An englacial image and water pathways of the Fourcade glacier on King George Island, Antarctic Peninsula, inferred from ground-penetrating radar

The distribution of small fractures and water content of the Fourcade glacier on King George Island, Antarctica, was investigated in November 2006 and December 2007 by two ground-based (470-and 490-m-long profiles) and one helicopter-borne (470-m-long profile) ground-penetrating radar (GPR) surveys using 50-, 100-, and 500-MHz antennas. Radar images in the pre-migrated GPR sections are characterized by a smooth ice surface and irregular bed topography, numerous diffraction hyperbolas in the ice and at the g...     

Glacier runoff variation and its influence on river runoff during 1961–2006 in the Tarim River Basin, China

Using monthly precipitation and temperature data from national meteorological stations, 90 m resolution DEM and a digital vector map of modern glaciers from the Chinese Glacier Inventory, the glacier mass balance and glacier runoff in the Tarim River Basin (TRB), China, were estimated based on a monthly degree-day model for 1961–2006. The results suggest that the modified monthly degree-day model can simulate the long-term changes in glacier mass balance and glacier runoff, which have been confirmed by shor...     

近30年珠穆朗玛峰国家自然保护区冰川变化的遥感监测

利用1976、1988和2006年的3期陆地卫星遥感数据,采用面向对象的解译方法并结合专家知识分类规则自动提取珠穆朗玛峰国家自然保护区(以下简称珠峰保护区)3个时期的冰川信息,并利用遥感、地理信息系统和图谱的方法对冰川时空分布特征和变化及其原因与不确定性进行了分析。结果如下:(1)2006年珠峰保护区内冰川面积为2710.17±0.011km²,为研究区总面积的7.41%,主要分布在研究区南部海拔4700～6800m的高山区;(2)1976-2006年,珠峰保护区冰川持续退缩明显,总面积减少501.91±0.035km²,冰湖扩张迅速(净增加36.88±0.035km²);研究区南坡子流域冰川退缩率(16.79%)高于北坡子流域(14.40%);珠峰保护区冰川以退缩为主,退缩冰川主要分布于海拔4700～6400m,退缩区上限海拔为6600～6700m;(3)1976年以来,气温显著上升和降水减少是冰川退缩的关键因素。     

Debris entrainment by basal freeze‐on and thrusting during the 1995–1998 surge of Kuannersuit Glacier on Disko Island,west Greenland

Kuannersuit Glacier, a valley glacier on Disko Island in west Greenland, experienced a major surge from 1995 to 1998 where the glacier advanced 10·5 km and produced a ～65 m thick stacked sequence of debris‐rich basal ice and meteoric glacier ice. The aim of this study is to describe the tectonic evolution of large englacial thrusts and the processes of basal ice formation using a multiproxy approach including structural glaciology, stable isotope composition (δ¹⁸O and δD), sedimentology and ground‐penetrating radar. We argue that the major debris layers that can be traced in the terminal zone represent englacial thrusts that were formed early during the surge. Thrust overthrow was at least 200–300 m and this lead to a 30 m thick repetition of basal ice at the ice margin. It is assumed that the englacial thrusting was initiated at the transition between warm ice from the interior and the cold snout. The basal debris‐rich ice was mainly formed after the thrusting phase. Two sub‐facies of stratified basal ice have been identified; a lower massive ice facies (S_M) composed of frozen diamict enriched with heavy stable isotopes overlain by laminated ice facies (S_L) consisting of millimetre thick lamina of alternating debris‐poor and debris‐rich ice. We interpret the stratified basal ice as a continuum formed mainly by freeze‐on processes and localized regelation. First laminated basal ice is formed and as meltwater is depleted more sediment is entrained and finally the glacier freezes to the base and massive diamict is frozen‐on. The increased ability to entrain sediments may partly be associated with higher basal freezing rates enhanced by loss of frictional heat from cessation of fast flow and conductive cooling through a thin heavily crevassed ice during the final phase of the glacier surge. The dispersed basal ice facies (D) was mainly formed by secondary processes where fine‐grained sediment is mobilized in the vein system of ice. Our results have important implications for understanding the significance of basal ice formation and englacial thrusting beneath fast‐flowing glaciers and it provides new information about the development of landforms during a glacier surge. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Rock glacier dynamics in marginal periglacial environments

Vertical electric sounding, bottom temperature of winter snowcover (BTS) and ground thermal measurement, debris surface analysis and a differential global positioning system (DGPS) survey were performed on the Posets rock glacier (Pyrenees) between 2001 and 2008. High precision records of horizontal and vertical movements of the rock glacier were measured using a DGPS on ten steel rods. Total and annual average displacements and thickness changes for each control point were derived from the field survey. Horizontal and vertical displacement rates in different sectors of the rock glacier were compared, and these compared with thermal, structural and morphological maps. The inferred surface deformation was characterized by extensional and compressive flows in which two dynamic types were found. The first type of movement is defined by the slide and flows related to the existence of an ice body over the frost body. The second dynamic type involved the displacement generated by deformation of the frozen body. The study attempts to understand the surface movement and dynamics of rock glaciers in marginal cold environments and their usefulness as environmental geoindicators. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

