| 1. |
- Chandler, Benjamin M. P., et al.
(författare)
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Glacial geomorphological mapping : A review of approaches and frameworks for best practice
- 2018
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Ingår i: Earth-Science Reviews. - : Elsevier BV. - 0012-8252 .- 1872-6828. ; 185, s. 806-846
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Forskningsöversikt (refereegranskat)abstract
- Geomorphological mapping is a well-established method for examining earth surface processes and landscape evolution in a range of environmental contexts. In glacial research, it provides crucial data for a wide range of process-oriented studies and palaeoglaciological reconstructions; in the latter case providing an essential geomorphological framework for establishing glacial chronologies. In recent decades, there have been significant developments in remote sensing and Geographical Information Systems (GIS), with a plethora of high quality remotely-sensed datasets now (often freely) available. Most recently, the emergence of unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) technology has allowed sub-decimetre scale aerial images and Digital Elevation Models (DEMs) to be obtained. Traditional field mapping methods still have an important role in glacial geomorphology, particularly in cirque glacier, valley glacier and icefield/ice-cap outlet settings. Field mapping is also used in ice sheet settings, but often takes the form of necessarily highly-selective ground-truthing of remote mapping. Given the increasing abundance of datasets and methods available for mapping, effective approaches are necessary to enable assimilation of data and ensure robustness. This paper provides a review and assessment of the various glacial geomorphological methods and datasets currently available, with a focus on their applicability in particular glacial settings. We distinguish two overarching 'work streams' that recognise the different approaches typically used in mapping landforms produced by ice masses of different sizes: (i) mapping of ice sheet geomorphological imprints using a combined remote sensing approach, with some field checking (where feasible); and (ii) mapping of alpine and plateau-style ice mass (cirque glacier, valley glacier, icefield and ice-cap) geomorphological imprints using remote sensing and considerable field mapping. Key challenges to accurate and robust geomorphological mapping are highlighted, often necessitating compromises and pragmatic solutions. The importance of combining multiple datasets and/or mapping approaches is emphasised, akin to multi-proxy approaches used in many Earth Science disciplines. Based on our review, we provide idealised frameworks and general recommendations to ensure best practice in future studies and aid in accuracy assessment, comparison, and integration of geomorphological data. These will be of particular value where geomorphological data are incorporated in large compilations and subsequently used for palaeoglaciological reconstructions. Finally, we stress that robust interpretations of glacial landforms and landscapes invariably requires additional chronological and/or sedimentological evidence, and that such data should ideally be collected as part of a holistic assessment of the overall glacier system.
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| 2. |
- Clark, Chris D., et al.
(författare)
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BRITICE Glacial Map, version 2 : a map and GIS database of glacial landforms of the last British-Irish Ice Sheet
- 2018
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Ingår i: Boreas. - : Wiley. - 0300-9483 .- 1502-3885. ; 47:1, s. 11-27
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- During the last glaciation, most of the British Isles and the surrounding continental shelf were covered by the British-Irish Ice Sheet (BIIS). An earlier compilation from the existing literature (BRITICE version 1) assembled the relevant glacial geomorphological evidence into a freely available GIS geodatabase and map (Clark etal. 2004: Boreas 33, 359). New high-resolution digital elevation models, of the land and seabed, have become available casting the glacial landform record of the British Isles in a new light and highlighting the shortcomings of the V.1 BRITICE compilation. Here we present a wholesale revision of the evidence, onshore and offshore, to produce BRITICE version 2, which now also includes Ireland. All published geomorphological evidence pertinent to the behaviour of the ice sheet is included, up to the census date of December 2015. The revised GIS database contains over 170000 geospatially referenced and attributed elements - an eightfold increase in information from the previous version. The compiled data include: drumlins, ribbed moraine, crag-and-tails, mega-scale glacial lineations, glacially streamlined bedrock (grooves, roches moutonnees, whalebacks), glacial erratics, eskers, meltwater channels (subglacial, lateral, proglacial and tunnel valleys), moraines, trimlines, cirques, trough-mouth fans and evidence defining ice-dammed lakes. The increased volume of features necessitates different map/database products with varying levels of data generalization, namely: (i) an unfiltered GIS database containing all mapping; (ii) a filtered GIS database, resolving data conflicts and with edits to improve geo-locational accuracy (available as GIS data and PDF maps); and (iii) a cartographically generalized map to provide an overview of the distribution and types of features at the ice-sheet scale that can be printed at A0 paper size at a 1:1250000 scale. All GIS data, the maps (as PDFs) and abibliography of all published sources are availablefor download from: https://www.sheffield.ac.uk/geography/staff/clark_chris/britice
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| 3. |
- Lovell, Harold, et al.
(författare)
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Multiple Late Holocene surges of a High-Arctic tidewater glacier system in Svalbard
- 2018
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Ingår i: Quaternary Science Reviews. - : Elsevier BV. - 0277-3791. ; 201, s. 162-185
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- 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 sediment-landform 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 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. By combining these data with previous marine geological investigations in inner and outer Van Keulenfjorden, we demonstrate that NGS has advanced at least four times prior to the recent 2008–2016 surge: twice at ∼2.7 kyr BP, at ∼1160 AD, and in ∼1890. This represents a unique record of the timing and magnitude of Late Holocene tidewater glacier surges in Svalbard.
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| 4. |
- Schofield, J. Edward, et al.
(författare)
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Pushing the Limits : Palynological Investigations at the Margin of the Greenland Ice Sheet in the Norse Western Settlement
- 2022
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Ingår i: Environmental Archaeology. - : Routledge. - 1461-4103 .- 1749-6314. ; 27:2, s. 228-242
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This paper presents two high-resolution pollen records dating to ?AD 1000?1400 that reveal the impacts of Norse colonists on vegetation and landscape around a remote farmstead in the Western Settlement of Greenland. The study is centred upon a ?centralised farm? (ruin group V53d) in Austmannadalen, near the margin of the Greenland Ice Sheet (64?13?N, 49?49?W). The climate is low arctic and considered marginal in terms of its suitability for the type of pastoral agriculture that the Norse settlers introduced. The data reveal that at a short distance (?500?m) from the farm buildings, the palynological ?footprint? for settlement becomes extremely indistinct, the only clear palaeoenvironmental evidence for a human presence being elevated levels of microscopic charcoal. This contrasts with the Eastern Settlement, where a strong palynological signature for Norse landn?m is evident, from the local (individual farm) through to the regional (landscape) scale. The palynological data from Austmannadalen, and the Western Settlement more generally, imply that farming occurred at very low intensity. This aligns with ideas that promote the importance of hunting, and trade in valuable Arctic commodities (e.g. walrus ivory), ahead of a search for new pasture as the dominant motivation driving the Norse settlement of this region.
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