine ridges up to 6 m high have been forming at the snout of Styggedalsbreen for two decades. Based on intermittent observations during this period, combined with a detailed study of ridge morphology, sedimentary structures and composition during the 1993 field season, a model of terminal-moraine formation that involves the interaction of glacial and glacio-fluvial processes at a seasonally oscillating ice margin is presented. In winter, subglacial debris is frozen-on to the glacier sole; in summer, ice-marginal and supraglacial streams deposit sediments on the wasting ice tongue. The ice tongue overrides an embryonic moraine ridge during a late-winter advance and a double layer of sediment (diamicton overlain by sorted sands and gravels) is added to the moraine ridge during the subsequent ablation season. Particular ridges grow incrementally over many years and exert positive feedback by enhancing snout up-arching during the winter advance and constraining the course of summer meltwater streams close to the ice margin. The double-layer annual-meltout model is related to moraine formation by the stacking of subglacial frozen-on sediment slabs (Krüger 1993). Moraine ridges of this type have a complex origin. are not push moraines, and may be characteristic of dynamic high-latitude and high-altitude temperate glaciers.     

Processes of annual moraine formation at a temperate alpine valley glacier: insights into glacier dynamics and climatic controls

This paper presents the first detailed sedimentological study of annual moraines formed by an alpine valley glacier. The moraines have been forming since at least AD 1980 by a subsidiary lobe of Gornergletscher, Switzerland that advances up a reverse bedrock slope. They reach heights of 0.5–1.5 m, widths of up to 6 m and lengths of up to several hundreds of metres. Sediments in these moraines are composed of proglacial outwash and debris flow units; subglacial traction till is absent entirely. Based on four representative sections, three genetic process combinations have been identified: (i) inefficient bulldozing of a gently sloping ice margin transfers proglacial sediments onto the ice, causing differential ablation and dead‐ice incorporation upon retreat; (ii) terrestrial ice‐contact fans are formed by the dumping of englacial and supraglacial material from point sources such as englacial conduit fills; debris flows and associated fluvial sediments are stacked against a temporarily stationary margin at the start, and deformed during glacier advance in the remainder, of the accumulation season; (iii) a steep ice margin without supraglacial input leads to efficient bulldozing and deformation of pre‐existing foreland sediments by wholesale folding. Ice‐surface slope appears to be a key control on the type of process responsible for moraine formation in any given place and year. The second and third modes result in stable and higher moraines that have a higher preservation potential than those containing dead ice. Analysis of the spacing and climatic records at Gornergletscher reveals that winter temperature controls marginal retreat and hence moraine formation. However, any climatic signal is complicated by other factors, most notably the presence of a reverse bedrock slope, so that the extraction of a clear climatic signal is not straightforward. This study highlights the complexity of annual moraine formation in high‐mountain environments and suggests avenues for further research.     

Within-valley asymmetry and related problems of Neoglacial lateral moraine development at certain Jotunheimen glaciers, southern Norway

A difference in the size of Neoglacial lateral moraines on either side of a valley axis (within-valley asymmetry of lateral moraine development) is described. Analysis of clast roundness has revealed subangular material in latero-terminal and terminal moraines; lateral moraines, however, exhibit a compositional gradient of increasing angularity with distance from the former glacier snout. Comparisons with clasts of known origin suggest that this 'roundness gradient' may be explained with reference to either or both of two hypotheses: (1) a variable proportion of supraglacial (or englacial) to subglacial transported material; and (2) the variable composition of regolith incorporated by a push mechanism from the valley sides. Within-valley asymmetry is inferred to result where the supply of debris to lateral moraines from these sources is unequal either side of a valley axis. Both interpretations are also consistent with the relatively large size of latero-terminal sections of end moraines. In order to account for the discrepancy between moraine size and apparent debris supply rates, it is suggested that the largest lateral moraines may have been formed over a longer time scale than the 'Little Ice Age', and that reworking of deposits may have occurred. The supply of debris to the north-facing lateral moraine at Nordre Illåbreen has been so great that it has developed into a rock glacier; this suggests the possibility that subglacial material and valley-side regolith, as well as supraglacial material, contributes to the formation of ice-cored rock glaciers.     

