Contemporaneous, localized, basal ice-flow variations: implications for bedrock erosion and the origin of p-forms

Authors: Rea, Brice R.; Evans, David J.A.; Dixon, Tom S.; Whalley, W. Brian

Source: Journal of Glaciology, Volume 46, Number 154, June 2000 , pp. 470-476(7)

Publisher: International Glaciological Society

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Abstract:

A detailed study of a proglacial bedrock site and a subglacial cavity of an outlet of ØksfjordjØkelen, Norway, is presented together with observations from the fore-land of Konowbreen, Spitsbergen. Striation directions and subglacial observations indicate that local ice-flow paths were highly variable, deviating at angles of approximately 90° from the main ice-flow direction. Stepped bedrock topography appears conducive to the production of highly variable ice-flow paths, because the high bed roughness creates a locally variable stress regime within the ice, including low-pressure, lee-side areas into which ice can flow. If ice flow is sustained along a specific path and the ice contains debris, then abrasion should produce an erosional bedform. Models are proposed whereby locally variable ice-flow patterns could produce erosional bedforms, which would be described as p-forms, purely through mechanical abrasion.

Document Type: Research article

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3189/172756500781833197

Publication date: 2000-06-01

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