| 1. |
- Benediktsson, Ivar Örn, et al.
(författare)
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Architecture and structural evolution of an early Little Ice Age terminal moraine at the surge-type glacier Mulajokull, Iceland
- 2015
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Ingår i: Journal of Geophysical Research - Earth Surface. - 2169-9011 .- 0148-0227 .- 2156-2202. ; 120:9, s. 1895-1910
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The internal architecture and structural evolution of the Arnarfellsmular terminal moraine at Mulajokull, a surge-type glacier in central Iceland, is described in order to demonstrate submarginal and proglacial glaciotectonic processes during glacier surging, as well as constraining the age of the maximum extent of the glacier. The moraine is 4-7m high, 50-100m wide, and composed of a highly deformed sequence of loess, peat, and tephra that is draped by till up to the crest. The internal architecture is dominated by steep, high-amplitude overturned folds and thrusts in the crest zone but open, low-amplitude folds on the distal slope. Section balancing suggests a basal detachment (decollement) depth of 1.4m and a total horizontal shortening of around 59%. This implies that the glacier coupled to the foreland about 70m up glacier from its terminal position to initiate the formation of the moraine. The structural evolution is polyphase in that the formation commenced with low-amplitude open folding of the foreland, followed by overfolding and piggyback thrusting. Radiocarbon dating and analysis of tephra layers, along with historical references, indicate that the most likely time of moraine formation was between A.D. 1717 and 1760, which suggests that Mulajokull had its Little Ice Age maximum and most extensive surge earlier than many other surge-type glaciers in Iceland.
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| 2. |
- Benediktsson, Ívar Örn, et al.
(författare)
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Progressive formation of modern drumlins at Múlajökull, Iceland: stratigraphical and morphological evidence
- 2016
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Ingår i: Boreas. - : Wiley. - 0300-9483 .- 1502-3885. ; 45, s. 567-583
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- © 2016 Collegium Boreas. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd The drumlin field at Múlajökull, Iceland, is considered to be an active field in that partly and fully ice-covered drumlins are being shaped by the current glacier regime. We test the hypothesis that the drumlins form by a combination of erosion and deposition during successive surge cycles. We mapped and measured 143 drumlins and studied their stratigraphy in four exposures. All exposures reveal several till units where the youngest till commonly truncates older tills on the drumlin flanks and proximal slope. Drumlins inside a 1992 moraine are relatively long and narrow whereas drumlins outside the moraine are wider and shorter. A conceptual model suggests that radial crevasses create spatial heterogeneity in normal stress on the bed so that deposition is favoured beneath crevasses and erosion in adjacent areas. Consequently, the crevasse pattern of the glacier controls the location of proto-drumlins. A feedback mechanism leads to continued crevassing and increased sedimentation at the location of the proto-drumlins. The drumlin relief and elongation ratio increases as the glacier erodes the sides and drapes a new till over the landform through successive surges. Our observations of this only known active drumlin field may have implications for the formation and morphological evolution of Pleistocene drumlin fields with similar composition, and our model may be tested on modern drumlins that may become exposed upon future ice retreat.
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| 3. |
- 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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| 4. |
- Flindt, Anne-Cecille, et al.
(författare)
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A pre-LGM sandur at Fiskarheden in NW Dalarna, Sweden – sedimentology and glaciotectonic deformation.
- 2018
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Ingår i: Boreas. - : Wiley. - 1502-3885 .- 0300-9483. ; 47:3, s. 711-737
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The Fiskarheden quarry, situated in NW Dalarna, central Sweden, reveals thick coarse-grained sediments of Scott type facies association representing a sandur deposited in an ice-proximal proglacial environment. Optically Stimulated Luminescence (OSL) dating of the sandur sediments suggests a pre-Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) age. Most acquired ages are pre-Saalian (>200 ka) and we regard each of these ages to represent non/poorly bleached sediment except for one small-aliquot OSL age of 98±6 ka. This age comes from the top surface of an arguably well-bleached sand bed deposited on the lee-side of a braid-bar, putting the sandur build-up into the Early Weichselian. Large-scale glaciotectonic structures show an imbricate thrust fan involving both ductile and brittle deformation. The deformation was from the WNW, which largely coincides with the formative trend of the predominating streamlined terrain and Rogen moraine tracts surrounding Fiskarheden. It is suggested that the deformation of the sandur sediments took place when the advancing glacier approached and pushed its own proglacial outwash sediment, during an ice-marginal oscillation either at the inception of one of the Early Weichselian glaciations in the area, or during a general ice retreat amid a deglacial phase. The Fiskarheden sandur deposits are covered by a subglacial traction till deposited from the NE/NNE. This direction corresponds with younger streamlined terrain flowsets cross-cutting the older NNW–SSE system and probably represents deglaciation in the area following the LGM. This study will add to the understanding of the formation and deformation of Pleistocene sandur successions and their relationship to past ice-sheet behaviour.
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| 5. |
- Ingolfsson, Olafur, et al.
