The Glacial History of Landscape in the Batura Muztagh, NW Karakoram

The most recent glacial history of the Bar Valley on the Batura south side of the great Karakorum main ridge shows a marked retreat of the Kukuar and Baltar glaciers since 1915 by 8 km. This tendency is continuing. A great lateral moraine (GLM), which shows the latest, historical maximum postglacial stage, is accompanied by a higher level, which reflects a neoglacial glacier level whose ice margins no longer exist. An earth-pyramid moraine rising high above the glacier, as also occurs on the northern declivities of the Batura, does not mark a specific level, but bears witness to a valley-filling glacier, for which further indicators can be found along the valley flank. In the gorge-like narrow trough valley, the flanks of which are covered by steep debris cones originating from the postglacial, numerous former glacial characteristics contrast with the current glaciation of the far retreated Kukuar and Baltar glaciers. Moraine material found at the valley outlet at Chalt and also on the Talmutz pass demonstrates complete ice filling of the Bar valley, also supported by the Daintar glacier. From a glacial geomorphological perspective, this confirms a late to high glacial connection of the Bar glacier to a Hunza glacier, as postulated by Kuhle (2005).     

CRITICAL HYDROLOGIC CONDITIONS FOR OVERFLOW BURST OF MORAINE LAKE

1OVERFLOWBURSTOFMORAINELAKEFloodwater and debris flow caused by glacial lake burst is an important land process and a serious moun-tain disaster in glacial area. Glacial lakes with burst can divided into the glacier-obstructed lake (ice dam lake) and the terminal moraine lake (XU and FENG, 1988). Typical burst of ice dam lake happens in the modern glacier area of the upper reaches of the Kele-qing River in Uygur Autonomous Region of Xinjiang (WANG, 1990). But most of burst gla…     

Numerical computations of a theoretical model of ribbed moraine formation

We develop numerical solutions of a theoretical model which has been proposed to explain the formation of subglacial bedforms. The model has been shown to have the capability of producing bedforms in two dimensions, when they may be interpreted as ribbed moraine. However, these investigations have left unanswered the question of whether the theory is capable of producing fully three‐dimensional bedforms such as drumlins. We show that, while the three‐dimensional calculations show realistic quasi‐three‐dimensional features such as dislocations in the ribbing pattern, they do not produce genuine three‐dimensional drumlins. We suggest that this inadequacy is due to the treatment of subglacial drainage in the theory as a passive variable, and thus that the three‐dimensional forms may be associated with conditions of sufficient subglacial water flux. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A STATISTICAL TEST OF FLORISTIC ZONES AS INFERRED FROM THE POLLEN RECORD: SOUTHERN NEW ENGLAND

This study presents the stratigraphic and floristic interpretations of data collected from a 6.49 m core taken within the Rowley River Marsh, Massachusetts. Twenty-five samples were collected at 28 centimeter intervals from the core in this Holocene coastal marsh. Based on stratigraphic control, the age of the core samples includes a time sequence extending back 4,600 years from the present. Analysis of the core stratigraphic units suggests the environment has essentially been a low energy estuarine system for the past 4,600 years. The 25 samples were also processed for pollen taxa present since 4,600 years B.P. A discriminant function analysis was used to test the floristic zonal similarity of the diagnostic taxa (Picea, Pinus, Carya, Tsuga, Quercus) from the core with those same taxa used to establish the floristic zones for the southern New England region. The results of the analysis demonstrated that 84% of the samples were correctly classified by floristic zone. Although the distribution of diagnostic taxa from this study is generally in agreement with the previously established floristic zones, the Tsuga taxa are present throughout the temporal sequence, suggesting the occurrence of a cooler climate regime for the sampling site since 4,600 years B.P.     

玉龙雪山西麓原状冰碛土CT扫描试验研究

冰碛土是冰川行进融化过程中漂石、碎石、砂砾、粉土和黏土在毫无分选的条件下快速混杂堆积生成的一种特殊岩土材料,由其引发的工程问题日益受到岩土工程界关注。砾石颗粒细观组构是冰碛土独特沉积历史的反映,直接影响土体的岩土力学性质,但迫于原状冰碛土样极难取得,岩土工程领域迄今罕有研究。对此,采用人工精细切削的方式,成功取得了玉龙雪山西麓原状冰碛土样,并对取回的6块冰碛土原状样进行了CT扫描,首次获得了冰碛土内部真实细观组构图像。借助Matlab对CT图片进行二值化和消噪处理后,运用常规统计方法对冰碛土内砾石颗粒的面含石量、颗粒定向以及颗粒形状等剖面组构指标进行了描述。结果表明,垂直剖面之间的统计数据差异较小,但垂直剖面与水平剖面之间差异较大。     

Glacial geomorphology in Utsjoki, Finnish Lapland proposes Younger Dryas fault-instability

