Quantification of historical landscape change on the foreland of a receding polythermal glacier, Hørbyebreen, Svalbard

Ewertowski, Marek; Evans, David J. A.; Roberts, David H.; Tomczyk, Aleksandra; Ewertowski, Wojciech; Pleksot, Krzysztof

doi:10.1016/j.geomorph.2018.09.027

Cited by 27 publications

(28 citation statements)

References 93 publications

(96 reference statements)

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“…Bennett et al 1996) of crevasse fill and hydrofracture origins (Fig. 4B), and glacial lineations (Karczewski 1989;Karczewski et al 1990;Gibas et al 2005;Rachlewicz 2009;Szuman & Kasprzak 2010;Evans et al 2012;Ewertowski et al 2019). The present study focuses on the complex esker system on the eastern part of the foreland, which is melting out of the glacier snout ( Fig.…”

Section: Fig 2 Locations Of Study Areas Boxes In (A) Show the Locamentioning

confidence: 93%

“…Previous studies, using Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR), have identified the thermal transition between warm-based ice further up-glacier and cold-based ice beneath the snout (Małecki et al 2013). Looped medial moraines observed on aerial photographs from 1936 indicate that Hørbyebreen surged at some point before this date (Ewertowski et al 2019) and has since undergone sustained snout recession, which has accelerated since the 1990s and is likely related to increased summer temperatures (Małecki et al 2013).…”

Section: Hørbyebreenmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Equifinality and preservation potential of complex eskers

Storrar

Ewertowski

Barr

et al. 2019

Boreas

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Eskers are useful for reconstructing meltwater drainage systems of glaciers and ice sheets. However, our process understanding of eskers suffers from a disconnect between sporadic detailed morpho-sedimentary investigations of abundant largescale ancient esker systems, and a small number of modern analogues where esker formation has been observed. This paper presents the results of detailed field and high-resolution remote sensing studies into two esker systems that have recently emerged at Hørbyebreen, Svalbard, and one at Breiðamerkurjökull, Iceland. Despite the different glaciological settings (polythermal valley glacier versus active temperate piedmont lobe), in all cases a distinctive planform morphology has developed, where ridges are orientated in two dominant directions corresponding to the direction of ice flow and the shape of the ice margin. These two orientations in combination form a cross-cutting and locally rectilinear pattern. One set of ridges at Hørbyebreen is a hybrid of eskers and geometric ridges formed during a surge and/or jökulhlaup event. The other sets of ridges are eskers formed time-transgressively at a retreating ice margin. The similar morphology of esker complexes formed in different ways on both glacier forelands implies equifinality, meaning that care should be taken when interpreting Quaternary esker patterns. The eskers at Hørbyebreen contain substantial ice cores with a high ice:sediment ratio, suggesting that they would be unlikely to survive after ice melt. The Breiðamerkurjökull eskers emerged from terrain characterised by buried ice which has melted out. Our observations lead us to conclude that eskers may reflect a wide range of processes at dynamic ice margins, including significant paraglacial adjustments. This work, as well as previous studies, confirm that constraints on esker morphology include: topographic setting (e.g. confined valley or broad plain); sediment and meltwater availability (including surges and jökulhlaups); position of formation (supraglacial, englacial or subglacial); and ice-marginal dynamics such as channel abandonment, the formation of outwash heads or the burial and/or exhumation of dead ice.

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Section: Fig 2 Locations Of Study Areas Boxes In (A) Show the Locamentioning

confidence: 93%

Section: Hørbyebreenmentioning

confidence: 99%

Equifinality and preservation potential of complex eskers

Storrar

Ewertowski

Barr

et al. 2019

Boreas

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“…The rapid exposure of land from Svalbard glaciers (over 20% of glacierized terrain decrease) activates sediment cascades through which exposed glacigenic sediments are transported and can then be stored in the form of solifluction slope covers, fluvial floodplains, lakes and within the coastal zone in the form of beaches, tidal flats or as marine sediments in the bottoms of fjords (e.g. Lønne & Lyså, 2005;Midgley et al, 2018;Ewertowski et al, 2019;Weckwerth et al, 2019).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