Glacier thermal regime linked to processes of annual moraine formation at Midtdalsbreen,southern Norway

Glacier thermal regime is shown to have a significant influence on the formation of ice‐marginal moraines. Annual moraines at the margin of Midtdalsbreen are asymmetrical and contain sorted fine sediment and diamicton layers dipping gently up‐glacier. The sorted fine sediments include sands and gravels that were initially deposited fluvially directly in front of the glacier. Clast‐form data indicate that the diamictons have a mixed subglacial and fluvial origin. Winter cold is able to penetrate through the thin (<10 m) ice margin and freeze these sediments to the glacier sole. During winter, sediment becomes elevated along the wedge‐shaped advancing glacier snout before melting out and being deposited as asymmetrical ridges. These annual moraines have a limited preservation potential of ～40 years, and this is reflected in the evolution of landforms across the glacier foreland. Despite changing climatic conditions since the Little Ice Age and particularly within the last 10 years when frontal retreat has significantly speeded up, glacier dynamics have remained relatively constant with moraines deposited via basal freeze‐on, which requires stable glacier geometry. While the annual moraines on the eastern side of Midtdalsbreen indicate a slow steady retreat, the western foreland contains contrasting ice‐stagnation topography, highlighting the importance of local forcing factors such as shielding, aspect and debris cover in addition to changing climate. This study indicates that, even in temperate glacial environments, restricted or localised areas of cold‐based ice can have a significant impact on the geomorphic imprint of the glacier system and may actually be more widespread within both modern and ancient glacial environments than previously thought.     

End moraine construction by incremental till deposition below the Laurentide Ice Sheet: Southern Ontario,Canada

Eyles, N., Eyles, C., Menzies, J. & Boyce, J. 2010: End moraine construction by incremental till deposition below the Laurentide Ice Sheet: Southern Ontario, Canada. Boreas, 10.1111/j.1502‐3885.2010.00171.x. ISSN 0300‐9483. Just after 13 300 ¹⁴C a BP in central Canada, the retreating Ontario lobe of the Laurentide Ice Sheet briefly re‐advanced westwards through the Lake Ontario basin to build a large end moraine. The Trafalgar Moraine (27 km long, 4 km wide) is composed of a distinctly red‐coloured silt‐rich till (Wildfield Till, up to 16.5 m thick) formed by the reworking of proglacial lake deposits and soft shale bedrock. The moraine has a pronounced ramp‐like longitudinal form passing upglacier into fluted till resting on exposed shale. Analysis of water well stratigraphic data, drilled sediment cores, downhole gamma‐ray logs and exposures in deep test pits shows that within the moraine the Wildfield Till is built of superposed beds up to 7 m in thickness. These are inferred to result from the repeated incremental deposition of fine‐grained debris being moved towards the ice margin as a deforming bed such as identified at modern glaciers. A total till volume of 0.81 km³ was produced in a very brief time‐span along a transport path probably no greater than 10 km in length. Subglacial mixing of pre‐existing sediment and soft shale was clearly a very effective process for generating and moving large volumes of till to the ice margin. Similar till‐dominated end moraines occur widely around the margins of the Great Lake basins, where the markedly lobate margin of the retreating Laurentide Ice Sheet re‐advanced repeatedly into proglacial lakes and over fine‐grained sediment. This suggests the wider applicability of the till transport and incremental depositional model presented here.     