Northern Fennoscandia has experienced high-magnitude postglacial fault (PGF) events, yet the role of seismic tremors in subglacial deformations and meltwater discharge has remained obscure. We studied glacial geomorphology in Utsjoki, Finnish Lapland, an area characterized by the Utsjoki drumlin field fanning out north and northeast to the Younger Dryas End Moraines (YDEMs) in northern Norway. Paleolandslides were common on fells (i.e. mountains shaped by Pleistocene glaciations) and were formed in nunatak position evidencing fault-instability in app. 11,900 calibrated (cal) BP. An anastomosing network of eskers was found throughout Utsjoki, and was probably generated through short-lived sliding bed stages during the discharge of subglacial lake(s). The formation of networks is different from time-transgressive evolution of single-ridged eskers in arborescent (treelike) systems. The most probable triggering mechanism for the meltwater outburst(s) was an earthquake tremor(s) associated with fault-instability during the late and post-Younger Dryas (YD). The alignment of the esker network was inconsistent with parallel-to-iceflow streamlining and the eskers erode or superimpose drumlins. Hence the esker network post-dates the streamlining. In some cases, hummocky (Pulju) moraine was observed to coexist with esker network and peculiar ‘kettle’ and ‘liquefaction’ features. We propose that glacio-seismotectonic events contributed not only to landslides but were also the primary force behind subglacial evolution of esker networks and possibly even hummocky moraine.     

祁连山摆浪河全新世冰量变化初探

采用祁连山老虎沟12号冰川2009年RTK测量生成的数字高程模型(DEM), 建立现代冰川表面横截面拟合的二次方程, 结合差分GPS测量的冰碛垄形态, 运用于祁连山摆浪河上游14号冰川和16号冰川全新世以来冰量变化的估算. 结果表明: 新冰期以来冰储量减少0.38 km³, 小冰期以来14号冰川和16号冰川的冰储量分别减少0.016 km³和0.047 km³; 根据祁连山全新世各个时期最大冰川范围的时间, 估计了全新世以来14号和16号冰川冰储量的减少速率, 新冰期以来为12.2×10^-5~15.0×10^-5 km³·a^-1, 小冰期以来分别为4.0×10^-5~5.3×10^-5 km³·a^-1, 11.75×10^-5~15.7×10^-5 km³·a^-1.     

ABLATION OF ICE‐CORED MORAINE IN A HUMID,MARITIME CLIMATE: FOX GLACIER,NEW ZEALAND

Depending on thickness, debris‐cover can enhance or reduce ablation, compared to bare‐ice conditions. In the geological record, hummocky moraines often represent the final product of the melt‐out of ice‐cored moraines, and the presence or absence of such moraine deposits can have paleoclimatic implications. To evaluate the effects of varying debris‐cover and climate on ice‐melt in a maritime mid‐latitude setting, an 11‐day ablation stake study was undertaken on ice‐cored moraine at Fox Glacier, on the western flank of the New Zealand Southern Alps. Ablation rates varied from 1.3 to 6.7 cm d^?1, with enhancement of melt‐rate under thin debris‐covers. Highest melt‐rates (effective thickness) occurred under debris‐cover of c. 2 cm, with ～3 cm being the debris thickness at which melt‐rates are equal to adjacent bare‐ice (critical thickness). Air temperature from nearby Franz Josef Glacier allowed for a simple degree‐day approach to ablation calculations, with regression relationships indicating air temperature is the key climatic control on melt. Digital elevation models produced from topographic surveys of the ice‐cored moraine over the following 19 months indicated that ablation rates progressively decreased over time, probably due to melt‐out of englacial debris increasing debris‐cover thickness. The morphology of the sandur appears to be strongly determined by episodic high‐magnitude fluvial flows (jökulhlaups), in conjunction with surface melt. Thus, ‘hummocky’ moraine appears to be a transient landform in this climatic setting.     

The final phase of dead-ice moraine development: processes and sediment architecture, Kötlujökull, Iceland

Consecutive phases of de-icing of ice-cored moraines and the formation of dead-ice moraine were monitored over a 4-year period at the terminus of the Kötlujökull glacier, Iceland. Particularly, the transition from partially ice-cored moraine with isolated dead-ice blocks to the ice-free landscape receives attention in this paper in order to link the final melting processes to the architecture of the sedimentary end product. In the current humid sub-polar climate of south Iceland de-icing of partially ice-cored moraines results chiefly from melting along the bottom surface of ice-cores with an annual average rate of 25 cm. The final de-icing is associated with an interrelated group of re-sedimentation processes and surface features. Series of sinkholes evolve at the toe of dead-ice blocks, which initiate retrogressive rotational sliding or backslumping of the ice-cored slopes and the formation of distinct edges and fractures in the adjacent basins. Although backslumping is the dominant process in this phase of re-sedimentation, structures resulting from this process are rarely recognized in the ice-free landscape. As ice-cores gradually diminish the effect of the latest re-sedimentation events will overprint or destroy most existing sedimentary characteristics. Thus, in the ice-free landscape, structures mainly related to the formation of sinkholes and fractures remain imprinted on the sediment succession. Generally, no inversion of the topography occurs during the final phase of de-icing. The overall topography recognized in the late phase of the fully ice-cored terrain is merely lowered and the amplitude of the relief reduced as de-icing progresses. The sediment architecture of the ice-free landscape is characterized by heterogeneous and often slumped diamict sediments with variable thickness and lateral distribution; clast orientation is related to the direction of slopes, and boulders are found in isolated groups or in linear arrangements.