New fjords, new coasts, new landscapes: The geomorphology of paraglacial coasts formed after recent glacier retreat in Brepollen (Hornsund, southern Svalbard)

Strzelecki

Szczuciński

Dominiczak

et al. 2020

Earth Surf Processes Landf

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Changes in the properties and dynamics of tidewater glacier systems are key indicators of the state of Arctic climate and environment. Calving of tidewater glacier fronts is currently the dominant form of ice mass loss and a major contributor to global sea‐level rise. An important yet under‐studied aspect of this process is transformation of Arctic landscapes, where new lands and coastal systems are revealed due to the recession of marine‐terminating ice masses. The evolution of those freshly exposed paraglacial coastal environments is controlled by nearshore marine, coastal and terrestrial geomorphic processes, which rework glacial‐derived sediments to create new coastal paraglacial landforms and landscapes. Here, we present the first study of the paraglacial coasts of Brepollen, one of the youngest bays of Svalbard revealed by ice retreat. We describe and classify coastal systems and the variety of landforms (deltas, cliffs, tidal flats, beaches) developed along the shores of Brepollen during the last 100 years. We further discuss the main modes of sediment supply to the coast in different parts of the new bay, highlighting the fast rate of coastal transformation as a paraglacial response to rapid deglaciation in the Arctic. This study provides an exemplar of likely coastal responses to be anticipated in similar tidewater settings under future climate change. © 2020 The Authors. Earth Surface Processes and Landforms published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd

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“…However, the preservation potential of freshly exposed glacial landforms can be very low, as proglacial terrains are one of the most dynamic parts of the glaciated landscapes (cf. [1][2][3][4]).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Location of the study area; red circle indicates the approximate location of the surveyed part of the Hørbyebreen foreland. Reprinted from Geomorphology, 325: 40-54, Ewertowski et al, "Quantification of historical landscape change", Copyright (2019), with permission from Elsevier[4].…”

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confidence: 99%

Operational Framework for Rapid, Very-high Resolution Mapping of Glacial Geomorphology Using Low-cost Unmanned Aerial Vehicles and Structure-from-Motion Approach

et al. 2019

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This study presents the operational framework for rapid, very-high resolution mapping of glacial geomorphology, with the use of budget Unmanned Aerial Vehicles and a structure-from-motion approach. The proposed workflow comprises seven stages: (1) Preparation and selection of the appropriate platform; (2) transport; (3) preliminary on-site activities (including optional ground-control-point collection); (4) pre-flight setup and checks; (5) conducting the mission; (6) data processing; and (7) mapping and change detection. The application of the proposed framework has been illustrated by a mapping case study on the glacial foreland of Hørbyebreen, Svalbard, Norway. A consumer-grade quadcopter (DJI Phantom) was used to collect the data, while images were processed using the structure-from-motion approach. The resultant orthomosaic (1.9 cm ground sampling distance—GSD) and digital elevation model (7.9 cm GSD) were used to map the glacial-related landforms in detail. It demonstrated the applicability of the proposed framework to map and potentially monitor detailed changes in a rapidly evolving proglacial environment, using a low-cost approach. Its coverage of multiple aspects ensures that the proposed framework is universal and can be applied in a broader range of settings.

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Quantification of historical landscape change on the foreland of a receding polythermal glacier, Hørbyebreen, Svalbard

Cited by 27 publications

References 93 publications

Equifinality and preservation potential of complex eskers

Equifinality and preservation potential of complex eskers

New fjords, new coasts, new landscapes: The geomorphology of paraglacial coasts formed after recent glacier retreat in Brepollen (Hornsund, southern Svalbard)

Operational Framework for Rapid, Very-high Resolution Mapping of Glacial Geomorphology Using Low-cost Unmanned Aerial Vehicles and Structure-from-Motion Approach

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