Sedimentary facies and landform genesis at a temperate outlet glacier: Soler Glacier, North Patagonian Icefield

This paper focuses on the structural glaciology, dynamics, debris transport paths and sedimentology of the forefield of Soler Glacier, a temperate outlet glacier of the North Patagonian Icefield in southern Chile. The glacier is fed by an icefall from the icefield and by snow and ice avalanches from surrounding mountain slopes. The dominant structures in the glacier are ogives, crevasses and crevasse traces. Thrusts and recumbent folds are developed where the glacier encounters a reverse slope, elevating basal and englacial material to the ice surface. Other debris sources for the glacier include avalanche and rockfall material, some of which is ingested in marginal crevasses. Debris incorporated in the ice and on its surface controls both the distribution of sedimentary facies on the forefield and moraine ridge morphology. Lithofacies in moraine ridges on the glacier forefield include large isolated boulders, diamictons, gravel, sand and fine-grained facies. In relative abundance terms, the dominant lithofacies and their interpretation are sandy boulder gravel (ice-marginal), sandy gravel (glaciofluvial), angular gravel (supraglacial) and diamicton (basal glacial). Proglacial water bodies are currently developing between the receding glacier and its frontal and lateral moraines. The presence of folded sand and laminites in moraine ridges in front of the glacier suggests that, during a previous advance, Soler Glacier over-rode a former proglacial lake, reworking lacustrine deposits. Post-depositional modification of the landform/sediment assemblage includes melting of the ice-core beneath the sediment cover, redistribution of finer material across the proglacial area by aeolian processes and fluvial reworking. Overall, the preservation potential of this landform/sediment assemblage is high on the centennial to millennial timescale.     

Podzol development, vegetation change and glacier variations at Haugabreen, southern Norway

¹⁴C dating and pollen analysis of the surface organic (LFH) horizons of several humo-ferric podzol profiles forming a soil catena close to the 'Little Ice Agc' outer moraine ridge of Haugabreen, southern Norway, are used to examine the timing and nature of podzol development at the low-/sub-alpine margin of the Jostedalsbreen area. Comparison with results from a palaeosol buried beneath the outer moraine shows that FH horizon development began as early as 5,265 ± 65 B.P., but that it was not synehronous across the profiles, the latest profile having a date of 3,590 ± 65 B.P. It is argued that surface organic horizons developed as a response to a deterioration of climate and possibly the recrudescence of the Myklebustbreen ice cap at c . 5,000 B.P., and that the dates for horizon initiation vary according to local topographic and soil-hydrologic conditions. It is still uncertain whether the hump-ferric podzols were preceded by brown earths or weakly podzolised sub-alpine podzolic soils, but at all sites where pollen evidence is available it appears that FH initiation took place beneath Betula woodland.     

The age and origin of Neoglacial moraines in Jotunheimen, southern Norway: new evidence from weathering-based data

This paper considers the controversial issue of the existence of pre-'Little Ice Age' Neoglacial moraines in southern Norway. Schmidt hammer rebound values are combined with measures of boulder roundness and weathering rind thickness in an attempt to isolate moraines that include weathered boulders. A critical approach is used in distinguishing sites where boulders have weathered in situ from those where previously weathered clasts have been incorporated into relatively young moraines. The results confirm that possible pre-'Little Ice Age' Neoglacial moraines seem to be restricted to small, high-altitude glaciers in eastern Jotunheimen. It is concluded that at these glaciers a particularly large response to a short-lived earlier Holocene climatic event is more likely to explain the survival of such moraines than a particularly subdued response to the climatic deterioration of the 'Little Ice Age'. More refined dating techniques are required to determine the age of formation of the anomalous moraines, but before the palaeoclimatic significance of such dates can be assessed, a critical test is required to establish whether the moraines mark former ice-front positions, and therefore reflect lowering of equilibrium line altitudes, or whether they have been displaced forwards by later and more extensive glacier advances.     