(författare)
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Glacial geological studies of surge-type glaciers in Iceland — Research
- 2016
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Ingår i: Earth-Science Reviews. - : Elsevier BV. - 0012-8252. ; 152, s. 37-69
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Surging glaciers are potential analogues for land-terminating palaeo-ice streams and surging ice sheet lobes, and research on surge-type glaciers is important for understanding the causal mechanisms of modern and past ice sheet instabilities. The geomorphic signatures left by the Icelandic surge-type glaciers vary and range from glaciotectonic end moraines formed by folding and thrusting, crevasse-squeeze ridges, concertina eskers, drumlins and fluted forefields, to extensive dead-ice fields and even drift sheets where fast ice-flow indicators are largely missing. We outline some outstanding research questions and review case studies from the surge-type outlets of Brúarjökull, Eyjabakkajökull and Tungnaárjökull (Vatnajökull ice cap), Múlajökull and Sátujökull (Hofsjökull ice cap), Hagafellsjökull and Suðurjökull (Langjökull ice cap), Kaldalónsjökull, Leirufjarðarjökull and Reykjarfjarðarjökull (Drangajökull ice cap), as well as the surge-type cirque glaciers in northern Iceland. We review the current understanding of how rapid ice flow is sustained throughout the surge, the processes that control the development of the surge-type glacier landsystem and the geological evidence of surges found in sediments and landforms. We also examine if it is possible to reconstruct past surge flow rates from glacial landforms and sediments and scale-up present-day surge processes, landforms and landsystems as modern analogues to past ice streams. Finally,we also examine if there is a climate/mass-balance control on surge initiation, duration and frequency.
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| 6. |
- Korsgaard, Niels J., et al.
(författare)
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Spatial distribution of erosion and deposition during a glacier surge: Bruarjokull, Iceland
- 2015
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Ingår i: Geomorphology. - : Elsevier BV. - 0169-555X. ; 250, s. 258-270
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Time-series of digital elevation models (DEMs) of the forefield of the Bruarjokull surge-type glacier in Iceland were used to quantify the volume of material that was mobilized by the 1963-1964 surge. The DEMs were produced by stereophotogrammetry on aerial photographs from before the surge (1961) and after (1988 and 2003). The analysis was performed on two DEMs of Difference (DoDs), i.e., a 1961-2003 DoD documenting the impact of the surge and a 1988-2003 DoD documenting the post-surge modification of the juvenile surging glacier landsystem. Combined with a digital geomorphological map, the DoDs allow us to quantify the impact of the surge on a landsystem scale down to individual landforms. A total of 34.2 +/- 11.3 x 10(6) m(3) of material was mobilized in the 30.7-km(2) study area as a result of the most recent surge event Of these, 17.4 +/- 6.6 x 10(6) m(3) of the material were eroded and 16.8 +/- 4.7 x 10(6) m(3) were deposited. More than half of the deposited volume was ice-cored landforms. This study demonstrates that although the total mobilized mass volume is high, the net volume gain of ice and sediment deposited as landforms in the forefield caused by the surge is low. Furthermore, deposition of new dead-ice from the 1963-1964 surge constitutes as much as 64% of the volume gain in the forefield. The 1988-2003 DoD is used to quantify the melt-out of this dead-ice and other paraglacial modification of the recently deglaciated forefield of Bruarjokull. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
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| 7. |
- Sigfúsdóttir, Thorbjörg, et al.
(författare)
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Active retreat of a Late Weichselian marine-terminating glacier : An example from Melasveit, western Iceland
- 2018
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Ingår i: Boreas. - : Wiley. - 0300-9483. ; 47:3, s. 813-836
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Large and complete glaciotectonic sequences formed by marine-terminating glaciers are rarely observed on land, hampering our understanding of the behaviour of such glaciers and the processes operating at their margins. During the Late Weichselian in western Iceland, an actively retreating marine-terminating glacier resulted in the large-scale deformation of a sequence of glaciomarine sediments. Due to isostatic rebound since the deglaciation, these formations are now exposed in the coastal cliffs of Belgsholt and Melabakkar-Ásbakkar in the Melasveit district, and provide a detailed record of past glacier dynamics and the inter-relationships between glaciotectonic and sedimentary processes at the margin of this marine-terminating glacier. A comprehensive study of the sedimentology and glaciotectonic architecture of the coastal cliffs reveals a series of subaquatic moraines formed by a glacier advancing from Borgarfjörur to the north of the study area. Analyses of the style of deformation within each of the moraines demonstrate that they were primarily built up by ice-marginal/proglacial thrusting and folding of marine sediments, as well as deposition and subsequent deformation of ice-marginal subaquatic fans. The largest of the moraines exposed in the Melabakkar-Ásbakkar section is over 1.5 km wide and 30 m high and indicates the maximum extent of the Borgarfjörur glacier. Generally, the other moraines in the series become progressively younger towards the north, each designating an advance or stillstand position as the glacier oscillated during its overall northward retreat. During this active retreat, glaciomarine sediments rapidly accumulated in front of the glacier providing material for new moraines. As the glacier finally receded from the area, the depressions between the moraines were infilled by continued glaciomarine sedimentation. This study highlights the dynamics of marine-terminating glaciers and may have implications for the interpretation of their sedimentological and geomorphological records.
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