Submarine landform assemblages and sedimentary processes in front of Spitsbergen tidewater glaciers

Streuff, Katharina; Cofaigh, Colm Ó; Noormets, Riko; Lloyd, Jeremy M.

doi:10.1016/j.margeo.2017.09.006

Cited by 15 publications

(25 citation statements)

References 77 publications

(56 reference statements)

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“…Although R2 does not have a debris flow lobe on its distal slope and is not as large as submarine terminal moraines identified at other tidewater glaciers, we note that (i) debris flow lobes are not always found at surge terminal moraines (e.g. Streuff et al, 2017a); and (ii) R2 is comparable in size and morphology to the terminal moraine formed at the 2004 surge maximum position of Tunabreen in Tempelfjorden (cf. Flink et al, 2015).…”

Section: Correlation Of Inner and Outer Advances With Submarine Geomomentioning

confidence: 58%

“…The mud apron that formed during the recent NGS surge is morphologically similar to large submarine terminal moraines and associated debris flow lobes observed on the seafloor in front of a number of tidewater surge-type glaciers (e.g. Solheim and Pfirman, 1985;Plassen et al, 2004;Ottesen et al, 2008Ottesen et al, , 2017Kristensen et al, 2009a;Forwick et al, 2010;Streuff et al, 2015Streuff et al, , 2017aBurton et al, 2016), and we therefore interpret these as having a common genetic origin (cf. Kristensen et al, 2009a).…”

Section: Formation Of Mud Apron and Glaciotectonic Surge Morainesmentioning

confidence: 80%

“…Many of these tidewater glaciers are inferred or known to be of surge-type, raising the question as to whether previous advances (LIA maximum or earlier) were glaciodynamic surges or were in response to climate forcing (e.g. Farnsworth et al, 2017;Philipps et al, 2017;Streuff et al, 2017a). 4 The best way to determine possible surging that predates observational records is by investigating sediment-landform assemblages, as surge behaviour is known to produce a diagnostic suite of landforms (Evans and Rea, 1999;Ottesen et al, 2017).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For tidewater glacier surges, this evidence is typically recorded on the sea floor (e.g. Solheim and Pfirman, 1985;Plassen et al, 2004;Ottesen et al, 2008Ottesen et al, , 2017Forwick et al, 2010;Flink et al, 2015Flink et al, , 2017Streuff et al, 2015Streuff et al, , 2017aBurton et al, 2016;Farnsworth et al, 2017). Field observations of the active phase of glacier surges are rare (e.g.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Multiple Late Holocene surges of a High-Arctic tidewater glacier system in Svalbard

Lovell

Benn

Lukas

et al. 2018

Quaternary Science Reviews

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Most large tidewater glaciers in Svalbard are known to have surged at least once in the last few hundred years. However, very little information exists on the frequency, timing or magnitude of surges prior to the Little Ice Age (LIA) maximum in ~1900. We investigate the sedimentlandform assemblages produced by multiple advances of the Nathorstbreen glacier system (NGS) in order to reconstruct its Late Holocene surge history. The glacier has recently undergone one of the largest surges ever observed in Svalbard, advancing ~16 km from 2008 2 to 2016. We present flow velocities and ice-marginal observations (terminus change, proglacial geomorphological processes) from the later stages of this surge. A first detailed assessment of the development of a glaciotectonic mud apron within the fjord during a surge is provided. Geomorphological and sedimentological examination of the terrestrial moraine areas formed prior to the most recent surge reveals that at least two advances were responsible for their formation, based on the identification of a previously unrecognised ice-contact zone recorded by the distribution of sediment facies in coastal exposures. We distinguish between an outer, older advance to the distal part of the moraine system and an inner, younger advance to a position ~2 km upfjord. Radiocarbon dating of shells embedded in glaciotectonic composite ridges formed by the onshore bulldozing of marine mud during the outer (older) of the two advances shows that it occurred at some point during the interval 700-890 cal. yr BP (i.e. ~1160 AD), and not during the LIA as previously assumed. We instead attribute the inner (younger) advance to the LIA at ~1890.