Ribbed moraine stratigraphy and formation in southern Finnish Lapland

Characteristics of ribbed moraines, the dominating moraine type in southern Finnish Lapland, have been studied in detail. The ridges are composed of several till units, of which the bottommost units consist of mature basal tills and the surficial parts are enriched with local, short‐transport rock fragments and boulders in till and at the surface of ridges. As a result of this re‐examination a two‐step model of the formation process of ribbed moraines is presented. In the first stage, while cold‐based conditions prevailed, both the bottommost part of the ice sheet and the frozen, substrate fractured under compressive ice flow. Following glacial transport of fractured blocks and formation of the transverse ridge morphology, erosion between the ridges continued owing to freeze–thaw process under variable pressure conditions. In the areas with a low pre‐existing till sheet, the process caused quarrying of the bedrock surface and subsequent deposition of rock fragments and boulders under high pressure on the next ridge. The most suitable conditions for ribbed moraine formation existed during Late Weichselian deglaciation, after the Younger Dryas when the climate warmed very quickly, leading to an imbalance between a warm glacier surface and a cold base. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Boulder shapes and grain-size distributions of debris as indicators of transport paths through a glacier and till genesis

Debris transported by glacier is derived either supraglacially from nunataks and valley sides or from erosion of the subglacial bed. Debris produced above the glacier by fracturing of rock walls has a dominant coarse fraction with angular boulders. Subsequent englacial or supraglacial transport is relatively passive and little comminution occurs. Debris eroded from subglacial bedrock is initially transported in a basal zone of traction, where particles frequently come into contact with the glacier bed and are retarded by it so that large forces may be generated between particles and the bed and at interparticle contacts. The material introduced into this tractional zone may be subglacial bedrock which has undergone a crushing-plucking event and which has a dominant coarse fraction, or supraglacially derived material which finds its way to the glacier bed. These parent debris assemblages are further comminuted by failure in response to locally concentrated compressive stresses, and attrition at shearing interfaces. Boulders transported through the tractional zone will tend to be rounded and bear several directions of striation. Large boulders embedded in lodgement till will tend to be streamlined with striae parallel to glacier flow and with an abruptly truncated distal extremity, rather like a roche moutonnée. Textural and boulder shape characteristics can be used to help distinguish different types of till.     

Holocene glacier history of Bjørnbreen and climatic reconstruction in central Jotunheimen,Norway, based on proximal glaciofluvial stream-bank mires

Holocene variations of Bjørnbreen, Smørstabbtinden massif, west-central Jotunheimen are reconstructed from the lithostratigraphy of two alpine stream-bank mires flooded episodically by meltwater. The approach uses multiple sedimentological indicators (weight loss-on-ignition, mean grain size, grain-size fractions, bulk density, moisture content and magnetic susceptibility), an a priori model of overbank deposition of suspended glaciofluvial sediments, a detailed chronology based on 56 radiocarbon dates, and a Little Ice Age sedimentological analogue. Rapid, late-Preboreal deglaciation was indicated by immigration of Betula pubescens by 9700 cal. BP. An interval of at least 3000 years in the early Holocene when glaciers were absent was interrupted by two abrupt episodes of glacier expansion around the time of the Finse Event, the first at ca 8270–7900 cal. BP (Bjørnbreen I Event) and the second at ca 7770–7540 cal. BP (Bjørnbreen II Event). Neoglaciation began shortly before ca 5730 cal. BP with gradual build-up to the maximum of the Bjørnbreen III Event at ca 4420 cal. BP. Later maxima occurred at ca 2750 cal. BP (Bjørnbreen IV Event) and at 1300, 1260, 1060 and 790 cal. BP (all within the Bjørnbreen V Event). Glaciers were smaller than today and possibly melted away on several occasions in the late Holocene (ca 3950, 1410 and 750 cal. BP). Minor maxima also occurred at ca 660 and 540 cal. BP, within the late Mediaeval Warm Period and the early Little Ice Age, respectively. The Little Ice Age maximum was dated to 213±25 BP (ca 205 cal. BP). The relative magnitudes of the main glacier maxima were determined: Erdalen Event>Little Ice Age Event (Bjørnbreen VI)>Bjørnbreen I (Finse Event) ≈ Bjørnbreen II>Bjørnbreen V⩾Bjørnbreen IV>Bjørnbreen III. These episodic events of varying magnitude and abruptness were used in conjunction with an independent summer-temperature proxy to reconstruct variations in equilibrium-line altitude (ELA) and a Holocene record of winter precipitation. Since the Preboreal, ELA varied within a range of about 390 m, and winter precipitation ranged between 40 and 160% of modern values. Winter precipitation variations appear to have been the main cause of these century- to millennial-scale Holocene glacier variations.     

