Topography and former Scottish tidewater glaciers

Greene, Debbie R.

doi:10.1080/00369229218736861

Cited by 10 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 23 publications

(45 reference statements)

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“…As icefield recession continued, the break‐up of plateau ice into smaller ice masses could have given rise to non‐climatic stillstands (Greene, ; Reitner, ; Lukas, ; de Winter et al ., ). The reasons behind such topographically controlled or external stillstands can be found in: (i) a change in valley cross‐section and/or aspect, such as ice retreating from a broad to narrower valley – this leads to a decrease in the surface area exposed to ablation while maintaining the same ice volume, causing stabilization (Greene, ; Barr and Lovell, ); and (ii) a division of a large ice mass into two or more smaller ones at valley junctions in complex terrain (e.g. Lukas and Benn, ; Reitner, ; Lukas, ) – this can lead to these glaciers retreating up parallel valleys (e.g.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Evidence for a strong topographic control on glacier recession patterns highlights the difficulties of using moraine sequences, such as those reported here, in isolation without considering topographic factors, to extract detailed climatic information (Kuhn et al ., ; Greene, ; Lukas, ; Barr and Lovell, ). By accounting for these topographic factors, we are able to make two key conclusions regarding events during deglaciation in the Monadhliath and Scottish Younger Dryas climate: (i) evidence for major readvances during recession is limited, corroborating findings from the Northwest Highlands (Lukas and Benn, ), with the potential for both geometric and climatic controls on recession rates; and (ii) the even spacing of moraines in valleys of consistent bed gradient and the presence of recessional moraines on the plateau suggests that climate warming was gradual rather than rapid, as has been suggested elsewhere (Bickerdike et al ., ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Topographic controls on plateau icefield recession: insights from the Younger Dryas Monadhliath Icefield, Scotland

Boston

Lukas

2019

J Quaternary Science

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Plateau icefields are a common form of mountain ice mass, frequently found in mid‐latitude to high‐arctic regions and increasingly recognized in the Quaternary record. Their top‐heavy hypsometry makes them highly sensitive to changes in climate when the equilibriaum line altitude (ELA) lies above the plateau edge, allowing ice to expand significantly as regional ELAs decrease, and causing rapid recession as climate warms. With respect to future climate warming, it is important to understand the controls on plateau icefield response to climate change in order to better predict recession rates, with implications for water resources and sea‐level rise. Improving knowledge of the controls on glacier recession may also enable further palaeoclimatic information to be extracted from the Quaternary glacial record. We use the distribution of moraines to examine topographic controls on Younger Dryas icefield recession in Scotland. We find that overall valley morphology influences the style of recession, through microclimatic and geometric controls, with bed gradient affecting moraine spacing. Ice mass reconfiguration may occur as recession progresses because ice divide migration could alter the expected response based on hypsometric distribution. These results add to a growing body of research examining controls on glacier recession and offer a step towards unravelling non‐linear ice mass behaviour. Copyright © 2019 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Topographic controls on plateau icefield recession: insights from the Younger Dryas Monadhliath Icefield, Scotland

Boston

Lukas

2019

J Quaternary Science

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“…Topography probably played a significant role in the lack of moraines along the western lochs of the West Highland Glacier Complex, because they were occupied by marine‐terminating, calving glaciers in fjord settings (Bennett ). The maximum extents of these glaciers and their recession patterns were probably governed by the topography of their basins, with the ice margins stabilizing and forming moraines only at pinning points (Greene ).…”

Section: Controls On Lls Extent and Retreat Style: The Relative Impormentioning

confidence: 99%

Glacial landsystems, retreat dynamics and controls on Loch Lomond Stadial (Younger Dryas) glaciation in Britain