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Section: Correlation Of Inner and Outer Advances With Submarine Geomomentioning

confidence: 58%

Section: Formation Of Mud Apron and Glaciotectonic Surge Morainesmentioning

confidence: 80%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Multiple Late Holocene surges of a High-Arctic tidewater glacier system in Svalbard

Lovell

Benn

Lukas

et al. 2018

Quaternary Science Reviews

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“…Considering the relatively gentle and locally reverse proximal and much steeper distal slopes of the feature, it could represent a wedge‐like glacier grounding‐line deposit usually associated with a transition zone between the grounded and floating base of a glacier. Such depositional geometry is characteristic of grounding zones of glaciers and ice streams commonly found in fjord (Streuff et al ., ) or shelf (Fransner et al ., 2019) settings. The Kebnepakte glacier must have been considerably thicker than today, at least 41 m thick (submerged part plus subaerial part) at its front, at the time of the formation of the grounding zone deposit assuming that the proglacial lake level was constrained by the same outlet threshold as today.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 98%

High‐resolution bathymetric mapping reveals subaqueous glacial landforms in the Arctic alpine lake Tarfala, Sweden

Kirchner

Noormets²,

Kuttenkeuler

et al. 2019

J Quaternary Science

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In Arctic alpine regions, glacio‐lacustrine environments respond sensitively to variations in climate conditions, impacting, for example,glacier extent and rendering former ice‐contact lakes into ice distal lakes and vice versa. Lakefloors may hold morphological records of past glacier extent, but remoteness and long periods of ice cover on such lakes make acquisition of high‐resolution bathymetric datasets challenging. Lake Tarfala and Kebnepakte Glacier, located in the Kebnekaise mountains, northern Sweden, comprise a small, dynamic glacio‐lacustrine system holding a climate archive that is not well studied. Using an autonomous surface vessel, a high‐resolution bathymetric dataset for Lake Tarfala was acquired in 2016, from which previously undiscovered end moraines and a potential grounding line feature were identified. For Kebnepakte Glacier, structure‐from‐motion photogrammetry was used to reconstruct its shape from photographs taken in 1910 and 1945. Combining these methods connects the glacial landform record identified at the lakefloor with the centennial‐scale dynamic behaviour of Kebnepakte Glacier. During its maximum 20th century extent, attained c. 1910, Kebnepakte Glacier reached far into Lake Tarfala, but had retreated onto land by 1945, at an average of 7.9 m year–1. Copyright © 2019 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

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Formation of crevasse‐squeeze ridges at Trygghamna, Svalbard

Ben‐Yehoshua

Aradóttir

Farnsworth

et al. 2023

Earth Surf Processes Landf

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Crevasse‐squeeze ridges (CSRs) are landforms that have been unequivocally linked to surge‐type glaciers. The formation of CSRs has been discussed since they were first defined in the mid‐1980s. Here, we describe geometric CSR networks from the terrestrial glacier forefields of two glaciers in Trygghamna, Western Svalbard. No glacier surges have been observed in Trygghamna; however, the presence of the CSRs signifies past surge activity. Detailed geomorphological maps were constructed, and the spatial context of these landforms described. Cross‐sections of several CSRs highlight ridge architecture, structure and relationships to surrounding landforms and sediments. Most CSRs are symmetrical in cross‐profile, orientated perpendicular or oblique to the ice‐flow direction. Like previous investigations, we observe these ridge networks on top of till and flutes. Additionally, we, for the first time, document CSRs deposited directly on non‐glaciogenic subsurfaces, namely, beach gravels and bedrock. Our findings confirm previous CSR formation theories; basal sediments are squeezed into bottom‐up crevasses during surges, which are subsequently transported englacially until surge termination and are finally released by melt out from stagnant ice. Consequently, a network of CSRs is the product of a significant reorganisation and down‐glacier transport of basal sediment, exemplifying how single surges are agents of glacial sediment redistribution. These formation processes are illustrated in a refined schematic model. The results further contemporary understanding of CSRs in terrestrial surge‐type glacier settings and may also apply to landforms and sediments in certain marine settings and palaeoglacial environments.

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Submarine landform assemblages and sedimentary processes in front of Spitsbergen tidewater glaciers

Cited by 15 publications

References 77 publications

Multiple Late Holocene surges of a High-Arctic tidewater glacier system in Svalbard

Multiple Late Holocene surges of a High-Arctic tidewater glacier system in Svalbard

High‐resolution bathymetric mapping reveals subaqueous glacial landforms in the Arctic alpine lake Tarfala, Sweden

Formation of crevasse‐squeeze ridges at Trygghamna, Svalbard

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