Lake shoreline development, frost weathering and rock platform erosion in an alpine periglacial environment, Jotunheimen, southern Norway

Ice-dammed lake Boverbrevatnet existed for 75–125 years in the 'Little Ice Age'. After about A.D. 1826, glacier retreat led to a fall in lake level and to exposure of the former shoreline, which includes well-developed platforms cut in metamorphic bedrock. The rock platforms, up to 5.3 m wide and backed by cliffs up to 1.55 m high, are partially covered by large angular boulders which form pavements. Accurate levelling has permitted correlation of platform fragments, overflow cols and related features of the shoreline, such as benches eroded in moraines, ice-push ridges, a perched delta, vegetation trim-lines, lichen limits and a 'lichen-kill' zone. The evolution of the lake, the chronology of deglaciation and the period of formation of the rock platforms have been dated by lichenometry, supported by ¹⁴C dating, Schmidt hammer 'R'-values and historical data. The morphology of the rock platforms, together with estimates of their rate of erosion ranging from 1.4 to 7.1 cm/year, indicate the importance of frost shattering (frost riving, frost wedging or macrogelivation) at the lake margin under a periglacial climate, while the permanence of such platforms as landscape features suggests their use in the reconstruction of former periglacial environments. A semi-quantitative model is outlined for the development of rock platforms which emphasises deep penetration of the annual freeze-thaw cycle, the movement of unfrozen lake water towards the freezing plane, and the growth of segregation ice in fissures and cracks at the interface between lake ice and bedrock. Ice-push and ice-pull processes are involved primarily as transporting agents in the formation of boulder pavements and in the removal of debris from the platforms. Analogous processes may occur on polar coasts producing coastal rock platforms.     

Stratigraphical signatures of glacier activity,marine processes and a possible tsunami in the Leirfjorden fjord‐valley system,north Norway

An integrated interpretation of on‐ and offshore stratigraphical records at Leirfjorden, north Norway, reveals new aspects of the area's palaeoenvironmental history. The study is based on marine sparker data and well‐exposed sections on land that were analysed for their sediment facies, mineralogy and fossil assemblages. Existing research and new radiocarbon dates provide a chronological framework for the interpretation. The late Younger Dryas Nordli substage type locality in the Leirfjorden catchment is revised and found to reflect local glacial activity, maybe a collapse of stagnant ice rather than glacier advance, while late Younger Dryas to Preboreal glacier re‐advances south of Leirfjorden and near Ranfjorden are here named the Bardal substage. The stratigraphical record includes pre‐Younger Dryas, valley‐crossing, glacial striae and old till with provenance of resistant bedrock typical of more elevated mountain areas. It differs from younger till units representing topographically controlled glacier movement. Part of the Leirfjorden fjord‐valley system is located between the main glacial and fluvial drainage paths affecting the sediment supply. As a result, highstand deposits are indistinct and fluvial sediments form only a minor part of the forced‐regressive systems tract. Instead, the valley fill overlying till and subtill sediments is dominated by the deglacial transgressive tract and a forced‐regressive systems tract with composite marine deposits and various marine erosion surfaces. A special event bed is interpreted as a possible tsunami deposit caused by seismicity and/or mass‐wasting in the fjord following glacier retreat. The study highlights the stratigraphical complexity of interconnected fjord and sound systems in a low accretion setting.     