THE CLIMATIC CONDITIONS OF POLAR-TYPE GLACIERS DEVELOPMENT IN CHINA

ＴＨＥＣＬＩＭＡＴＩＣＣＯＮＤＩＴＩＯＮＳＯＦＰＯＬＡＲ－ＴＹＰＥＧＬＡＣＩＥＲＳＤＥＶＥＬＯＰＭＥＮＴＩＮＣＨＩＮＡ￥ＨｕａｎｇＭａｏｈｕａｎ（黄茂桓）（ＬａｎｚｈｏｕＩｎｓｔｉｔｕｔｅｏｆＧｌａｃｉｏｌｏｇｙａｎｄＧｅｏｃｒｙｏｌｏｇｙ，ｔｈｅＣ...     

Arctic-alpine brown soils as a source of palaeoenvironmental information: Further 14C dating and palynological evidence from Vestre Memurubreen,Jotunheimen, Norway

¹⁴C dating and pollen analytical evidence is presented relating to the usefulness of arctic-alpine Brown Soils for palaeoenvironmental reconstruction. A present-day soil has been examined together with its continuation beneath the outermost ?Little Ice Age’? end moraine of the glacier Vestre Memurubreen at a location well above the tree-line in the mid-alpine belt of southern Norway. Fourteen ¹⁴C dates from chemically-fractionated soil samples, which range in age from 495 ± 55 ¹⁴C yr in the uppermost 1 cm to > 4000 ¹⁴C yr within 13 cm of the buried soil surface, demonstrate near-linear age/depth gradients in the palaeosol. Continuous development of the palaeosol over at least 5000 calendar yr prior to burial confirms that Vestre Memurubreen attained its Neoglacial maximum extent in the ?Little Ice Age’?. Pollen stratification in buried and unburied profiles indicates a single vegetation change from a low-alpine dwarf-shrub heath to a mid-alpine ?grass’? heath, reflecting an altitudinal lowering of vegetation belts and a possible climatic cooling of 2-4°C. Surface additions of allochthonous (aeolian) mineral particles appear to have contributed to soil development, whilst mixing processes have been relatively unimportant at this site. The immobilisation of resistant organic residues and the ineffectiveness of biological and chemical activity are major reasons for the preservation of a palaeoenvironmental record in these high altitude soils.     

Analysis of flute forming conditions using ice sheet reconstructions and field techniques

Basal shear stress and sediment strength associated with the development of glacial flutes exposed during the 20th century in the Saskatchewan Glacier Valley Alberta, Canada, were determined by comparing reconstructed ice thicknesses, basal shear stresses, and field properties of sediments with the morphologically similar Kiwa Glacier Valley, British Columbia, Canada, where flutes are absent. Reconstructed subglacial conditions in these two valleys were compared to understand why flutes were developed in the former and not the latter. Using an existing topographic map of each glacier, equations for a series of longitudinal profile lines were determined to represent the existing ice surface. A previous ice surface, identified by trimlines along the valley walls, was reconstructed by applying the equations of longitudinal profile lines from the existing ice surface to a previous terminus between 5 and 10 km downvalley. After subtracting the elevation of the land surface (determined from topographic maps) from the reconstructed glacier surface, and calculating former ice surface slope, ice thickness and basal shear stress distributions were determined. Sediment texture and the location of flutes on a morainal topographic high, downglacier from a proglacial lake basin, allowed high porewater pressures to develop as glaciers extended to terminus positions in the Saskatchewan Glacier Valley. Sediment strength was reduced sufficiently below values of reconstructed shear stress plots to allow deformation creating flutes. The absence of a similar topographic high and different sediment textural characteristics in the Kiwa Glacier Valley resulted in lower porewater pressures and consequently less reduction in sediment strength preventing the development of glacial flutes despite higher shear stress values here. Results indicate that the degree to which sediment characteristics and porewater pressure allow reduction of subglacial sediment strength relative to basal shear stress is important in determining conditions when flutes may develop.     

Recent behaviour of the Debeli Namet glacier,Durmitor, Montenegro

A small cirque glacier is present in a north‐east facing cirque on the mountain of ?ljeme (2455 m a.s.l.) in the Durmitor massif, Montenegro. Sediment ridges in front of this glacier are interpreted as moraines and can be attributed to recent glacier activity over the past 130 years. Lichenometry was applied to determine the relative ages of different moraines using Aspicilia calcarea agg. One set of moraines dates from about 1878 AD, whilst another set of inner moraines dates from about 1904 AD. The most recent moraines appear to have formed within the last 11 years in front of an active glacier margin. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.