Bickerdike

Cofaigh

Evans

et al. 2017

Boreas

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Glacial geomorphology relating to the Loch Lomond Stadial (Younger Dryas) in Britain is used to construct five glacial landsystem models. These landsystems lie on a continuum of increasing ice thickness and decreasing topographic control and typify the principal styles of glaciation during the stadial. The landsystems comprise: the cirque/niche glacier landsystem, the alpine icefield landsystem, the lowland piedmont lobe landsystem, the plateau icefield landsystem and the icecap landsystem. Geomorphological features representing the icecap landsystem are present only at the centre of the West Highland Glacier Complex, which was flanked primarily by satellite alpine and plateau icefields. The cirque/niche glacier landsystem was present predominantly in areas that experienced conditions only marginally favourable for glacier development at peripheral sites. Three styles of glacier retreat are recorded by the geomorphology: active, two-phase and uninterrupted retreat. Of these, active retreat appears to be most widespread within the Loch Lomond Stadial limits. These retreat styles reflect a combination of climatic and topographic conditions, coupled with local factors influencing the preservation of landforms from which retreat dynamics can be inferred. Likewise, the distribution of landsystems was influenced by an interplay between topography and climate, with glacier formation being facilitated in locations where topographical conditions aided in the accumulation of snow. The pattern also supports the existence of previously recognized northward and eastward precipitation gradients across Britain during the stadial.

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“…Warren (1993) identifies nonclimate control in the fluctuation of the San Rafael Glacier in Chile. Greene (1992) recognizes only an indirect and variable climate response for former tidewater glaciers in Scotland, and finds the importance of topographic control analogous to contemporary Alaskan glaciers. Both Warren ( 1991 ) in Greenland and Sugden ( 1991 ) in Antarctica recognize that topography acts as a sort of filter introducing nonlinearity into glacier response to climate change.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

G laciers

Knight

1995

Progress in Physical Geography: Earth and Environment

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A healthy science needs a regular diet of data: data to characterize newly observed phenomena, to monitor change through time, to inspire and to test hypotheses and to calibrate models. The bread and butter of glaciology comes fn}m the countless individual research efforts around the globe that are reported in the literature and keep the abstracting services busy. There is a constant snack-service of newsletters, expedition reports and local journals, and for the true junkie there is a drip-feed from the computer network with bulletin boards, e-mail and CD-ROM databases to fill the intervals between mailings of the international journals, From time to time we are treated to a more substantial meal, for example, when results from a long-term or large-scale project become available, when several projects collaborate on the same issue or when nature (or our evolving technology) gives us the opportunity to measure something new. Occasionally science holds a banquet and, as I prepare this report, glaciology is serving the first appetizers of what promises to be a feast of new glaciological and palaeoenvironmental data from two deep-coring programmes at Summit, in the centre of the Greenland ice sheet. The potential impact and ramifications of the Summit cores are such that it seems appropriate to start this review there. A key theme that has emerged from recent work, and that this review will reflect, is the recognition of a larger number of former climate/glacier fluctuations, and of fluctuations at a much shorter timescale, than have previously been identified. New data from ice core, ocean core and terrestrial evidence are allowing us to piece together a more detailed picture of more complex glacier behaviour than has hitherto been possible. 11 Ice cores, climate and ice-sheet models Ice cores drilled through the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets in the past are well known and have provided glaciological and palaeoenvironmental data for a generation of researchers. Nearly three decades on from the original drilling initiatives, however, different questions were being asked and new data were required. In particular there was a need for the longest possible Northern Hemisphere record with sufficiently good resolution to recognize very rapid climatic events. Summit (72°34'N, 37°37'W), the highest point on the Greenland ice sheet, is an ideal drilling site as the ice flow is relatively simple at CARLETON UNIV on June 22, 2015 ppg.sagepub.com Downloaded from

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Topography and former Scottish tidewater glaciers

Cited by 10 publications

References 23 publications

Topographic controls on plateau icefield recession: insights from the Younger Dryas Monadhliath Icefield, Scotland

Topographic controls on plateau icefield recession: insights from the Younger Dryas Monadhliath Icefield, Scotland

Glacial landsystems, retreat dynamics and controls on Loch Lomond Stadial (Younger Dryas) glaciation in Britain

G laciers

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