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

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

Glacier variations in Breheimen,southern Norway: dating Little Ice Age moraine sequences at seven low‐altitude glaciers

Moraine sequences in front of seven relatively low‐altitude glaciers in the Breheimen region of central southern Norway are described and dated using a ‘multi‐proxy’ approach to moraine stratigraphy. Lichenometric dating, based on the Rhizocarpon subgenus, is used to construct a composite moraine chronology, which indicates eight phases of synchronous moraine formation: AD 1793–1799, 1807–1813, 1845–1852, 1859–1862, 1879–1885, 1897–1898, 1906–1908 and 1931–1933. Although the existence of a few cases of older moraines, possibly dating from earlier in the eighteenth or late in the seventeenth centuries cannot be ruled out by lichenometry, Schmidt hammer R‐values from boulders on outermost moraine ridges suggest an absence of Holocene moraines older than the Little Ice Age. Twenty‐three radiocarbon dates from buried soils and peat associated with outermost moraines at three glaciers—Tverreggibreen, Storegrovbreen and Greinbreen—also indicate that the ‘Little Ice Age’ glacier maximum was the Neoglacial maximum at most if not all glaciers. Several maximum age estimates for the Little Ice Age glacier maximum range between the fifteenth and seventeenth centuries, with the youngest from a buried soil being AD 1693. A pre‐Little Ice Age maximum cannot be ruled out at Greinbreen, however, where the age of buried peat suggests the outermost moraine dates from AD 981–1399 (at variance with the lichenometric evidence). Glaciofluvial stratigraphy at Tverreggibreen provides evidence for minor glacier advances about AD 655–963 and AD 1277–1396, respectively. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Structure and composition of a tidewater glacier push moraine, Svalbard, revealed by DC resistivity profiling

A push moraine deposited by the surging tidewater glacier Paulabreen (Svalbard) was investigated using 2D resistivity profiling. Six longitudinal and transverse profiles were obtained on the moraine and the resistivities were compared with data from three boreholes. Four profiles indicate that the inner part of the moraine is ice-cored and that the buried glacier ice is more than 30 m thick. A transverse profile shows evidence of basal crevasses near the former glacier margin. Three profiles cross the former glacier margin and onto a proglacial plain which dips slightly away from the former glacier margin. Low resistivities were encountered where borehole and field observations indicate that the plain consists of marine muds with a high salt content. This landform has previously been interpreted as a slab of seabed pushed up in front of the surging glacier, possibly facilitated by permafrost in the seabed. We suggest, alternatively, that the landform originated from sediments extruded from below (or pushed in front of) the glacier at the surge terminus and deposited as a debrisflow. Ground penetrating radar can reveal small-scale structures, but larger structures and overall composition are better imaged by resistivity measurements.     

Uplift-driven valley incision and river terrace formation in southern England

Outside the limits of Middle Pleistocene glaciation, the river basins of Southern England contain long Cenozoic terrestrial sedimentary records. Of greatest importance are the river terrace sequences, which contain biostratigraphical and sedimentary evidence that testifies to the high-amplitude climatic changes of the Quaternary. However, trends in valley development cannot easily be accommodated within the framework of Quaternary climatic change. It is argued in this paper that episodic incision and terrace development result from uplift, a consequence of the interplay between continuing Alpine orogenic movements and erosion-driven isostasy. Using a simple linear model (height–age) an uplift rate of ca. 7 cm ka⁻¹ is estimated for the terrace sequence in the upper Thames valley. This preliminary model is evaluated using the records of adjacent basins. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A reconnaissance study of the distribution of Ba, Nb, Y, and Zr in some Jotun kindred gneisses from Central Jotunheimen, southern Norway

