On the meltwater genesis of drumlins

Large subglacial cavities in basal ice. the presumed precursors of depositional drumlins, can be created by corrasion from suspended sediment during a large water sheet outburst flood. The cavities are primarily the result of vortex action. For a given flood discharge the corrasion rate of the ice roof increases with water sheet velocity, V, to a power greater than V^16/3, Because of ice displacment during a flood, V can vary spatially along a flow line by up to an order of magnitude. The highest velocities normally occur downstream from major bed depressions or near the ice margin. Fields of large drumlins frequently occur at such sites. The process of formation of large subglacial cavities is predicted to be more velocity-sensitive than the erosion of bedrock. No accurate estimate of water sheet flood volumes can be made at this time but they could be at least an order of magnitude less than the 80 000 km³, which was previously estimated.