TY - JOUR
T1 - Stabilization of glaciers terminating in closed water bodies
T2 - Evidence and broader implications
AU - Geirsdóttir, Áslaug
AU - Miller, Gifford H.
AU - Wattrus, Nigel J.
AU - Bjömsson, Helgi
AU - Thors, Kjartan
N1 - Copyright:
Copyright 2008 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.
PY - 2008/9/16
Y1 - 2008/9/16
N2 - The behavior of glaciers terminating in deep water is determined by the interaction of buoyancy, iceberg production, and the sensitivity of ice flow to subtle changes in resistance at the glacier bed. Modeling efforts assume rapid evacuation of icebergs, but some glaciers terminate in closed basins where icebergs may accumulate. Multibeam bathymetric survey of a glacial lake in Iceland that received outlet glaciers during the Little Ice Age document near parallel flow of narrow, ice fingers that extended up to 1 km beyond the grounding line. These previously unseen features apparently occurred when iceberg production exceeded iceberg melt, resulting in iceberg buttressing of the ice margin. Similar stabilization of ice flow may resolve long-standing debates about past continental ice-sheet behavior, including the rapid readvance of the Laurentide Ice Sheet into Lake Superior ca. 11 ka and the genesis of glacial flutes observed in the central Arctic Ocean basin.
AB - The behavior of glaciers terminating in deep water is determined by the interaction of buoyancy, iceberg production, and the sensitivity of ice flow to subtle changes in resistance at the glacier bed. Modeling efforts assume rapid evacuation of icebergs, but some glaciers terminate in closed basins where icebergs may accumulate. Multibeam bathymetric survey of a glacial lake in Iceland that received outlet glaciers during the Little Ice Age document near parallel flow of narrow, ice fingers that extended up to 1 km beyond the grounding line. These previously unseen features apparently occurred when iceberg production exceeded iceberg melt, resulting in iceberg buttressing of the ice margin. Similar stabilization of ice flow may resolve long-standing debates about past continental ice-sheet behavior, including the rapid readvance of the Laurentide Ice Sheet into Lake Superior ca. 11 ka and the genesis of glacial flutes observed in the central Arctic Ocean basin.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=57049186635&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=57049186635&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1029/2008GL034432
DO - 10.1029/2008GL034432
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:57049186635
SN - 0094-8276
VL - 35
JO - Geophysical Research Letters
JF - Geophysical Research Letters
IS - 17
M1 - L17502
ER -