Abstract The Bergen-Jotun kindred rocks of this study, the Storådalen Complex (SCX), Svartdalen Gneiss (SG) and Mjølkedøla Purple Gabbro (MPG), have been shown to be a co-magmatic series with calc-alkaline affinities. The analyses of Ba, Nb, Y, and Zr presented here show no variation in these elements between the three rock units and are consistent with the calc-alkaline character of the rocks. The lithophile elements Ba, K, and Sr are enriched relative to MORB and the high field strength elements Nb, Y, and Zr are depleted relative to MORB, Zr especially so.
The SCX contains rocks with low (>30) differentiation indices which are interpreted as plagioclase + pyroxene ± olivine ± amphibole cumulates. The remainder of the SCX, together with the MPG and SG, is regarded as the congealed liquid in equilibrium with these cumulates. The distribution of trace elements between these two components of the SCX can be adequately modelled using a Rayleigh fractionation process, measured 'liquid'compositions, and calculated bulk distribution coefficients. It is thus concluded that the trace element geochemistry of the rocks of this study is consistent with subduction-related, mantle-derived magmas that fractionate within a continental or mature island arc environment. Subsequent high-grade metamorphism and deformation of Sveconorwegian age have been essentially isochemical.     

Hydrochemical characteristics of typical rivers in a temperate glacier basin, China

This study focused on the chemical compositions of the rivers around Yulong Mountain, one of the typical monsoonal temperate glacier regions in China. Water samples were collected from Baishui, Sanshu and Geji hydrological stations around Mt. Yulong during rainy season. The chemical analyses indicated that the river water around Mt. Yulong was characterized by high pH values (>8.0) and EC values varied from 36.4 to 71.7 μS/cm with an average of 52.6 μS/cm. Ca²⁺ and Mg²⁺ were the dominant cations, together accounting for about 90 % of the total cations. HCO₃ ^?, followed by SO₄ ^2?, was the dominant anion. Obvious variations had been perceived during the rainy season. River water chemistry in rainy season was mainly influenced by precipitation and rock weathering. The proportions of Na⁺, K⁺, Ca²⁺, Mg²⁺ and SO₄ ^2? from precipitation in river water were 23.44, 9.66, 3.10, 17.81 and 10.48 %, respectively. In addition, the ion characteristics of river water were mainly influenced by carbonate weathering. The human activities should not be ignored though its influence was little.     

Recent,very rapid retreat of a temperate glacier in SE Iceland

Iceland's glaciers are particularly sensitive to climate change, and their margins respond to trends in air temperature. Most Icelandic glaciers have been in retreat since c. 1990, and almost all since 1995. Using ice‐front measurements, photographic and geomorphological evidence, we examined the record of ice‐front fluctuations of Virkisjökull–Falljökull, a steep high‐mass‐turnover outlet glacier in maritime SE Iceland, in order to place recent changes in a longer‐term (80‐year) context. Detailed geomorphological mapping identifies two suites of annual push moraines: one suite formed between c. 1935 and 1945, supported by lichenometric dating; the other between 1990 and 2004. Using moraine spacing as a proxy for ice‐front retreat rates, we show that average retreat rates during the 1930s and 1940s (28 m a^?1) were twice as high as during the period from 1990 to 2004 (14 m a^?1). Furthermore, we show that both suites of annual moraines are associated with above‐average summer temperatures. Since 2005, however, retreat rates have increased considerably – averaging 35 m a^?1 – with the last 5 years representing the greatest amount of ice‐front retreat (～190 m) in any 5‐year period since measurements began in 1932. We propose that this recent, rapid, ice‐front retreat and thinning in a decade of unusually warm summers has resulted in a glaciological threshold being breached, with subsequent large‐scale stagnation of the glacier terminus (i.e. no forward movement) and the cessation of annual push‐moraine formation. Breaching this threshold has, we suggest, caused further very rapid non‐uniform retreat and downwasting since 2005 via a system feedback between surface melting, glacier thinning, decreased driving stress and decreased forward motion.